Spokane NAACP & School Superintendent Discuss Racist Incidents, Accountability
News Story by Cassy Benefield | FāVS News
Spokane NAACP deliberated over racist incidents and accountability within Spokane’s Public School system Sunday afternoon on their newly relaunched “Challenging the Narrative” web series.
NAACP President Lisa Gardner and Vice President Jaime Stacy sat down with Spokane Public School Superintendent Adam Swinyard for this 45-minute discussion on Zoom and Facebook Live.
The conversation was prompted by the “appalling flyer” distributed at Wilson Elementary School nearly two months prior, suggesting fourth and fifth graders dress up as hobos and slaves for a music concert.
Gardner praised the swift response of the Spokane Public School district, noting that they were proactive in reaching out to the NAACP before they could intervene.
“I was very, very pleased that your team reached out to me and said ‘We’re on it,” she said. “They were on it quick — the response and reaching out to NAACP before NAACP could even get to the situation.”
She explained Swinyard had wanted to attend the March 20 Town Hall. However, she purposely decided against it to allow for transparent community dialogue beyond the Wilson incident.
“I was very intentional in not wanting you to be there, because I wanted there to be transparent conversation with the community and allowing them to air their grievances, but also, too, it’s more than SPS,” Gardner said. “So this is a town hall talk about what’s going on in our schools. How can we help with our families and our teachers and our students of color, so it’s beyond just Spokane Public Schools.”
The Conversation
The first question posed to Swinyard revolved around his feelings about the town hall and what he learned from it.
“In watching it I also reiterated to me it’s really important for us to be in community together and in relationships and create space where we can talk about what’s happening, for people to feel like they can be they can be heard and their experiences can be shared,” he said. “It also reiterated to me how important is that we’re operating as much as we possibly can off the same information.”
The information he wanted to clarify was another racist incident within the Spokane Public School system. Some at the town hall claimed Shadle teachers used the ‘N’ word and nothing happened to them.
“I can see nothing happening would be infuriating. Now that wasn’t the case. And quite the exact opposite happened. Those two individuals never worked for Spokane Public Schools in the classroom again,” he said.
“When things happen in Spokane Public Schools, it makes me particularly sad. And it makes me angry. It makes me furious,” he said. “When an adult makes a choice that hurts kids or staff or families, it makes me furious. And it makes me want to do everything possible so it doesn’t happen again.”
How to Hold People and Systems Accountable?
Stacy took the bulk of the conversation asking Swinyard about policy, procedure and accountability within the school system. She also addressed how teachers seem to be held accountable, but not the principals.
“I do think that they (the principals) are responsible for the cultures in their buildings,” Stacy said. “So we have incidents like what happened at Wilson or what happened at Shadle and teachers are being held accountable. How are we holding principals accountable?”
Swinyard responded by stating that the principal of Wilson Elementary School no longer holds that position and a new principal will be appointed. He did not address the situation regarding Shadle’s principal.
Looking forward, Swinyard emphasized the importance of continuous improvement. He stated the goal is for all students to feel safe and supported in their learning environment.
He encouraged ongoing reflection and a commitment to asking, “What else?” to drive progress.
“So yes, we’ve done a lot. And that’s great. That’s great, but what else?” he said. “And then when we do that, then we should say what else and when we do that, then we should say what else and just keep asking that and not be satisfied.”
The video recording of the talk with captions can be watched here.
The Spokane NAACP plans to host one “Challenging the Narrative” conversation per month. The next speaker has yet to be announced.
