In recent days, East Chapel Hill High School (ECHHS) saw student protests, community debate and renewed conversations about systemic racism after two educators in the school’s special education department spoke out about discrimination. Now, a third source has stepped forward to share his account of the incident.
According to these educators, a department-wide meeting was called on October 4 to discuss the removal of two Teachers Assistants (TAs) from Constance Leder’s classroom. At that meeting, sources said administrators told staff that TAs Darrell Parker and Adam Watkins were asked to move due to a parent’s request that no African American males work with their child.
97.9 The Hill has since reviewed the email from the family who requested a change in TAs in Leder’s classroom. The family, who is being kept anonymous to protect sensitive information about their child, did not include any phrasing regarding race or gender in their request. The message was sent from the child’s parent to Leder on August 23.
While the email detailing the parent’s request was not shown at the department meeting, according to department educators, this incident ultimately led to multiple grievances being filed with the school’s human resources department as well as the resignation of Adam Watkins.
Since 97.9 The Hill published its original story about the exceptional children department, Watkins has come forward to share what happened at that October 4 meeting and why he ultimately chose to resign.
“The administrator, Ms. Leder, and several other TAs were called into that meeting that morning,” Watkins said. “What was said was that this particular family didn’t want Black males working with their daughter. I mean, they pretty much singled out Mr. Darrell [Parker] for some reason.”
97.9 The Hill confirmed that in the emailed request, the parent raised concerns regarding Parker’s behavior and attitude toward their child; however, there was no mention of Parker’s race or other TAs’ races. 97.9 The Hill also confirmed that Watkins was not mentioned in the parent’s request, despite him maintaining that administrators still asked him to move classrooms.
When asked if any other reason was given at the department meeting for the transfer of Parker or himself, Watkins said nothing else was cited outside of their race.
“It wasn’t an issue of being moved to do another job because, as TAs, we are called upon to do multiple jobs at any given time,” Watkins said. “That wasn’t an issue. The issue was being moved for the color of our skin. That bothered me — and it bothered me that our administration was not backing us.”
Watkins said there was a lot of confusion among the department’s teacher assistants surrounding the incident. He said several emails were exchanged discussing TA movement, including from ECHHS Principal Ken Proulx. But Watkins said the administration never came to him to explain what was happening. He said the stress of the situation eventually proved to be too much for him, leading him to resign November 4.
“It was a hard, hard decision for me to step away from [the school],” Watkins said, having worked at ECHHS for more than 10 years. “But I mean, I had to really look at, ‘hey, this is really making me tired. It’s making me weary. It’s changing my whole being.’”
Since then, ECHHS students raised their voices advocating for more transparency, justice, and racial equality. From student-led protests, to sit-ins, to a bus ride to the Lincoln Center – which is the district’s administrative office – multiple student groups joined together to make their concerns heard throughout the week.
Student protestors gather for a walkout at East Chapel Hill High School this week (Photo by Benjamin McAvoy-Bickford/The ECHO)
Tuesday morning, a meeting was held between student protesters and ECHHS Principal Ken Proulx. At that school-sanctioned meeting, Caroline Chen, the editor-in-chief of East Chapel Hill High’s student-run news source, said students called for more transparency from Proulx.
“He said he still can’t comment on specifics,” she said. “He can’t really confirm or deny like basic facts until he has legal permission to. He says it’s all above him.”
Chen said the consensus she’s heard from fellow students is that Proulx seems to support the protesters but can’t support demonstrations during class time. At that meeting, Chen said students also used their time with administrators to discuss larger issues afflicting the school and district.
“A lot of students also want just overall racial equity at school to be addressed,” Chen said. “Like in the achievement gap: a lot of people are talking about how enrollment in AP classes versus honors or regular classes is very disproportionate across different racial groups. They’re trying to associate this incident with just generally the culture of East.”
Chen said students also requested that Assistant Principal Aaron Acome be present at future meetings — as Proulx is set to leave at the end of the year with Acome stepping in as interim principal.
On Thursday night, students, staff, parents, and community members attended the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) Board of Education meeting to air their grievances during the public comment period.
There, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP Youth Council collectively stood at the podium to address the larger issue of fair representation in the classroom. Kendall Lytle, a senior at ECHCCS and president of the youth council, said in her seven years in the district, she has only had two Black teachers.
“The continuous loss of these members, especially black faculty and staff has become a norm in this district,” Lytle said. “A majority of the youth council consists of students at East, and we’ve seen firsthand the detrimental impacts of these losses. As you are aware, students of color, especially Black students, struggle disproportionately in this district in comparison to our peers. There is no doubt those struggles are related to the feeling of unsupport by not having faces of faculty and staff we can relate to beyond custodial and cafeteria staff.”
Brian Link, a civics teacher at ECHHS and the president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Association of Educators, also spoke at the board meeting and applauded students at East who were willing to “stand up and speak out for what is right.”
“We have a journey that we need to continue on the matters of equity,” Link said. “Whether it’s on the particular issue that was published in Chapelboro, the grievance that is being addressed or on the much larger issues that our students are coming together to raise, that we see in our classroom, that our students face, that are seen with our staff — I am excited to stand with them, and ally and partner with them to make the change that is so desperately needed.”
Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP board member Diane Jackson, a former CHCCS employee of 30-plus years, said district leadership must “address the racial elephant in the room” to dismantle systemic racism in the school system.
“I wholeheartedly trust the superintendent’s commitment to transparency,” Jackson said. “It is the greater community and the institutional strongholds that are concerning to me. While many things aren’t for public consumption, it is the responsibility of the school board that you ask the questions, that you investigate the inaccuracies.”
Following the school board meeting Thursday night, CHCCS received word that students at East were planning a peaceful walkout to take place Friday. District Superintendent Nyah Hamlett emailed ECHHS students, families and staff that evening advocating for students’ safety and requesting that a safe space be made available on campus for students to hold their demonstration.
“ECHHS and CHCCS are addressing any student, family and staff concerns from multiple angles,” Hamlett said in her email. “We will always take seriously those who come forward with their concerns on any matter. We say again that CHCCS believes wholeheartedly that teacher and staff diversity enhance the learning experiences of all students.”
Hamlett said ECHHS’ Exceptional Children team is currently reviewing student schedules, healthcare plans, Individual Education Plans, “as well as providing instructional resources to ensure the school is providing the highest levels of support to our teachers, substitutes, teaching assistants and others.”
Lead photo via Hammond Cole Sherouse/The ECHO.
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