South Middle School

The Lawrence school district continues to stay mum on the incident at South Middle School that spurred a public discussion about racism in the classroom earlier this fall.

On Monday, the Lawrence school board, following an executive session, voted unanimously to approve the resignation of “an employee who was the subject of (a) pending investigation,” but declined to comment on whether that individual is in fact the South teacher who in October was accused of making racist remarks in class. What, exactly, that teacher is alleged to have said has never been revealed by the school district.

David Cunningham, the district’s executive director of human resources and legal counsel, confirmed on Tuesday that the investigation of the South teacher had been completed. The findings of that investigation, however, have not been made publicly available, an action that Cunningham defended as standard protocol to protect the confidentiality of staff and students.

“There are just certain things that I’m not at liberty to discuss. When it comes to personnel matters, we’re just very cautious and we don’t say a lot,” Cunningham told the Journal-World on Tuesday.

“Everything that we’re talking about is not public,” he continued when asked why details of the investigation that resulted in Monday night’s resignation had not been disclosed by the district, even after being pressed by attendees at the school board’s meeting that evening for greater transparency in the matter.

Cunningham said Tuesday that he could neither “confirm nor deny” if the employee whose resignation was announced Monday was, in fact, the South teacher whose investigation was completed this semester.

“The fact is that statutes protect the confidentiality of staff and students, and I can’t share information. Sometimes that puts me at a disadvantage. It leaves people wondering, ‘What exactly happened here?'” Cunningham said. “But I can’t overcome that challenge simply because I’m a public entity. I’m still bound by confidentiality rules.”

Under the Kansas Open Records Act, public agencies — such as the school district and school board — have the right to close certain records at their discretion but are not bound by law to keep records closed. State statute requires that some information, including the “names, positions, salaries and lengths of service” of public officers and employees, be kept open.

This creates a “tricky” balancing act for public entities trying to protect the privacy of employees while also honoring a parent’s right to know, notes school board member Jessica Beeson.

“It’s difficult. And the thing is that we have a legal team that advises us on those courses of action given the circumstances of the entire case. There’s a lot of information that we receive. We talk it through and come up with what we think is the best course of action,” Beeson said.

“As far as how that’s balanced with transparency, it really doesn’t have to do with naming individuals in certain contexts, but, really, how transparent are you in the process?” she added. “I think in that regard, we could do much better as a district.”

Not releasing information that stems from a personnel investigation, Beeson said, is a “protective” measure extended to all teachers as part of a negotiated contract with the Lawrence Education Association, the school district’s teachers union.

On Monday, following the school board’s approval of the investigated employee’s resignation, Cunningham said that parents would be notified of the outcome at some point that evening or on Tuesday.

Laken Howard, whose daughter attends South Middle School, said Tuesday afternoon that she had received an email from Principal Jennifer Bessolo earlier that day regarding the investigation of the South teacher.

The email didn’t disclose much information, Howard said, other than notifying parents that the teacher, who has been suspended (with pay) since October pending the investigation, had submitted his resignation, effective at the end of the 2016-2017 school year, and will remain on administrative leave for the duration of the school year.

Having lived in Lawrence her entire life, Howard said she was “surprised” to hear that racist remarks were allegedly being made in a classroom setting. While she understands the importance of due process in these cases, she still felt disappointed by the outcome of the South investigation.

“I feel like it’s a slap on the hand more than an actual disciplinary action, because he’s still getting paid,” Howard said of the South teacher’s resignation.

Though her own daughter has never personally reported hearing racist comments at school, she has heard accounts from friends who have, Howard said. “That someone who should be a role model for them is doing this,” she continued, referring to the alleged racist remarks, “is kind of sad.”

And it’s certainly “not anything that should be taken lightly,” Howard said. Beeson, who grew up in Lawrence and graduated from the public schools she now oversees, agrees with her on that. District officials, upon announcing the investigation on Oct. 19, released a statement that stressed Superintendent Kyle Hayden’s “deep concern” about the allegations.

Yet, very little information — including whether or not the district found any evidence that racist remarks had actually been made during class at South — has been provided to the public as of yet.

In the past, the district has routinely named individuals who have resigned or had their employment terminated. When asked why the district has yet to release the name of the latest employee to resign, Cunningham declined to comment.

It’s standard procedure for school board members to vote for the approval of employee resignations, Cunningham and Beeson said, though Cunningham later added that he was not aware of any policy that mandated this practice.

Beeson said Tuesday that she understands the frustrations of the families that voiced their concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding these personnel matters. Beeson understands, she said, because members of the school board are experiencing “similar frustrations” in the face of “trying to do what’s best for our students and teachers.”

“It is a difficult balance to make sure that everybody feels protected, and we have a lot of work to do. And we have to keep plugging away and solving these issues,” she said. “One of the things that’s come to light with this recent situation is that we have families of color that don’t feel safe in our school buildings, and we need to work on that.”

Other issues raised at school board meetings since the South allegations became public in October include calls for expanded paraeducator training, Beeson noted, as well as concerns that staff-led equity teams aren’t receiving enough support at the building level. All are valid — and should be listened to, Beeson said.

“Having a light shone on some of these issues that we have not been paying close enough attention to, is a good thing. As a board and as a district, we’re committed to working on those things,” she said, and “… We want people to keep talking to us.”

Marcel Harmon, the school board’s president, declined to offer details when approached directly after Monday’s meeting. Calls to several school board members — among them Jill Fincher, Vanessa Sanburn and Rick Ingram — were not immediately returned Tuesday. Shannon Kimball, the school board’s vice president, declined to comment on the matter when called Tuesday by the Journal-World.