Kansas City NAACP believes Park Hill schools taking necessary steps after racist petition

In the month since a racist petition was circulated by students at Park Hill South High School, district officials have said they are committed to professional development for teachers and staff to provide more culturally inclusive and relevant classroom experiences for students.

As part of the work the Park Hill School District has done recently, officials met with the local chapter of the NAACP.

The district is still working on how to measure the outcomes of the steps it is working to put in place, but it hopes the relationship with the NAACP will help keep the district accountable in improving the environment.

District officials met with the Kansas City chapter of the NAACP at the end of September. At that meeting the school district laid out the steps the school district has taken in the past to make the district more inclusive for its students, the steps the district is currently taking, and the steps and plans the district plans will take in the future.

Representatives for the NAACP in Kansas City declined to comment on the specifics of the meeting or the plans the district had. The chapter did, however, release a joint statement with the district after the meeting in which it said:

“The NAACP believes that the students of Park Hill South High School have voiced their concerns, that they have been heard and that measures are being put in place to ensure that their concerns continue to be heard,” and that, “the Park Hill School District has taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety of the students at Park Hill South High School.”

Park Hill School District Superintendent Jeanette Cowherd said in a phone interview that the NAACP was “extremely supportive of the steps that we were taking.”

“The one thing that was important for us also, during this conversation, was around making sure that we’re holding our people accountable, and then making sure that the district is remaining accountable and we appreciate having them as a third party to be accountable to,” she said.

Previously, parents in the district — particularly at Park Hill South High School — criticized the school district for what they saw as brushing off issues of racism when they arise, or not being proactive in its handling.

In September, a petition calling for a return to slavery, was circulated among students and made its way throughout the districts schools. The petition was just another racist incidents that students of color at the school said they’ve experienced — from microagressions to more overt racist incidents over the years.

In the days following the racist petition, Park Hill South Principal Kerrie Herren said that the school is grappling with racism in the same way the wider community is. Cowherd said then that the district would create a “plan of action” to combat racism.

Terri Deayon, director of access, inclusion and family engagement for the district said they are focused on three main silos: Continued talks with students, staff members and community members in the district — especially parents.

“We want to make sure we’re addressing the correct problem instead of just addressing something that we think sounds good to us,” Cowherd said.

It was announced this week that Cowherd, who took on the role in 2015, will step down as superintendent, after this school year. A district spokeswoman said the school district will continue its work to combat racism in Cowherd’s absence.

In the month since the petition was circulated, the district has held open lunch conversations with students. Staff members have been in communication with students and families within the school district and Cowherd recently met with members of the Black Student Union at Park Hill South.

Part of the district’s plan moving forward is to set up town hall meetings with students, as well as developing lessons and activities around its Sense of Belonging council, and AVID lessons — part of which provides practical training for teachers to help them better and more authentically connect with students from different backgrounds.

“I’ve got students that are hurting and I don’t ever want that,” Cowherd said. “I want all of my students to feel safe. I want them to all feel like they belong. And so just hearing from them directly, I felt was incredibly important to do that work.”

In the meeting with the NAACP, the organization recommended reaching out to the Community Relations Service (CRS) at the Department of Justice.

The CRS describes itself as “America’s Peacemaker” for communities where there is conflict based on race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or disability, according to its website.

Cowherd said she has already met with CRS staff members at the regional office based in Kansas City. She has another meeting scheduled with them Oct. 25.