D218 Superintendent Addresses Black Lives Matter, Social Media Backlash

The following letter to the CHSD 218 families was penned by Dr. Ty Harting, superintendent of schools, in response about the social media backlash to a teacher's Black Lives Matter banner.

Dear CHSD 218 Community –

Recently, there has been some activity on social media that has been full of anger and vitriol directed at one of our teachers. Our teacher posted on social media that she had a Black Lives Matter banner that she intended to use as her background while teaching remotely on Zoom.

Prior to this, the district had decided that it was going to require both students and teachers to have either a neutral blank background or a school logo background behind them when classes started on Monday of this week. This directive was, ironically, coming from an equity perspective. Both after the teacher posted her intent on social media, and also after the district mandated neutral backgrounds, we received several emails in support of our teacher. We also received some opposition emails that were respectful and reasonable in their arguments that teachers should not be imposing their views on students in the classroom. Finally, we also received other emails in opposition – including some extreme ones that were racist in nature. This is the world we live in – a world in which there is angry opposition to almost any opinion. We seem to be losing the ability to have meaningful dialogue about sensitive issues.

>>> Richards Teacher's BLM Flag Tweet Sparks Racial Controversy

As a school district that is currently under enormous pressure to teach students remotely while also maintaining extensive safety protocols, it is difficult to currently solve these problems of the world. What we can do, however, is speak out against the catcalls of the ugly Americans who have hurled abhorrent insults at our district, our schools, and our staff. We support our teacher and her support of the statement Black Lives Matter. We are not referencing the BLM organization and we are not attaching ourselves to any political organization with our views. We are simply acknowledging that systemic racism exists in our world and that we will stand against it. Any threats toward this teacher or any staff member is wrong and will not be tolerated.

To show where they stand, our Board of Education adopted an Equity Policy Statement back in September of 2016. It is posted on our website. I have also attached a letter that we sent to the community in June and we stand by the words written below. Please believe in us and in our mission. We are trying to educate our students in a socially just world. We will not be taken hostage by a social media narrative war that is currently taking place. We know where we stand on these issues.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ty Harting

Superintendent of Schools

Community High School District 218

This press release was produced by Community High School District 218. The views expressed here are the author’s own.