‘Well, that’s East’: Will Johnson County school change racist reputation after attack?

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Right after making varsity, Lillian Williams, who was the only Black cheerleader at Shawnee Mission East, said she felt pushed out.

The summer after her sophomore year, Williams said she confronted a group of white cheerleaders about their sharing of racist jokes and use of the N-word in a team group text. She started calling out her teammates on social media, she said, who then took screenshots of her comments and shared them with the coaches.

“They were being racist and insensitive, but I was the one at fault. I was the one who made them feel unsafe,” Williams, who graduated in 2021, said of the coaches’ and school’s response to the situation. “I didn’t feel like my story was being heard.”

Feeling like she had no other choice, she quit the team.

“I took that really, really hard. I liked cheer. I was really good at it,” she said. “But they got what they wanted. Good for them. They got an all-white team that year.”

It was one of many times that Williams said she felt isolated and unwelcome at the predominantly white Shawnee Mission East High School, which several students, parents and teachers have told The Star has long been a hotbed for racism. Her freshman year, for example, Williams said students lost the privilege of having themed dress-up days for football games after members of the junior class showed up in blackface and Afro wigs.

Many students say hate speech and racial slurs regularly go unchecked at the school. Microaggressions are overlooked. And they feel there is little support, and few staff members of color to turn to, when students need it.

“So much of the problem at Shawnee Mission East is it’s gone on too long,” Williams said. “I’ve spoken to so many people about this situation. And everybody just says, ‘Well, that’s East.’”

More students of color are coming forward with their experiences feeling targeted at the affluent Prairie Village school, after a Black, female student last month was sent to the hospital when she was beat up by a white, male student shouting the N-word during a fight. The altercation — which resulted in the white 15-year-old being charged with a felony — has set off student walkouts and protests, igniting calls for the district to dismantle its school culture that’s left too many students feeling unsafe.

Many students, parents and staff members are now calling for the district to crack down on hate speech and racist bullying, hire more staff members of color, implement more comprehensive inclusivity training, create opportunities for students of color to voice concerns, and grant more authority to the district’s diversity coordinator.

“I know it’s possible to do this because I now work for a district that does not stand on that type of behavior,” said Williams, who works as a paraprofessional for a school in Massachusetts that she says has a more inclusive culture than her alma mater.

District leaders say they have made significant strides in recent years toward making the district a more inclusive place.

Shawnee Mission has hired a diversity coordinator and worked on recruiting a more diverse workforce. The district has implemented diversity training for all staff. High school students can participate in an optional inclusivity program. And student affinity groups, including clubs like the Black student union, are growing.

The racist attack at East, officials said, is a reminder such efforts are needed and far from done.

District spokesman David Smith said that diversity, equity and inclusion (or DEI) work is “is long and arduous.”

“Our community has made clear that this is important work, and we are committed to it for the long haul,” he said.

But many in the community argue the work is falling flat.

Pressure from parents

Shawnee Mission East parent Etienne Clatanoff said her daughter and other students of color were afraid to return to school following the attack on a Black sophomore last month.

“After seeing that, I felt like I can’t really lie to my daughter and say this is a one-off incident,” Clatanoff said. “She’s heard the N-word every single year since third or fourth grade.”

“These incidents just show the weaknesses of your infrastructure and how you really prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion. What it boils down to is you don’t keep kids of color safe in your district,” she said.

Clatanoff was part of a group of moms who started pushing for Shawnee Mission to prioritize addressing the needs of its increasingly diverse student population several years ago.

Their efforts came as Shawnee Mission and other districts in the majority-white Kansas City suburbs were coming to terms with racial inequities that have long plagued schools across the country. National and local data show that students of color fare worse on standardized tests, aren’t equally represented in advanced courses and are more harshly and frequently punished than white students.

The makeup of student bodies in Johnson County is changing. In Shawnee Mission in 2010, 69% of students were white, 7% were Black and 14% were Hispanic. Last school year, 63% of students were white, 9% were Black and 20% were Hispanic.

Students at other Kansas City area districts, including in Olathe and Independence, have also walked out of class in protest in recent months over a lack of action to eradicate racism, and policies they say contribute to disparities.

Meanwhile, another group of parents has also risen up, pressuring Johnson County districts to reel back diversity initiatives, claiming they have brought left-leaning politics into schools while taking away focus from academic achievement.

Shawnee Mission elected its first Black school board member last year. And in November, all of the candidates who ran on improving equity in the district won their seats on the board, defeating challengers who criticized diversity programs.

And following the most recent racist incident at East, more families are joining the push to address the district’s racial climate and disparities.

How much power does diversity leader have?

Work by Clatanoff and the cohort of parents helped push the district to hire its first-ever diversity and inclusion coordinator in 2019.

When Tyrone Bates came on, he said work to better serve students of color was only happening in “pockets” across the district. But by the time he left the job to focus on his own consulting firm this past spring, he said the district was tackling it systemwide.

“It was still, I would say, in its infancy stage,” Bates said. “It’s not a destination, it’s a journey.”

Kaitlin Shulman took over the job this summer. But some feel the role should be a higher-level job holding more authority.

“The position has not been effectively placed. It does not have a direct link to the superintendent,” Clatanoff said. “That person does not report directly to the superintendent. That tells you right there where the priority is.”

Smith, the district spokesman, said the diversity coordinator reports to the district’s chief of student services, whose title also now includes diversity, equity and inclusion, and sits on the superintendent’s cabinet, “and thus has tremendous influence.”

Bates said when his role was created it was “positioned in the department where the work was already happening, in student services, so it made sense at the time.”

Since then, though, Bates said he’s realized, “the closer this person’s role is to where decisions are being made, the better you have a chance at coming up with solutions and taking action.”

“Where this position currently exists, it takes several layers. On one hand, it’s good to get an idea vetted as it’s passed up the chain. On the other hand, if the author of the information isn’t the one presenting it, you can lose some of the essence of the idea or action,” Bates said.

Inclusion is not one person’s job

Smith said the district’s diversity work extends well-beyond the one position.

“It is not the responsibility of any individual, much less a coordinator, to make DEI happen. Our mission is around equitable outcomes for all students, and the work to make that happen takes place primarily at the building and classroom level, and is work that involves ALL of our staff,” he said in an email, adding, “it requires a commitment from the superintendent and her entire leadership team.”

Superintendent Michelle Hubbard reaffirmed her commitment to improving district inclusivity following the incident at East.

“The distressing behavior we saw in the video reminds us that we still have more work to do,” Hubbard said in an email to families. “Our students have been vocal this week in reminding us that we are not done.”

During Bates’ tenure, the district completed a three-year process to bring DEI training to all employees. And the district has now added “equity practitioners,” who help with staff training, and diversity teams at each school.

Many parents and teachers say they are glad to see steps being taken, but some still argue that staff training has lacked depth and that more intentional conversations about cultural differences and inequities are needed.

Charlize Littlejohn, a senior at East, has been pushing for more thoughtful training on cultural differences. She said she has brought up concerns about students using slurs with building staff, who then repeated the epithets back to her, making her more uncomfortable, for example.

Clatanoff said that even with staff dedicated to diversity at school buildings, students aren’t necessarily aware of them or of the resources available to them.

“Very little has been done with students directly,” she said. “There’s a gap right now. They say they have DEI teams in every school. Who are these people? Do the students know who these people are? Are they part of debriefing with students when something happens?”

Clatanoff said she feels like too much effort is put into “lip service” and she’d like to see the district focus more on moving the needle on academic achievement gaps, discipline disparities and other inequities.

“Where are your measurable outcomes to say your actions are effective?” she said.

A snapshot of district data last year showed that 21% of white seniors had completed nine or more college credits, compared to only 3% of Black students and nearly 8% of Hispanic students. Nearly 23% of white students had college credits in progress, while 8% of Black students, and 12% of Hispanic students did.

Discipline data presented to the school board in May showed that students of color are disproportionately punished. Black students make up only 9% of the student body. But roughly 23% of disciplinary offenses last school year were associated with Black students, officials reported. Black students also were more commonly suspended, and for a longer period of time, than their white peers.

‘No people of color, period’

The district says it has made it a priority to expand its recruitment efforts, but for now, leadership and staff districtwide don’t reflect the students they serve.

District data shows 94% of teachers are white, 2.5% are Hispanic and less than 2% are Black. Among classified staff — such as paras, food workers and other employees — 80% are white, nearly 9% are Hispanic and 7% are Black.

“There were no Black teachers except for one, no Black administrators, no Black coaches,” Williams said of her time at East. “There were just no people of color, period. It made it really hard to be involved in things at East.”

David Muhammad, who is Black, worked as a teacher at Shawnee Mission East for several years until 2019. During that time, he focused on creating a safe haven for students of color through clubs and programs.

“What I saw as far as improvement at East was a sense of community for those Black students, but not so much change in the community as a whole,” he said. “I think it got to a point of realizing that might not be realistic.”

Williams said she feels as if it’s often fallen on teachers and students of color to lead such programs. And she’d like to see the district put more resources into efforts to engage students.

“I was fortunate to have those clubs when I went there. It was a way for Black students to talk about their experiences,” she said.

Especially after an incident like the racist attack that shook the East community, Muhammad said offering a space for students to talk and ask questions is vital.

“I think a lot of people in schools would rather not have the conversation, because what if people get mad,” he said. “But if that means you need to hire some outside experts to come in, then that’s what you do.”

Smith said the district has started affinity groups for both students and staff, and that, “the principal at East has met with students at his building several times since this incident, and is committed to continued dialogue to support their needs.”

In the spring of last year, the district also launched the optional Youth Equity Stewardship program for students to work with administrators on making decisions aimed at improving inclusion in the classroom. Officials say 73 students from all high schools have participated in the leadership training.

Bates said to be effective, the district needs to bring students to the table from the start of equity discussions, something he says most school systems fail to do.

“If we’re doing things for people, instead of with them, we’re less likely to find the right solution,” he said.

Hate speech policies

Shawnee Mission students say one of the first steps the district can take is to establish a more serious offense in the student code of conduct for hate speech.

That was an immediate response to the Nov. 15 attack caught on video, which showed a Black, female sophomore confronting a group of students about racist language, apparently regarding someone referring to Black people as “slaves.”

A white, male student interjected, telling the female student to shut up. The female student turned around and started walking in his direction. He charged toward her, shouting the N-word. He then pushed her, and she threw a punch. They both started swinging until the fight was broken up.

The female student said she went to the hospital with a broken nose, and she received a five-day suspension for fighting. The white, male student was charged with felony aggravated battery and is being held in Johnson County’s juvenile detention center.

School policy prohibits discrimination, including attacks on race, but does not specifically list a punishment for it. Several Shawnee Mission East students said they’ve reported the use of racial slurs but have seen little to no discipline issued.

Williams said that’s not the case at the school where she works.

“Even if it’s a one-time offense and you jokingly say it, you’re going home for the day,” she said. “It’s unacceptable. And the fact it’s not taken seriously at Shawnee Mission East is a valid reason for kids to be upset.”

Many also are pushing for district leaders to reconsider its policy on fighting, with some feeling that more nuance is needed in situations where students are being discriminated against. Bates said blanket policies on fighting are often unrealistic.

And others say the policy should extend beyond punishment to better educate students.

“How can you make a punishment harsh enough that people really understand why it’s wrong?” former Shawnee Mission teacher Carol Pricien, who now works in Kansas City, Kansas schools, said. “You should make it so you have to go through classes yourself on DEI if you’ve directed hate speech toward someone, so that you can really have empathy.”

Williams said she hopes the racist incident at East is a wake-up call across the district.

“I hope Shawnee Mission really does learn from this one ,” Williams said. “I’m not sure they have any more next times.”