Kiera Wilmot was an honors student. The 16-year-old was the least likely to get arrested and suspended from her central Florida high school. But it happened in 2013.
Her volcano project for biology class exploded in the classroom. No one was injured. Bullies called her a terrorist. School administrators issued a 10-day suspension. After thousands of dollars in court costs, charges were dropped. But the African-American was stuck with a felony record that continues to haunt her.
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"They took her in handcuffs and took her away even before I had a chance to come and see her and talk to her," Kiera's mom Marie Wilmot told reporters, as her daughter's predicament was getting international news coverage. "I think that was deplorable."
It takes five years to clear felony records in Florida. This is the type of zero tolerance policy that civil rights activists believe may be to blame for the high suspension rates among black girls in Florida recently reported in a study looking at the most recent data available.
When looking closely at the gaps in suspension rates among black and white students, researchers from UCLA recently reported that when they focused on race and gender, they found "deeply disturbing" disparities.
Central Florida was highlighted again in the study released Monday. Florida's Sumter County Public Schools district had the greatest 2011-12 disparity in the nation between black and white girls -- with a gap of 39 percentage points.
The researchers cited a recent study that blamed the gap on race-specific gender bias and stereotypes. The study posited black girls' lack of adherence to traditional gender roles makes them more likely to be disciplined at school, as white girls tend to adhere more closely to "standards of femininity."
COMPLETE STORY: 305 black girls get in more trouble than black boys, study says
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