A group of Park Hill South High School volleyball players wanted to show support for racial equality and inclusiveness but were instead met with bigotry and accusations of hate by one of the team parents.
The issue started more than two weeks ago when the Park Hill South volleyball team returned to the court after being quarantined for two weeks because of COVID-19 issues. Some South players had T-shirts made with three fists with the words “Together we rise.” The three fists are different colors.
Team members had worn the shirts to school and at an away game versus Oak Park on Monday, Sept. 28, before wearing the shirts in warm-ups at home versus North Kansas City on Tuesday, Oct. 29.
According to an opinion piece in the Kansas City Star last Tuesday, Oct. 6 that spoke with players on the team, Park Hill South interim principal Dr. Kerrie Herren went onto the court and demanded the team remove the shirts.
“It was just embarrassing,” PHS senior Abbie Day told the Star about the incident.
Park Hill South head volleyball coach Samantha Williams leads her team through a timeout on Monday, Oct. 12.
Day and her teammate Daniella Dake told the Star they had friends on the NKC team that also wore similar shirts and that it was particularly embarrassing because they believed it sent the wrong message to not only students at PHS but their friends on the Lady Hornets’ team.
The piece in the Star goes on to say that Herren took the issue further by reprimanding South head coach Samantha Williams and allegedly accused her of being exclusionary.
When students asked why there was a problem administrators told the players and their parents that they would have to allow shirts that represent racist organizations or Make America Great Again gear that promotes the current president of the United States Donald Trump.
Herren confirmed to the Star that the issue centered around two players’ parents who thought the shirts were tied to an inappropriate political statement tied to Black Lives Matter.
After meeting with students and their families Herren sent out an email last Tuesday, Oct. 6, apologizing for the incident.
“I accidentally communicated that I might not support the message behind these shirts,” Herren says in the email. “I absolutely support the message of unity and standing up to hate.”
Herren went on to say “I now understand that I embarrassed and hurt people with my mistake and I am sorry for that.”
Herren’s email was followed up the next day with an email from superintendent Dr. Jeanette Cowherd to all of the parents in the district.
“This was a hasty decision and it sent a terrible message that we do not support the intent behind these shirts,” Cowherd’s email reads. “I am sorry we sent that message because it could not be further from the truth.”
Cowherd noted in the school board meeting last Thursday, Oct. 8, that equality and inclusiveness are ingrained in the district’s strategic plan they’ve been working on since 2016. Ironically Herren has been leading the district’s Equality and Inclusion Task Force for the last three years.
“What this did was highlight the need for the kind of work Dr. Herren has been doing,” Park Hill District communications director Nicole Kirby told the Platte County Citizen. “There’s always room for improvement and he’s really committed to doing that work.”
In the Star’s piece the students involved felt as if school administrators were simply going to move on without a conversation about what happened. Herren’s letter to students and parents didn’t come until a week later and references the Star’s editorial in the email. Cowherd was asked about the timing and if the district was just reacting to negative press. Cowherd told the Citizen that’s not the case. Cowherd said district officials were working behind the scenes to figure out how to move forward.
“We wanted to do it right,” Cowherd said. “There are so many sides to this and I want us to be better for it.”
The Star noted that Park Hill School District is 70 percent white and only a handful of players on the team are not white. Cowherd said that doesn’t tell the tale of the district. Cowherd said her district deals with students who speak more than 80 different languages.
“Sometimes we make mistakes,” Cowherd said. “This is difficult work. It’s a very challenging situation.”
Cowherd said Herren was looking out for all of the students who were involved and doesn’t want anyone ostracized because of their beliefs. Students who spoke with the Star said that wasn’t the case with the student involved although the situation has now made things awkward.
Cowherd told board members that administrators are evaluating every aspect of what happened to come up with a plan to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.
“I’m a firm believer that in situations like this the people are not the problem,” Cowherd said. “The processes are the problem so we need to fix our processes.”
Kirby told the Citizen that changes will be made so that situations like this can be avoided.
“One of the opportunities for improvement we have going forward is to be really consistent and clear about what’s allowed and what’s not and making sure that we’re clear about our practices,” Kirby said.
It’s not clear where the team and administrators stand. Kirby said she didn’t want to speak for anyone. At the game on Monday night all of the players were wearing the shirts except for one.
“We do not have a policy that would equate a message or racial unity with a message of hate,” Cowherd said. “In fact it’s just the opposite. There are absolutely no comparisons between these two things.”