Guilford public school parents who are challenging local educational policy that they say places issues concerning racism at the forefront of curriculum claim their children are being bullied, harassed and retaliated against because of their political beliefs, according to a lawsuit the parents filed Wednesday.

The three parents bringing the suit were among a group of five who attracted national attention a year ago when they ran for seats on the town Board of Education in an attempt to create a new majority that would disassemble what they call the school board’s “radical racist agenda.” The parents won Republican primaries, but lost in the general election.

The parents are suing with their combined six, school-aged children. The federal suit, which alleges First Amendment and other violations, claims that school administrators and at least one teacher have targeted the children because of their religious and political beliefs, as well as those of the children.

In some cases, the suit alleges, the students have been physically injured by bullying and school staff refused to intervene or act on complaints.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court late Wednesday by attorneys Norman A. Pattis and Kevin M. Smith. It names seven school administrators, a teacher and the board of education. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

Guilford Superintendent of Schools Paul Freeman, one of those named in the complaint, declined to discuss the suit Wednesday.

The suit contends that in June 2020, Freeman announced that Guilford High School was adopting a teacher training program based on “race, racism, justice, equity and identity.” The program was to be modeled on the work of Ibram X. Kendi, an author and activist who directs the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University.

Kendi has written that “striving not to be racist is not good enough,” and, “The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”

Freeman decided, according to the suit, that Guilford Public Schools would be taking steps to be “actively anti racist.” The system bought copies of one of Kendi’s books, “How to Be an Antiracist”, and required that all teachers read it for assigning it to students, according to the suit.

“The Guilford Board of Education has adopted a policy and practice of discriminating against, and bullying, the children of parents who have taken a public and principled stand against the board’s adoption of a species of pedagogy that teaches children the best way to combat so-called ‘systemic racism’ is to engage in a different form of systematic racial discrimination,” the suit contends.

The suit claims the children have been attacked as racists because of their parents’ opposition to a race-based curriculum. In addition, it claims the students have criticized because of their religious belief that gender is an immutable characteristic determined at birth.

The parents bringing the suit are Danielle Scarpellino, William Maisano and Tim Chamberlain, all of Guilford.