Lee’s Summit school board elects new leaders while students protest racism in district
As Lee’s Summit students, parents and teachers rallied against cultural bias and racism Tuesday evening outside the district administration building, inside the school board swore in its first African American member.
The board also elected new officers: Ryan Murdock, who had been the board’s vice president and has supported racial equity training in the district, was handed the gavel as the new president, with no opposition.
For vice president, the board chose Kim Fritchie, who last week was re-elected to the board and had not always supported the training or the superintendent who championed it. The seven-member board voted 5-1 to choose her over Megan Marshall, the newly installed African American board member. The other new board member, Kathy Campbell, abstained from the vote.
Before the vote for vice president, Marshall said she would fight for the voices of students and their families to be heard, telling the board those voices can no longer be “discounted or brushed aside,” and saying she intends to be “a champion for all students and families.” She read comments from district students who on social media wrote about having been the target of racism and LGBTQ discrimination at school.
Fritchie, touted her own experience on the board and the leadership roles she’s held in the community, “to help our students.” She talked also about “disparity that has happened in some of our schools,” including with buildings that now are set for improvement with the passage last week of a no-tax-increase bond. “I’ve been in Lee’s Summit for a long time. I know this community and I know our schools,” Fritchie said.
The board has been at the center of racial tensions for two years. It twice voted against its first black superintendent, Dennis Carpenter, in his effort to hire a firm to lead equity training for district employees as a first step toward closing the achievement gap for students of color who have consistently performed below their white classmates.
Fritchie, along with the majority of the board, did not support Carpenter’s recommendations on equity training.
Last year, Carpenter resigned, citing “philosophical differences” with the board. The district’s new superintendent, David Buck, will officially begin on July 1.
Murdock on Tuesday voted for Fritchie as vice president.
When news that Marshall had not been chosen as board vice president reached protesters in the administration building parking lot, some began yelling for board members to resign.
The rally was organized by Lee’ Summit alums and students who over the weekend created the hashtag #OurStruggleLSR7 on social media, referring to the district’s full name, Lee’s Summit R-7 School District. Students, using the hashtag, shared their stories about having faced racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia from other students, teachers and district administrators.
A petition on Change.org asking the district to make changes to policies and the curriculum to address racism and multicultural awareness has been signed by more than 2,500 people.
The board, which adopted an equity plan in February 2019 and eventually hired a firm last year, said in a statement Tuesday that it is committed to following through with improving equity and diversity and involving students, staff and the community.
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 3:11 PM.
