Teachers know racist language is wrong, so why did one use it in a Park Hill school?
With all the work the Park Hill school district says it’s doing to create a more inclusive environment in its schools in Kansas City’s Northland, why is one of its teachers using racist language in front of students?
Something is not working.
District officials put a high school teacher on leave this week after the teacher repeated “racist language,” that was first used by a student, according to a statement the district sent to parents after the Monday incident.
Racist language is never OK, not for students and certainly not for teachers, and both should be seriously disciplined.
Because the district wants to protect the student and their employee’s privacy, officials declined to identify either one’s race. There were witnesses to the incident who will be part of the district’s investigation into exactly what happened.
“We reached out to the students who saw this, as well as their families, to offer support and to make sure we have the whole story,” the statement said. “We are providing counseling to support any students or staff who need help processing their feelings about this incident.”
The incident is reminiscent of one last year in Lee’s Summit when a teacher repeated the N-word while reprimanding a student for directing that word toward another student. Lee’s Summit’s superintendent, David Buck, called for the teacher to be fired. The teacher appealed in a hearing where his lawyers successfully argued that it was district policy for teachers to repeat an offense exactly as it happens when disciplining a student. The teacher kept his job because while using racist language in front of students was wrong, he was following a bad policy.
Park Hill does not have this rule. The use of racist language violates district policy against harassment and inappropriate language, said district spokeswoman Nicole Kirby. She would not say what possible discipline the teacher could face, but it should at least be comparable to what the student faces. According to the student handbook, the student could be expelled from school, depending on what the investigation uncovers.
Park Hill was put under a national spotlight for racist actions there last year after a group of students started a petition to “start slavery again.”
Three of the four football players were temporarily kicked out of school, and one of the boys was expelled. Parents of the students sued the district claiming the punishment was too severe.
On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled against the four Park Hill South High School students. He said that while the students demonstrated that they faced “irreparable harm” as a result of the punishment, public interest in retaining the punishment outweighs that harm.
The district says it has been training teachers in culturally responsive education since 2015. The school board and administrators have received implicit bias training and teachers are next. After the slavery petition incident, Park Hill established a parent adviser group, launched listening sessions to hear from students and partnered with the Kansas City NAACP for guidance. The district also hired a director of access, inclusion and family engagement.
All that sounds like a good start. But clearly, much more needs to happen in the Park Hill district for teachers to get the message that using racist language can never be tolerated in any situation. And it could cost them their jobs.