Dover schools to form equity plan

DOVER — In the wake of placing on long-term paid leave a teacher whose students sang a Ku Klux Klan jingle as part of a class assignment, the Dover School District says it'll partner with outside consultants to craft a long-term equity program to address racism and other issues.

Superintendent William Harbron announced Wednesday afternoon the district will partner with the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium/Center for Education Equity. He said the district is doing so because it's committed to eliminating racism, prejudice and bias in its schools, as well as gaining a better understanding and plan for dealing with matters related to white privilege.

“I think they can take fresh eyes and they can help guide us ... where we need to be,” said Harbron.

Harbron said the CEE consultants will soon meet with a select group of school and community members to outline goals and ways to implement a plan that draws from CEE’s experience helping organizations like schools “ensure positive outcomes and educational experiences for students regardless of race, gender, religion and national origin.”

During the first two meetings, the group will review what the district has done to date and what it hopes to accomplish moving forward, Harbron said. On the third day, the group will finalize the long-term plan and determine which services the CEE can provide to assist Dover as it implements the plan over the next year.

Dover High School social studies teacher John Carver came under fire late last year after a video surfaced of two students in his class singing about the KKK to the tune of “Jingle Bells.” The jingle had the refrain, “KKK, Let’s kill all the blacks.” The students created it for a November assignment about the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War.

The district placed Carver on paid leave Dec. 4 pending an investigation, then announced Jan. 18 he’d remain on paid leave through the end of the school year.

As a part of the district’s partnership with CEE, consultants Daryl Williams and Michelle Nutter will meet with select school and community members at the McConnell Fitness Center on March 18, April 8 and April 29. Harbron said a steering committee will help guide the participants' selection and that the process will start with a meeting next week.

Dover has scheduled a separate community forum about racism for Feb. 16 at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. Harbron said the district is also planning to host one for its faculty and staff in March.

“We just want people to know there’s been ongoing action in the background and with this organization,” Harbron said of the CEE. “This is what they do.”

CEE's planning and training services will come at no cost to Dover, according to Harbron, because they're being provided through the U.S. Department of Education. Harbron said the district will only incur new costs if it decides to ask CEE to review things like polices and discipline data because of the resulting action plan.

While the plan's end result and goals are yet to be determined, Harbron said it's possible it could be structured so that it's revised and extended annually.

“I don’t think we're going to automatically change the culture within a year,” Harbron said, adding that he believes the issues brought to light by the KKK jingle aren't unique to Dover. “That’s a journey. That will take time.”

The district’s partnership announcement comes one day after area NAACP leaders publicly called for the district to reverse its decision to retain Carver, stating they believe it sends a message the KKK incident wasn’t that bad.

“What evidence does the superintendent have which allows him to conclude that this issue was not egregious enough to fire the instructor, but egregious enough to have him take leave with full pay for seven months?” Rogers Johnson, president of the Seacoast chapter of the NAACP, asked during a press conference at Dover City Hall Tuesday.

Juan M. Cofield, president of the New England Area Conference of the NAACP, also called on the district Tuesday to examine its responsibility to protect students and ensure systems are in place to provide education that recognizes multi-cultural differences.

Some community members, friends, family and former students have defended Carver at public sessions and forums, stating he’s a loving man and not a racist. Other community members have said Carver used poor judgment, a refrain Cofield echoed Tuesday.

“The issue is not a question of whether John Carver is a racist and the School Board need not reach judgment on this question,” Cofield said Tuesday. “However, it is absolutely a question of his lack of reasonable judgment and his callous lack of consideration for the students entrusted for his tutelage and under his care.”

In response to the NAACP’s press conference at City Hall, Harbron said Tuesday he stands by the district’s decision and stressed the district continues to take the issue of race relations seriously. He also said Carver has committed to engage in a course of study on issues pertaining to race, bias and privilege this year.

“This plan includes accountability,” Harbron said Tuesday, stressing he believes a punitive model creates a “system of fear” in the district. Harbron also reiterated his previously stated stance that the report on the school district’s investigation into the incident won’t be publicly released because of confidentiality laws.