York County family files lawsuit over discrimination at Rock Hill charter school
A York County parent is suing a nationally recognized Rock Hill charter school for racial discrimination.
The father of a 14-year-old student alleged administrators at York Preparatory Academy’s middle school, which was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2018 for student achievement, failed to stop “pervasive and aggressive” racial slurs and other offensive comments that left his son traumatized. The boy was in sixth grade during the 2022-23 school year when the behaviors allegedly took place.
Terano Nelson seeks compensation because, he said, his son suffered physical illness, a personality change and disruption in his education due to harassment by white classmates at the Rock Hill school.
Nelson also seeks punitive damages against Principal Rebecca Kick, Vice Principal Shannon Beltakis and Managing Director Brian Myrup, all of whom the lawsuit claims “facilitated and permitted the racial and hostile environment.” The lawsuit, filed Feb. 27 in a South Carolina federal district court, placed blame on the school leaders for failing to remedy the problem.
“As parents, we did everything we were supposed to do. We spoke up each time there was an incident, we followed the proper channels, we made formal complaints with the administration, and we trusted the school to do what was right. But they failed him,” the parents said in a statement to The Herald. “No child should be forced out of their school because of racism, yet that is exactly what happened.”
Slurs escalated to the point where the student was “physically threatened, assaulted and battered,” the lawsuit said.
More than 70% of York Prep students are white, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Nelson’s son is Black.
“This is not just about our son; this is about every Black student who has ever felt unheard, unsafe, or unprotected at YPA,” the parents said.
Beltakis, Kick and Myrup did not respond to requests for comment by email and phone.
This story was originally published March 18, 2025 at 12:38 PM with the headline "York County family files lawsuit over discrimination at Rock Hill charter school."
