'You need to act now': Iowa City community leaders again demand action against racism in schools

Pastor Anthony Smith, right, speaks during public comment at an Iowa City Community School District board of directors meeting, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, at the district's Educational Services Center (ESC) at 1725 North Dodge Street in Iowa City, Iowa.

Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen

Dozens of Iowa City community members turned out for a second school board meeting in a row Tuesday to send a message: The district must take action against racism.

Speakers stressed that events earlier this month, when two West High students used blackface and a racist slur on social media, are emblematic of a much larger and long-unaddressed issue in the district. Many of the calls for action and accountability came from community leaders, including members of the city's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Johnson County Interfaith Coalition and the Black Voices Project.

"I went to the Iowa City Community School District, kindergarten through 12th grade," commission Chair Mohamed Traore, the first of 20 speakers, said Tuesday evening. "In that time, I experienced what a lot of Black students experience: constant bullying, racism, administrators doing next to nothing about it."

"You need to act now," Traore told the school board. "Otherwise, you are going to see minority students leave this district in droves."

Concerns about the treatment of students of color in the district were at the center of two hours of public comments at the board's previous meeting, on Nov. 9. Students at West High School and Northwest Junior High School held protests that Monday and Tuesday; about 100 high school students from across the district protested again on Nov. 19.

But the events of early November aren't singular, and many commenters Tuesday night included current students.

This week, the district alerted families of another racist social media post made by a student.

On Monday, Tate High School Assistant Principal Luke DeVries sent a message to families, staff and students saying school officials learned over the weekend of a "racially charged social media post by a Tate High student which included the use of the N-word."

The post was a selfie of a white student wearing a face mask with "TRUMP" printed on it and was captioned, "these (obscenity) are annoying as f***."

DeVries' message included a link to a survey for students asking how the school could best provide support. It also said that the behavior in the post referenced above is unacceptable.

Calls for accountability

The Rev. Meg Wagner, a member of the Johnson County Interfaith Coalition, told the school board Tuesday that she recognizes that efforts have been made to address issues of racism.

Wagner referenced the 2019-2022 Comprehensive Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan, which outlined steps to reduce achievement gaps and address disproportionate levels of disciplinary measures taken against students of different races, increase the diversity of district staff and promote culturally responsive policies, among other measures.

"But our fear is that, like too many plans and strategies that have come before it, (the equity plan) will not make the kind of difference that our young people need and are asking for," Wagner said.

The school board must take action beyond statements that racism will not be tolerated, Wagner continued — like regularly going into schools and meeting with student leaders, providing them with frequent accountability reports about equity action steps, and outlining clearly how racist behavior is being dealt with.

The Rev. Doyle Landry began his time at the podium referencing the work of Black journalists, including Lutrelle Palmer, who attained a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, Vernon Jarrett, the founder of the National Association of Black Journalists, and Dorothy Tucker, the current president of the NABJ.

Landry addressed Superintendent Matt Degner directly, telling him to spend money to bring educator Jane Elliott to the district "so that people understand what it's like to be treated a certain way based on something they had no control over."

Elliott, a white teacher in Riceville, Iowa, created the still often-used "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise following the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The exercise teaches children about discrimination by separating them in a classroom and assigning traits, such as intelligence, to the color of their eyes.

At one point, Landry left the podium that speakers use to address the board during the public comment period, approaching board members as he addressed them. Board President Shawn Eyestone called the behavior unacceptable, and Landry responded by saying the district's treatment of African American children is unacceptable.

Landry pointed out that Degner's salary — and what Degner might use it to pay for, like housing — comes from taxpayers.

"If the racism continues past tonight, don't get comfortable in your house," Landry said.

Angel Taylor with the Black Voices Project, spoke soon afterward. She gave the board 30 days to implement changes and said that, without it, the board could expect to see Black students leave the district.

"We are prepared to do that," Taylor said. "Because I'm done talking."

The Rev. Anthony Smith, the president of the Interfaith Coalition, listed a number of organizations that he said are waiting for a response and action, including the NAACP, the Black Student Union, the Johnson County Interfaith Coalition and the Black Voices Project.

"You are accountable to every Black student that sits behind me, every Black student that is in the district. The reason why you're in the position you're in is because somebody thought that you could be accountable. And as it seems right now, that accountability is in question. We need you to prove us wrong," he said.

He urged members of the board and district leadership to meet with community leaders over the issues raised at the meeting.

"If you keep yourself distant from us, you'll never know anything about us," Smith said. "And it makes you easier for you not to be accountable."

Degner, board members discuss next steps

At the end of the Nov. 9 meeting, school board members asked Superintendent Matt Degner for details about the district's response to the video incident at West.

In regards to the specific incident, Degner told the board Tuesday that the district followed its "threat assessment process" and disciplinary policies.

The Press-Citizen confirmed that the Iowa City Police Department received a call from West High School related to the video on Nov. 11. Responding to a request to see the corresponding incident report, Lee Hermiston, the department's spokesperson, said the report itself is not public because it is a "confidential investigative file."

The school also distributed complaint forms to students in response to the West incident, Degner said. In the short term, students and staff could also see mandatory trainings about bullying, harassment and discrimination as well as more meetings with administrators, students and restorative justice ambassadors to address issues.

In the long term, Degner said the district plans to work to ensure there is a clearly outlined disciplinary policy in place for the handling of racial slurs.

Last year, the district began evaluating administrators based on an "equity" standard. That standard will also be used for teacher evaluations in the future.

He also said the district would make efforts to gather input at the building level from more students, including via the creation of building-level equity committees like the one at the district level. Black Student Unions are also being formed at the high schools.

The district will also continue building the office of ombudsperson, a position that's new to the district this year and was created as part of efforts toward building community trust and contending with issues of racial bias.

"That probably is not an exhaustive list, but that I think is a nice framework for a starting point (for) our long-term and short-term response," Degner said of the action steps he listed Tuesday.

School board member Charlie Eastham asked the superintendent how confident he is that students would not come back to the school board in six months with the same concerns.

Degner said he wouldn't sugar coat it or guarantee that it wouldn't happen again.

"This is a heavy lift, right? We have to start managing and changing that experience, student by student, school by school, teacher by teacher," Degner said.

Cleo Krejci covers education for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. You can reach her at ckrejci@press-citizen.com or on Twitter via @_CleoKrejci.