The Lab Schools has long drawn the children of the rich, powerful and the intellectual elite to its Hyde Park campus, including President Barack Obama, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The tuition is more than $30,000 a year.
The students make clear these issues are long-standing and, in fact, similar incidents have come to light at other prominent schools in the city and across the country.
Brandi Kenner-Bell, president of Lab’s Black Family Forum, said students and parents have an impression that the administration reacts cautiously to incidents because the students come from privilege. Though she understands the need to protect student privacy, she said a lack of transparency about what happens to students who commit insensitive acts exacerbates problems.
“That leads to a lack of trust in the community because people feel like things are not being handled so that is a problem,” she said. “It is a problem that people have been complaining about for a while.”