Two Black students in Park City say they were called the N-word, asked for an "n-word pass" and called a monkey repeatedly over four years at Ecker Hill Middle School and Treasure Mountain Junior High while district officials did nothing to stop it.

Their parents, Kelly and Ryan Bullett, filed a lawsuit July 23 in Utah's Third District Court against Park City School District and former Superintendent Jill Gildea, seeking at least $300,000 in compensatory damages and a jury trial before Judge Patricia Kuendig.

The complaint was first reported by TownLift. It alleges the Bullett children, now 14 and 17, endured at least 21 documented instances of race-based harassment. The older son experienced at least 17 incidents between 2020 and 2024 at both schools, according to the Park Record's reporting on the filing. His younger sister faced at least four incidents at Ecker Hill between 2022 and 2024.

The family alleges they reported every incident to school and district officials. The complaint accuses the district of "deliberate indifference," stating that its failure to act "enabled future race-based assaults." It alleges PCSD "created a racially hostile educational climate where offensive racial misconduct was tolerated and minimized."

Both children have required ongoing mental health treatment for anxiety and depression, according to ABC4. One was placed in inpatient treatment. The complaint states the district did not offer psychological resources, counseling or academic assistance despite the family's repeated reports, and for one student did not create a safety plan or consider no-contact orders against the harassers.

Federal investigation found hostile environment

The lawsuit leans heavily on a 2024 U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights investigation that examined seven harassment complaints at Park City High School, Ecker Hill and Treasure Mountain during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years.

Federal investigators documented more than 180 total reports of harassment incidents across those schools, including 77 documented incidents of racially offensive conduct. The OCR concluded the harassment was so severe and pervasive it created a hostile environment limiting some students' access to education.

"District records produced to date do not reflect responses sufficient to redress and prevent recurrence of hostile environments for students at the three schools," the OCR wrote in its March 2024 resolution letter.

The investigation also found evidence of student-to-student harassment at the district's four elementary schools and determined that the district's recordkeeping software did not capture all the information needed to investigate complaints.

One example from the OCR report: the district did not follow up on a report of racial harassment against an Asian student for eight weeks because an employee was on leave. The district described the delayed response as a "botched hand-off." That student's parents ultimately withdrew them from the district.

The district signed a resolution agreement with the OCR in March 2024, agreeing to conduct a districtwide climate assessment, revise harassment policies, provide individual remedies for affected students and educate families on reporting harassment.

The Bullett lawsuit brings claims under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause and allegations that the district failed to maintain adequate training for handling racial harassment. The complaint also alleges the district did not keep records of student-to-student harassment as required by federal law.

Gildea served as superintendent for approximately six years before retiring in 2024, according to KPCW Radio. She has not responded publicly to the lawsuit.

Park City School District described itself as a welcoming community in a July 30 statement but said it does not comment on pending or imminent litigation. No hearing date has been set publicly.