Two Black students in the Park City School District endured repeated racial slurs from classmates over two years, developed anxiety and depression, and needed therapy, according to a lawsuit their parents filed Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Third District Court.
Kelly and Ryan Bullett are suing the district and former Superintendent Jill Gildea on behalf of their children, now 14 and 17, seeking more than $300,000 in damages and a jury trial. The suit alleges the district showed "deliberate indifference" to reports of race-based harassment at Ecker Hill Middle School and Treasure Mountain Junior High between 2021 and 2023.
The incidents included other students directing racial slurs at both children.
Court filings state both kids attended therapy and suffered extreme emotional distress, including anxiety, fear, and depression. The lawsuit argues the district's failure to act "enabled future race-based assaults."
Federal investigation backs the claims
The Bullett family's lawsuit cites a U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights investigation that examined the district over the same 2021-to-2023 period. That probe, whose findings became public in March 2024, identified over 180 incidents of harassment district-wide and concluded the district did not take effective steps to eliminate a hostile racial environment, including by failing to investigate all allegations.
The Bullett family participated in the OCR's anonymous investigation.
The district signed a resolution agreement in March 2024 committing to revise its harassment policies, provide individual remedies for affected students, and create a plan to educate families on how to report harassment. No public timeline of specific compliance milestones has been disclosed.
Gildea's departure and district silence
Gildea led the district for six years beginning in 2018. She announced her retirement in September 2024 amid community criticism following the OCR report. By November 2024 she had started as CEO of Colorado Early Colleges, a tuition-free charter network in Colorado, while remaining on the Park City payroll through January 31, 2025, according to the Park Record.
Three incumbent school board members quit their reelection campaigns in spring and summer 2024 after the OCR findings went public. A lame-duck board majority voted 3-2 in August 2024 to renew Gildea's contract even as she was the sole finalist for the Colorado position.
The district told KPCW it does not comment on pending or imminent litigation. Gildea did not respond to KPCW's request for comment sent to her Colorado Early Colleges email.
The case is pending in Third District Court. No hearing date has been announced.
