The Park Hill School District made national headlines late last week, but not for a positive report – a student petition asking for the reinstatement of slavery was circulated in September at Park Hill South High School in Riverside.
The district’s board of education addressed the situation at the Thursday, Sept. 23 meeting.
“This racist incident is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” said superintendent Dr. Jeanette Cowherd at the beginning of the meeting. She read from a prepared statement, outlining the district’s actions since it learned of the petition.
Privacy laws prohibit the district from sharing discipline information, but Cowherd reinforced the district policies that prohibit discrimination and harassment and said “students who violate this policy will be subject to discipline, which may include suspension or expulsion.”
“This incident validates that the work we’ve been doing in culturally responsive education is needed and must continue,” she said. “Clearly, we have a problem that must be addressed.”
By the end of last week, the story was covered in USA Today and The Washington Post.
Parents in attendance at the meeting said the online petition may have garnered 100 signatures, thus involving more than just a few kids. They said the anonymity of the students involved, lack of details and perceived delay in a district response continued to victimize students of color.
Parent Jeff Holmes said he was disheartened by the district’s response to the racist incident and questioned the involvement of a teacher who was aware of the petition.
“Several things went wrong that have not yet been addressed,” he said.
Indigenous Xi of the Kansas City Revolutionary Black Panther Party also spoke, reading a prepared statement. He said the Black Panther Party planned to investigate the situation at the school and called for the removal of any staff members involved in racist activities.
He also called back to last year, when then-interim Park Hill South principal Kerrie Herren forced volleyball players to remove their racial unity shirts, sparking off a local media fire storm. Herren later apologized for the incident and the girls team was later allowed to wear the “we will rise” unity shirts, but tensions remained high.
Cowherd Thursday night praised Herren’s handling of the most recent situation, but others at the meeting were less supportive.
Student James Williams, a member of the Park Hill South varsity football team, also spoke. He implicated members of the freshman football team in the racist incident and asked the board to not punish members of the varsity team. He was concerned the upcoming game on Friday would potentially be rowdy due to the incident.
Williams also echoed the concerns of another speaker, Scott Aldridge, who complained about the poor condition of district athletic facilities. Williams said Park Hill South’s chances in the upcoming playoffs may be compromised by the lack of stadium lighting for practice.
On Friday, Cowherd announced the district was in the process of identifying experts to partner with them to address this problem with specific action steps to make schools a more safe, inclusive place to learn. She said she was looking for a long-range, sustainable plan.
Also at the meeting, Cowherd thanked Chinn Elementary School principal Lee Heinerikson for his 10 years of service at the district who resigned last week, effective Thursday, Sept. 30. He plans to start a business, and his investors insisted that the work must begin right away.
The board approved Dr. Andrew Hargis, current assistant principal at Chinn, to be the interim principal for Chinn. He will begin Friday, Oct. 1.
Hargis came to Park Hill in 2019 as Chinn’s assistant principal. Before Park Hill, he was an instructional coach in the Shawnee Mission School District, and a middle school teacher, principal intern and summer school principal in North Kansas City Schools.