Civil rights groups denounce racist Snapchat messages to Woodlands student

Screenshots of messages allegedly sent over Snapchat by a Woodlands High School student to an African-American classmate. The screenshots were provided by the girl's family and civil rights group. Screenshots of messages allegedly sent over Snapchat by a Woodlands High School student to an African-American classmate. The screenshots were provided by the girl's family and civil rights group. Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close Civil rights groups denounce racist Snapchat messages to Woodlands student 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

An African-American student at The Woodlands High School said she is afraid to go to school because of violent racist messages she said were sent to her by a classmate.

Last month a white, male student allegedly sent messages over the social media application Snapchat in which he told the girl, "we should have hung all you n****s while we had the chance and trust me it would make the world better."

Fearing her for safety, the girl and her family reached out to school officials, who offered crisis counseling services and said they had changed the boy's schedule to keep him out of contact with the girl.

They also, however, left open the option of transferring the girl to another campus in the district, a suggestion that drew the ire of local civil rights groups, who will hold a rally outside the Mickey Leland Federal Building in downtown Houston at 2 p.m. Wednesday to denounce the remarks and the school's response to them.

"This racial intimidation has no place in civilized society," civil rights lawyer Randall Kallinen said in a news release.

A spokeswoman for the Conroe Independent School District said in a statement Wednesday that while the comments did not occur on campus, the district "does not tolerate behavior of this type."

"The campus administered several levels of disciplinary consequences and continues to work with the students involved and their parents," the statement said. "Due to privacy laws, the campus cannot share all of the steps it has taken, but campus and District administration are committed to providing safe and caring learning environments for all of our students. Furthermore, reinforcing respect for others and building unity continues to be a top priority across our campuses as it is in our communities, and we are researching additional resources to support our students with these essential life principles."

African-American students accounted for 2.5 percent of the 4,261 students at The Woodland High School during the 2015-16 school year, according to CISD. White students made up 65 percent of the student body — double the average for Texas school districts.

CISD, one of the fastest-growing districts in the state, lags behind state averages in racial and economic diversity. Roughly half of the district's 61,000 students are white, according to CISD's website, while 36 percent are Hispanic and fewer than 7 percent are African-American. For the average Texas district, white students account for 29 percent of the student body, while Hispanics account for 52 percent and African-Americans make up 12 percent.