Family Sues After Son Was Repeatedly Written Up by White Preschool Teacher (Exclusive)

• The Williamsons’ 2-year-old son was expelled in 2023 after a pattern of seemingly typical behavioral reports at his Alabama preschool — “small things,” they say
• The family claims they were told by an assistant teacher that their child was being singled out by a White instructor
• They filed a lawsuit last year that is now set to go to trial; the preschool denies the allegations

In the spring of 2023, Lee and Aletta Williamson’s younger son was moved to the 2-year-old classroom at his preschool. The toddler from Gardendale, Ala., immediately started receiving behavioral reports.

“He would come home sometimes with as many as four, five and even six,” says Lee, 47, who works for the federal government.

The write-ups at Heritage Preschool in Homewood, Ala., were for a range of behaviors, some of them seemingly minor — even typical — like not wanting to line up and come off the splash pad or getting upset when another child took his toy.

“Just small things,” says Aletta, 46, who works in higher education.

But the pattern “was very alarming,” Aletta says. “This is not something that we’re used to.”

Their older son had attended the same preschool and had never had the same issues, according to the family. He would say, “I don’t understand. This is a school where so many of my friends came from. Why are they treating my brother this way?” Lee remembers. (Lee and Aletta requested not to identify either boy by name, given the sensitive nature of the story.)

“On the ride to pick his brother up, he’d actually be praying, ‘I hope my brother didn’t get any write-ups today. I hope he had a good day.’ That would just break our heart,” Lee says. “I’d go in and pick him up and he’d see me coming out with the write-ups and he’d just be sad and heartbroken for his brother because he felt it wasn’t fair.”

The reports all came from the same teacher, according to the Williamsons. When this teacher was out sick, on vacation or not in the classroom, their younger son never received any write-ups.

The teacher is White — and the Williamsons are Black. They claim that an assistant teacher, who is also Black, had expressed concern that their son was being written up for behaviors that White students were not getting written up for. The school has denied that accusation.

The Williamsons requested a meeting with the administrators at Heritage, which is faith-based. Lee says they were “looking for a little grace.”

School officials said they would put Lee and Aletta’s son on a two-week “behavior plan.” If he didn’t improve, they would proceed with “next steps,” the couple recalls.

“We were hurt, we were shocked by what we were hearing. I told them that I’d worked in higher ed for over 20 years. We know our rights,” Aletta says.

She said they were going to contact the federal Office for Civil Rights and get legal assistance because they felt what happened to their son was unfair.

“It was very, very heartbreaking,” Aletta says.

Nonetheless, the couple politely thanked the administrators for their time. As they left, Lee said: “God is sovereign. His will is sovereign. He fully understands what’s going on here.”

When the couple got home, there was an email waiting for them saying their son had been expelled “due to threat of litigation.” The school mailed the boy’s things to them.

His family now believes he was singled out and “treated differently.”

Attorney Artur Davis, along with lawyers with Public Justice, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Williamsons in February 2024 alleging discrimination.

The case is proceeding to trial — one example of thousands in what outside experts call the nationwide issue of preschool expulsions.

Statistics indicate Black boys make up about half of preschoolers who are removed more than once despite being a far smaller percentage of students.

Heritage has denied the allegations by the Williamsons, who say they will continue to fight.

“The only way that we can bring about change is we have to first take action,” Aletta says. “It’s our job as parents to speak up for our children. If we don’t stand up for our children who will?”

“Whatever your faith, one of the tenets of virtually every religion is some notion of grace, some notion of forgiveness. And certainly one of the tenets of Christianity is that all are welcome here, all are included,” says attorney Artur Davis.

Yet, he claims, Heritage “literally said to this family and this child, ‘You are no longer welcome here.’ ”

The CEO of Heritage Preschools previously released a statement to local news pushing back on the account of the Williamsons.

“Heritage Preschools has very high standards that we hold ourselves to. We take these allegations very seriously. We are looking forward to the opportunity to refute the allegations contained in this filing, which is currently being addressed by our attorneys,” the CEO said then. “We do not comment on pending litigation, however, we adamantly deny these allegations and we are looking forward to vindicating ourselves in the court of law.”

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Asked for an updated comment for this article, Heritage said: “We have no further comment at this time due to pending litigation.”

The Williamsons’ younger son, identified in court papers as J.W., turned 4 last month.

“This is about making sure that we stand for all children. The reason we wanted this lawsuit filed is we want to send a message loud and clear,” Aletta says. “If you look at their mission, it’s all about tolerance and patience and God’s love. Yet we did not experience that at all. The God that I serve loves all children, regardless of their race.”