SPS board ousts Mohammadkhani from vice president role in split vote

Five days after Springfield school board vice president Maryam Mohammadkhani disrupted a student session at the Youth Empowerment Summit, she was stripped of her board leadership role.

The 4-3 vote Tuesday to remove Mohammadkhani as the board vice president, initiated by board member Danielle Kincaid, was largely symbolic. The board will elect officers again following the April 4 election.

"It is a pattern of behavior and, to me, this is the last straw," said Kincaid, adding this "was not an isolated incident" after making the motion. "... It is unbecoming of a board member, unbecoming of a board officer and not somebody I want in a leadership role on our board."

The ouster came after a 75-minute discussion, punctuated by interruptions and heated exchanges, about how board members are expected to conduct themselves and the complaints received by the district from students, employees and event organizers about Mohammadkhani's behavior at the summit.

Mohammadkhani questioned why the issue was brought up in a public meeting before board members reached out to her, by phone or email, to get her side.

"You are seeking a public shaming without due course ... and that speaks to the disfunction of this board and I have spoken on this before, the culture of group think," Mohammadkhani said, shortly after the discussion started. "I find myself before this mob and all I can offer you are the facts."

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

Kincaid and fellow board members Denise Fredrick, Shurita Thomas-Tate and Scott Crise argued Mohammadkhani's behavior was out of line and voted for her removal as a board officer.

Crise, participating in the meeting via Zoom, said board members ought to set an "amazing example" for students.

"This is not acceptable," Crise said. "We, as a board, need to hold all board members including Dr. Mohammadkhani accountable for her actions. It is something that we should take very seriously."

The board majority elected Crise to serve as vice president. Crise and Mohammadkhani each are two years into their first three-year term.

Mohammadkhani, who gave a detailed account of her actions at the Thursday event, sought to remain in the board vice president role and was supported by members Kelly Byrne and Steve Makoski.

"I just find this laughable, honestly, I really do," Byrne said.

Following the vote, several audience members stood up and shouted "Good job, Maryam, we stand behind you" as they walked out. They loudly referred to the removal as a "public shaming" and "trash."

Mohammadkhani: "I wasn't the one who lied to teenagers"

The Youth Empowerment Summit is a one-day conference each spring on the Missouri State University campus. It is organized by MSU's multicultural services, the district, and the Springfield chapter of the NAACP as a way to expose Springfield high school students from under-represented backgrounds to college and career options.

Mohammadkhani, who did not notify the district that she planned to attend, observed a session called "Taking care of your brain health" that was led by Marquisa "Keke" Rover, the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Burrell Behavioral Health.

Rover started the session by outlining what students need to maintain a healthy brain and then segued into the role trauma, specifically racial trauma, can have on mental health.

She asked the seniors to close their eyes, reflect on their own experiences and raise their hands if they experienced racial trauma. She then reported, according to Burrell, that most had raised their hands.

Mohammadkhani said Rover told the students that "every single person in this room raised their hand because this is real" but she only observed 10 students, or less than 25%, raising a hand from the back of the room.

Mohammadkhani said that, once called on by Rover, she commented that "only about 10 people raised their hand," and those were the only seven words she spoke.

Mohammadkhani said Rover made a comment about how she'd kept her eyes open and then she left the room and immediately texted Superintendent Grenita Lathan. Inside, students were upset about the disruption, an observer noting how many hands went up, and the perceived challenge of Rover.

"I wasn't the one who lied to teenagers to protect an agenda," said Mohammadkhani, insisting she was just pointing out the truth.

"I felt that it was simply wrong to emotionally and psychologically manipulate and deprecate the students who didn't raise their hand at that moment. And I felt that it was especially egregious when it comes to being perpetrated under the guise of mental health."

She added: "I will continue to speak the truth whenever it's necessary to protect children from whatever the hustlers are peddling."

There was an eruption of cheers and scowls following Mohammadkhani's comments and Fredrick asked people who stood and shouted to leave the board room. They were escorted out by school police.

Mohammadkhani then addressed Kincaid. "I don't question myself for why I defended the truth. What I question is why nobody else does and nobody else did."

Several board members noted Mohammadkhani's account of the event contradicted what was reported by students in the room.

Facing Mohammadkhani, Thomas-Tate — who was present in the session as a member of the MSU faculty and the NAACP — said: "You absolutely caused the disruption." Thomas-Tate said if Mohammadkhani had an issue with the presenter, or presentation, that was not the "appropriate place and time" to register an objection.

"Am I hearing that it is OK to lie to children?" Mohammadkhani asked Thomas-Tate.

"It is not OK to lie to children," Thomas-Tate responded. "It is also not OK to challenge the presenter in front of children during their session, that they were engaged in. If you have a problem with that, there's ways to handle it."

Mohammadkhani, who grew up in Iran, said she sat in the session and reflected on her own experiences before deciding to speak.

"I come with a lot of 'lived experiences.' I've seen this playbook before and I recognize, it and I sat in that room, as an adult, and I was reflecting on the trauma of indoctrination that I had experienced as a student and so I was not able to stand for it," she said.

Byrne and Makoski sided with Mohammadkhani and trusted her account. Both said the bigger issue was that Rover allegedly lied about how many hands were raised.

"I fully support Maryam and her discretion," Byrne said. "I've come to trust her track record and I believe what she said about the facts of this situation. I fully believe her account of these events."

The district contracts with Burrell, where Rover works, to provide mental health services to students in the district. Rover was also part of the Community Task Force on Facilities.

"This is something that SPS should not condone and if somebody is going to sit and lie from (a place) that we've hired in order to provide services to the students within Springfield Public Schools, we need to take a look at who we are actually putting in front of these kids," Makoski said.

He said it was inappropriate for the board to be "chastising" Mohammadkhani.

Kincaid repeatedly said Rover was not present in the meeting to offer her side. Burrell has issued a statement in support of Rover and the students.

Asked by Fredrick why she challenged the presenter in the session, Mohammadkhani said: "I thought maybe she doesn't know how to count or maybe she was distracted."

Student to school board: "We demand a public apology"

Officials with Burrell, Missouri State, and the local NAACP fielded complaints, primarily from students, about actions Mohammadkhani took during the session. They also received letters.

In one, Kickapoo High School senior Kekelie Ketonou said she was "confused" by Mohammadkhani's behavior in the room.

"It does not matter if even one person in that room raised their hand, because when it comes to raising your hand and asking others about the trauma they've experienced based on the race, based on something they cannot change, we have to stand up for each other because it really is just bullying," she wrote. "It's unnecessarily rude aggression towards people, high school students at that."

Ketonou wrote the disruption was "extremely frustrating and disappointing" and put her and other students "on guard" for the rest of the event.

"This is a legitimate problem. This is somebody coming into a space (that) is supposed to be safe for students of color and completely stripping them of that opportunity," she wrote. "There are not many spaces in the SPS district for high school students to mingle and discuss their experiences and race-related trauma."

More:MSU, Burrell pen letter of support for youth summit after SPS board member's 'disruption'

Ketonou said she was surprised to learn the interruption came from the school board vice president.

"People put their kids in the school system hoping the best for them regardless of race, gender or income. It is asinine that a person, especially somebody in charge of the welfare of our students and their future, thinks it is OK to take away their voices because somebody misspoke."

Later in the letter, Ketonou wrote: "If Dr. Mohammadkhani is unable to follow the most basic rules of common courtesy, it is very concerning that she is in charge of our children."

In a handwritten letter, student Bre Benson said was caught off-guard by Mohammadkhani's comment in the session.

"It was like the moment was ruined," she wrote. "I didn't like her tone or attitude."

Others said they felt disrespected, devalued and invalidated.

In an email, district patron Jessica Green alleged Mohammadkhani violated a policy that requires board members to "represent the needs and interests of all students in the district."

"This shows she will not represent the interests of all students. This shows she has and will disrespect our students if their views do not align with hers," said Green, who advocated for Mohammadkhani to no longer serve as board vice president. "This exemplifies a lack of impulse control, poor conduct, and blatant disrespect."

A student, Wendy Riley-Washington, was one of the public speakers at the start of the meeting. In the session, she was alarmed to discover Mohammadkhani did not close her eyes when students were asked to close theirs and raise their hand if they had experienced "racism or microaggression."

"The speaker stated that everyone's hands were up but a certain member of the board decided to say that only 10 hands were up. The entire room turned around and looked appalled at her audacity to minimize our experiences," she said.

Riley-Washington said Mohammadkhani left the room without apologizing about the disruption. She said it is the "ethical responsibility" of the board to make sure students feel safe and schools are inclusive.

"There is more than enough evidence stated here to show the political corruption that has taken over the board," she said. "My civil liberties aren't political. We demand a public apology and I can assure that we aren't going anywhere."

Board president: "Our actions and our words are closely scrutinized"

At the start of the meeting, Fredrick asked the board to add a discussion of the incident to the agenda and all but one board member, Makoski, agreed.

Byrne questioned how many members had prior knowledge of that request. Kincaid said she notified Fredrick of her plan to request Mohammadkhani's removal as a board officer and separately contacted Crise to see if he'd agree to serve in the role if nominated.

Fredrick said the goal was to discuss the complaints, appropriate board conduct and next steps.

"We must recognize and acknowledge, for all of us as members of the board, our actions and our words are closely scrutinized and reflect not only upon the individual board member but all of us as board members and the district. So we as a board have a responsibility to police ourselves and ensure that each of us, and we as a collective board, adhere to professional standards and do not engage in conduct that can be perceived as, or may negatively impact, the district," she said.

Fredrick said she was moved by the statements from students about how Mohammadkhani's actions made them feel.

"We have lost our focus on our students and that is my concern," she said.

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 ousts Mohammadkhani from vice president role in split vote