I JOIN WITH THE N.A.A.C.P. & NEW JUSTICE COALITION TO DEMAND AN ADEQUATE RESPONSE TO THE DISCRIMINATORY & RACIST BEHAVIOR OF ASHFORD HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS.
JAMES R. WARD III AS. GEN. COUNSEL AL STATE DEPT. OF ED. , GOVERNOR KAY IVEY , STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF ALABAMA DR. ERIC MACKEY
Freedom of speech does not protect public employees operating in their employment such as these school teachers Kim Worsham , Tambria Mccardle, Julee Summerford Lasseter, Hannah Kirkland, Candy Lawrence, & Danielle Helms when the employees make a conscience decision to go into the classroom every single day and conspire against and slander black students, former students, student -parents, and other protected classes of people.
Even though these teachers, every single day:
1. Created a hostile school environment
2. Deprived students of their constitutional rights
3. Left behind direct evidence of discrimination, conspiracy, and racism
Which was exposed to the Houston County Board of Education and Superintendent David Sewell by the N.A.A.C.P. , the New Justice Coalition of several churches and organizations across several counties in Alabama, and local & National news media including WTVY -- WDHN -- Reportofthesouth.com -- Bet News -- Bet.com and more,
The superintendent recommended and the Houston County school board members, with the exception of School board member David Hollinger (Whom opposed), voted to retain, reinstate, and only slap these teachers on the wrist with a 10 day suspension with pay.
The teachers -- who made statements such as " That NI**ER can't walk and chew bubble gum" and joked openly among each other and in a facebook group chat, as their communication tool of choice, about pregnant students' sex lives, and violence, and the i.q. of their students -- had already been granted a leave of absence for 10 days with pay.
This was not an innocent exchange of words between teachers but the investigation uncovered over 200 or more messages between these teachers for an unknown amount of days and months.
Because of the inadequate response from the Houston County Board of Education and Superintendent who are complicit and upholding RACIST and DISCRIMINATORY , HOSTILE, & HARMFUL behavior against students -- We are Petitioning the state to step in and do the right thing.
Please Read the letter above prepared by the N.A.A.C.P. and the New Justice Coalition and join in with signing the petition. These students, parents, and we need your help.
- JVW
Sponsored by
To:
JAMES R. WARD III AS. GEN. COUNSEL AL STATE DEPT. OF ED. , GOVERNOR KAY IVEY , STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF ALABAMA DR. ERIC MACKEY
From:
[Your Name]
TO: James R. Ward, III, Associate General Counsel for Alabama State Dept. of Ed.
FROM: New Justice Coalition
RE: Letter dated June 22, 2020
Date: July 18, 2020
This communication is in response to the letter from you dated June 22, 2020. In that letter, you were responding to the letter from the New Justice Coalition sent to Dr. Mackey dated June 5, 2020 regarding racist and derogatory comments by education employees. Your communication solicited any information to add to the request for the State to review and intervene regarding the Ashford High School issue dating back to November 2019 and decision by Houston County Schools Supt and Board of Education December 2019. Again, the failure to respond/inadequate response is the reason for the continued request for State intervention.
In addition to the Ashford situation that transpired in 2019, it is important to mention the following in 2020. A teacher in the Dothan City Schools System made inappropriate comments on social media, and that system cited ethics as the basis for removing that individual from his primary education position. This is one reason that the State Board should review the Houston County School Board’s decision. If Dothan City Schools had grounds for termination/non renewal and both systems are operating under Alabama Code of Conduct, surely the Ashford employees could have been and should be terminated also. Additionally, in the Ashford situation, there seems to have been an IDEA violation. Lastly, in 2020 there have been several incidents across America where employees have lost their jobs because of racist comments/social media posts, etc. This is yet another reason why the State Board should intervene and Ashford employees should be terminated.
As stated in previous communication, the Coalition is asking the State Board to expeditiously review the actions/inaction of the Houston County Supt and Board, and help us to resolve this issue that is actually a symptom of an even greater problem in America. We remain committed to help all children to be treated fairly in public school settings, and we need the State Board’s help to ensure that these and other individuals do not display such detrimental behavior while employed as public servants. Attached hereto are signed petitions supporting request.