To reflect on the year, Chapelboro.com is re-publishing some of the top stories that impacted and defined our community’s experience in 2021. These stories and topics affected Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the rest of our region.
Late this year, several educators within East Chapel Hill High School’s special education department reached out to 97.9 The Hill to express concerns over discrimination within the department. Since that story broke in November, ECHHS has seen student protests, community debate and renewed conversations about systemic racism on campus and in the school system.
According to educators in ECHHS’s Exceptional Children department, 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.
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.
“The actual principal himself wanted me to move,” Parker told 97.9 The Hill. “And I’m like, ‘No, I’m not moving,’ and I left it like that. I said I’m not moving because this is not right. I have not done anything. I can’t help that I’m Black.”
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.
Since then, ECHHS students have 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 following Thanksgiving break. This included a meeting held between student protesters and ECHHS Principal Ken Proulx, who is set to leave East Chapel Hill High School at the end of the calendar year.
Photo by Benjamin McAvoy-Bickford/The ECHO.
Following student demonstrations on campus, at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ (CHCCS) Board of Education meeting December 3, an abundance of students, staff, parents, and community members attended 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.”
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 board meeting, CHCCS superintendent Dr. Nyah Hamlett 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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