Parents Address Edwardsville School Board About Racial Discrimination

EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville Community Unit School District #7 (ECUSD7) board received questions and comments about racism in schools at their board meeting on June 26.

Several parents addressed the board. They spoke of specific situations where students were harassed, and they asked the board what they were going to do to prevent racial harassment going forward.

“Rather than deal with hollow words, we want to deal with substance,” Scott Ahart, a parent, told the board.

Ahart outlined policy changes that parents wish to see, most of which focus on prevention. He asked the board to implement a zero-tolerance policy for racial discrimination or harassment, provide age-appropriate education on racial discrimination to all students, and require cultural sensitivity training for teachers, administrators and staff. He also asked them to provide more access to literature by Black authors, and to increase the Black writings and writers studied in language arts, history and social studies curricula.

Last month, a few parents addressed concerns about racism during the school board’s May 22 meeting. A few days later, Sharonda Brown, a parent and licensed mental health professional, said that her son received a racist Snapchat message from another student. The message included slurs and other racist language, as well as a gun emoji pointed at a Black person’s head emoji.

At the time, ECUSD7 released a statement that said the incident was being investigated by the administration and the Edwardsville Police Department. Brown said she has not received any follow-up response in the month since.

“I have yet to hear from anyone in the district,” Brown said. “This is supposed to be a safe environment for all students, but I’m concerned about the students of color.”

Ahart said that the school board establishes policies and procedures to maintain safety in schools, but they have “a different book they look at” when it comes to racism.

“For [Brown] to say that, even to this day, she has not heard any form of resolution to it, shows a lack of compassion to what these kids are going through,” Ahart said in an interview after the meeting. “In light of recent events that have happened where young Black kids were having to endure being called [slurs] and other things, when they went to the faculty and they went to the staff and talked to them about it, their pleas went unanswered.”

The school board does not immediately respond to comments made during board meetings. ECUSD7 responded this morning with the following statement regarding racism in their schools:

“Any instance of racism undermines the inclusive and welcoming environment District #7 strives to create for all students, teachers and staff. The District does not condone racism, intolerance, or discrimination in any form. We want every member of District #7 to feel safe, valued and supported within our school community.”

The 2022-2023 Edwardsville High School Handbook prohibits bullying, harassment or discrimination based on race, with consequences for faculty and students up to and including termination or expulsion. The handbook notes that the district does not have zero-tolerance policies except as required by federal law or the Illinois School Code.

In 2021, the district appointed their first director of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Parents at the meeting acknowledged this but said that one person is not enough. The school board reported last night that further DEI training and conversations have been part of their summer initiatives.

“In light of the social traumas that all kids are experiencing in schools, recent events with COVID and how it’s affected our kids, this is just another unnecessary burden our kids are having to shoulder,” Ahart said after the meeting. “So what I’d like to see happen is, take your policies and procedures and act on them. When something like this happens, act on it. That’s all we’re asking.”

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