SPS board official accused of disrupting student event on 'racial trauma'

A Springfield school board officer reportedly disrupted a Thursday student session on mental health during the Youth Empowerment Summit, an annual conference created to expose local high school students from historically under-represented groups to higher education options.

Officials with Burrell Behavioral Health, Missouri State University, Springfield Public Schools, and the local chapter of the NAACP confirm they have fielded complaints, primarily from students, about the alleged behavior of board vice president Maryam Mohammadkhani.

The complaints alleged Mohammadkhani challenged a statement made by Marquisa "Keke" Rover — director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Burrell — who was in the middle of encouraging 35 high school seniors to quietly reflect on their experience with trauma, specifically racial trauma, during a session titled "Taking care of your brain health."

"The interruption from the SPS board member occurred following an exercise intended to highlight the prevalence of racial trauma among the attendees. It was apparent that the students were troubled and upset by the interruption, and Rover quickly worked to bring the room under control, practicing mindful meditation and continuing the session," said Matt Lemmon, vice president of communications for Burrell, in a statement to the News-Leader.

"Burrell supports healthy discourse and even disagreement when appropriate, but we never condone disruptions that undermine the nature and intent of any session, or that violate the safe, constructive environments we seek to create in educational settings."

Lemmon added: "We extend our support to the students and guests present, as well as to Rover."

The News-Leader left a voicemail seeking comment with Mohammadkhani, who responded by text. Of the summit, she stated: "I was disturbed by what I saw and heard."

Asked to specify what she found disturbing, Mohammadkhani said she planned on "addressing" her concerns with those involved in organizing the summit. But, she said she not want to go into any detail "until I've discussed it with my superintendent."

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The summit is free and open to any Springfield high school student, regardless of their background, and they must secure parental permission to attend.

Held on the Missouri State campus each spring, the summit is planned by the local NAACP, the Springfield district, and the university's multicultural services.

Mohammadkhani said the allegation that she disrupted the session on mental health is not true. "Your information is incorrect. I made a comment, same as the other board member in the room."

The other board member in the room was Shurita Thomas-Tate, who sat in the front with students. In the third and final year of her first term, she is running for re-election in April.

Thomas-Tate said interruption 'not helpful at all'

Reached by phone Friday, Thomas-Tate said she has been part of the summit for a dozen years as a member of the Missouri State faculty and the local NAACP. "I was not in there, in an official capacity, as a (school) board member. However, whenever I am present in an educational setting, my role as a board member comes up."

Rover started the session by talking about what is needed to maintain a healthy brain and segued into the impact trauma can have on mental health.

Thomas-Tate said her only comment was to ask about secondhand trauma or what happens if a person witnesses a traumatic event, in person or online.

In the exercise that followed, Rover asked students to close their eyes and raise their hands if they have experienced racial trauma.

Rover reported that most hands went up, which Mohammadkhani challenged during the session, saying it was just part of the room.

"At that moment, all the students turned around to look behind them like 'Who said that?' and students got really upset, like 'We're having a moment here, we are trying to create a safe space,'" Thomas-Tate said. "The students were saying 'Why does that even matter if 10 people or everybody raised their hand? I raised my hand.'"

Thomas-Tate said the room got loud, students were grumbling and she can't recall if there was any additional back-and-forth. Mohammadkhani left a short time later.

The News-Leader contacted Burrell seeking an interview with Rover. Burrell declined to make her available, issuing a statement that confirmed the incident. (Rover was part of the recent Community Task Force on Facilities, which led to the April bond issue).

In the statement, Burrell said it was honored to be part of the summit again and Rover's presentation is consistent with others that have been given to students in the past.

"We value this longstanding program, which encourages young minorities to understand the importance of higher education and pursue life goals," Lemmon said in the statement. "As a community mental health center, we take seriously our job to provide evidence-based information and practices on topics like trauma — including racial trauma — and to create a safe space for youth to process and hopefully begin to overcome it."

Like Mohammadkhani, Thomas-Tate planned to relay concerns about the incident to the Springfield district.

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"If Maryam wants to spout off at me at board meetings or other board members or the superintendent, we're all adults," Thomas-Tate said. "But to come to the students' session, this was not a community session, and to disrupt that setting, where the students were being very vulnerable ... was not helpful at all or relevant to that particular moment. It was egregious."

Mohammadkhani questioned why the News-Leader was asking about her presence in the session.

"Why are you interested and how did you find out?" she asked. "How is this a story?"

'An empowerment event for high school students'

The Youth Empowerment Summit, also called YES, started more than 20 years ago on the Missouri State campus as a collaboration with SPS and the local NAACP.

At least 150 Springfield high school students participated this year from Central, Hillcrest, Kickapoo, Parkview, Study Alternative High and the Launch virtual program.

"It is really a great opportunity for minority students who might be more hesitant to go off to college to see what it might be like to be on a college campus and to hear about the possibilities," said Dee Siscoe, MSU vice president for student affairs. "It is not really a recruiting event for Missouri State, it is an empowerment event for high school students."

Sessions and presenters change annually but outside of an opening session and lunch, students are separated by grade level. They attend presentations and discussion on ethical leadership, cultural competence, and community engagement. There is a special academy for seniors.

Break-out sessions this year included social media responsibility, positive body image, future planning and financial literacy, among others.

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The sessions started at 9 a.m. and wrapped up before 2 p.m. at Plaster Student Union and campus tours were also offered.

Siscoe said she was not in Rover's session but confirmed "there were some things said" by Mohammadkhani, who then left.

"Our folks who were present talked to the students and worked through that and that is really what I know of the incident," she said. "We do an evaluation and we'll get that feedback next week based on what students got from the program and generally it's always very positive."

The News-Leader asked the Springfield district if there had been any reports about the incident. Board president Denise Fredrick said yes.

"As board president, I can confirm the district has been contacted by stakeholders who are concerned about the reported interaction. This communication includes phone calls, emails and written statements from adults and students," Fredrick said. "I will be sharing this information with the Board of Education."

Other presenters this year included Christina Ford, of the Rebound Foundation; Tyrone Bledsoe, founder of SAAB, a national mentoring program headquartered at Missouri State; Darline Mabins, with the Community Partnership of the Ozarks; and City Council members Heather Hardinger and Monica Horton.

Horton, a member of the local NAACP who presented on civic engagement, emailed the school board early Friday and forwarded the message to the News-Leader.

In her email, she said students and school employees expressed concern about the comments Mohammadkhani made during the session.

"Employees shared that Maryam disrupted the students’ session with a disruption declaring that what was being said by the facilitator were lies; then this board member exited the room with no apology for her behavior and harm to students," Horton wrote to the board. "Employees shared that the discussion preceding this board member’s dismissive outburst was about race-based trauma, ironically."

In the email, Horton said the session — which she was not in — was expected to be a "safe space for students to acknowledge racial trauma based on their lived experiences."

"This inappropriate conduct by a board member must be confronted publicly by her colleagues on the school board at the next board meeting during board comments, and the constituents who elected her who share the values of dignity and respect for groups who often expect marginalization as was the case here," Horton wrote.

"As a side note, non-Christians can practice religious bigotry, women can be misogynistic, and people of color can uphold white supremacist ideals that are dismissive of individuals who experience marginalization especially from people in positions of power; and minors are particularly vulnerable to this kind of treatment, but often do not recognize it or talk about it, but in this case SPS students reported it."

Claudette Riley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas to criley@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: SPS board official accused of disrupting student event on trauma