A Black student and his mother are suing a Missouri school district, claiming that school officials failed to act on repeated reports of racial discrimination and harassment by white students and a football coach. They also say the school failed to accommodate the student’s disability and that the district retaliated against the mother for complaining by banning her from school grounds.
According to the lawsuit filed in Greene County Circuit Court on Jan. 12 and obtained by Atlanta Black Star, Tyreke Williams, now 19, endured racial slurs and bullying from students and insults and racial discrimination from coaches throughout his four years at predominantly white Republic High School near Springfield.
White students allegedly called Williams and other Black students “ni—er” and “slaves” on multiple occasions and habitually referred to him as “Tyrone” instead of his real name to insult him. Some white teammates also allegedly called him “ugly” and told him, “You’re only good because you are Black” and “How are you Black and not starting?”
One white student regularly harassed Williams about the size of his nose and created memes with pictures of Quasimodo, the hunchbacked character from Hotel Transylvania, the complaint claims, saying his nose was large like that character’s and displayed the memes in front of other students.
Meanwhile, a coach goaded Williams by calling him “chicken legs” and told him he needed to gain more weight, treated him more harshly than white football players, and gave him significantly less playing time than similarly sized white players, the lawsuit says.
Demoralized, Williams told his mother, Alisha Hornbuckle, who is white, about the racial harassment and disparate treatment. She contacted school officials through phone calls, emails and in-person meetings over the years to complain and demanded that they take corrective action.
Hornbuckle also reported concerns over the school’s failure to provide academic and mental health support to her son in accordance with his 504 Plan, which outlines how a student with disabilities should be accommodated.
The lawsuit says school officials were either dismissive of her complaints or promised “to look into” them but never did, and that the bullying and harassment of Williams continued unabated from 2021 to 2025.
By 2023, Hornbuckle was telling school officials that her son’s mental and emotional health had deteriorated from constant harassment at both school and football practice. She insisted the school environment was not safe for her son, who no longer wanted to go to school.
A “No Contact” order was implemented by the school in October 2023 between Williams and one harassing student, who repeatedly violated that order by texting Williams, the lawsuit says. The school also refused to move that student from the class that he had with Williams, while suggesting that Williams should be the one to move.
In the fall of 2024, Hornbuckle stepped up her efforts to get the school to address her son’s ongoing harassment and bullying. She repeatedly called and emailed the school and district, at one point requesting her son’s entire school record, including call logs and emails regarding her many complaints.
The lawsuit says the school never provided those records and that some school officials stopped taking her calls.
In October 2024, a third-party investigator was hired by the district. The investigator never spoke to Williams directly, the complaint says, and didn’t review the documentation Hornbuckle offered to share. The investigation was closed, concluding that no discrimination had occurred.
By Jan. 6, 2025, Hornbuckle was informed that she was no longer allowed on school property or at school functions, and that violating that directive would result in trespassing charges.
On Jan. 17, Williams allegedly was assaulted at school by “the same white student who had been racially harassing Plaintiff Williams throughout the school year” about his “physical appearance and his nose.”
Surveillance video allegedly showed the student approached Williams and hit him while he had his face down with headphones on. After Williams told the other student to go away, the student began to do so, then sucker-punched Williams, hurting his face and eye.
After Williams told police he wanted to press charges against the student, who was 18, the student began texting Williams, asking him not to. The lawsuit says a school official hung up on Hornbuckle when she called the school to find out how the staff was going to keep her son safe.
Williams remained “deeply embarrassed, depressed, and distressed” by the actions of the white students and football coaches and the inactions of the school and district administrative staff until his graduation in May 2025, the lawsuit says. It accuses the Republic School District of racial discrimination and harassment for denying him meaningful use of school services and facilities and for maintaining a hostile learning environment, in violation of Missouri law.
It also alleges negligent infliction of emotional distress and disability discrimination by school staff, and asserts that the district violated mandated reporter law by not promptly reporting incidents of alleged racial harassment to the state for investigation.
The district illegally retaliated against Hornbuckle for complaining about her son’s alleged mistreatment by banning her from school property and prohibiting her from speaking to school employees about her son, the complaint says. The ban denied Williams the support and advocacy he needed at school and extra-curricular events and unfairly caused Hornbuckle to miss out on activities in which her son participated during his last semester of high school.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial to determine unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
The Republic School District said in a statement that it categorically denied the allegations in the lawsuit.
“While we strive to resolve concerns through collaboration, meaningful resolution depends on respectful and constructive interactions,” the statement said. “The district will not tolerate behavior that undermines the safety or well-being of students or staff, including threats, intimidation, or manipulation directed toward teachers, coaches, and administrators. We are confident the facts of this case will be addressed through the legal process.”
Attorney Rose Briscoe, who represents the plaintiffs, told Atlanta Black Star, “We have a plethora of evidence to support our claims,” adding, “This district has a history, a pattern and practice of ignoring complaints of race discrimination, harassment and bullying.”
The Republic School District was the subject of a similar lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by a minor student, reported the Springfield News-Leader. According to court filings, that lawsuit was confidentially settled in 2025 with the district denying any liability.
