The Sacramento NAACP is turning up the heat on the Placer Union High School District after a Colfax High senior and his family say he endured months of racist, sexualized and violent harassment from teammates, including a video where a ski-masked student appears to wave a rifle and issue a death threat. The family says the district’s internal probe led to no discipline and left their son, Gabe Dickerson, anxious and still targeted on campus. After reviewing the case, NAACP leaders are urging the school board to adopt stronger protections for neurodivergent and other marginalized students.
NAACP presses board after reviewing evidence
LaMills Garrett, vice president of the Greater Sacramento NAACP, says he personally reviewed photo, video and text evidence provided by the Dickerson family and faults the district for doing little in response. "This behavior is not only a threat to this child and family, but to the entire school and community," Garrett said in a statement to the Sacramento Observer.
Garrett says he submitted a resolution urging Placer Union to adopt clearer protections for neurodivergent students. According to the NAACP, Board President Jessica Spaid declined to recommend that measure to the rest of the board, leaving those proposed safeguards stalled before they ever reached a vote.
District points to policies and reporting channels
On paper, the district presents a long list of protections and procedures. Its public materials cite Title IX safeguards, threat-assessment protocols, and anonymous reporting options, and its website provides contact information for Title IX and Section 504 coordinators.
According to the Placer Union High School District, families are expected to follow district complaint and safety processes and can access mental-health supports through the schools. Advocates counter that none of that means much if investigators fail to view harassment through the combined lenses of race and disability.
Parents say summer camp abuse and state review flagged the probe
The Dickerson family says the harassment spiked at a summer 2024 team camp at Dillon Beach, where they say Gabe was pressured to attend. Once there, he later reported a four-hour beating and unwelcome touching by teammates, according to the family. They also say a teammate posted a ski-mask video and racial threats in a Snapchat group that included players, a detail the family shared with reporters.
The district’s investigation, the family says, described some of what happened as roughhousing and concluded there was insufficient evidence to discipline any students. The California Department of Education reviewed the case and found the district’s probe inadequate, ordering an amended report within 20 days. The Dickersons say those steps were never completed, as reported by Sacramento Observer. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office has referred the threats to the district attorney’s office, and the family has filed a civil lawsuit in Placer County Superior Court.
Legal and policy implications
Because the state flagged the investigation as incomplete, the case raises questions about whether Placer Union met its anti-discrimination obligations and how the district accounted for Gabe’s individualized education needs during its review. Families who are unhappy with a district’s outcome have several options: they can appeal through the local board, pursue the district’s Title IX process or file a Uniform Complaint with the California Department of Education. The CDE explains that process and lists contacts on its complaint page. Meanwhile, advocates point to the board’s recent decision to remove an equity policy, a move critics say strips away institutional safeguards at the exact moment they are most needed.
What comes next
The Sacramento NAACP says it will keep pressing for stronger policies and accountability, and the Dickerson family is pursuing civil remedies in court. Community members and advocates are now watching for any amended report from the district, additional steps by the California Department of Education and possible action from the district attorney’s office.
