Parents ask 336 board to "develop high Wildcat standards"

Two parents of Holton High School students met with the Holton school board here Monday evening to ask the board to take bold action now to stop a culture in the schools that tolerates racist remarks being made and disrespect toward any non-white students.

Amy Austin said her multi-racial daughter, now in high school, had been called the “N-word” in middle school. Austin said that when she contacted school officials about the racial slurs, they “told us we should expect it.”

“When schools do nothing about it, kids feel they can do it (say the racial slurs),” Austin said.

“Who will be targeted next — the old, the handicapped?” Austin said. “Overlooking this behavior condones it. We’re asking for the school to develop a committee and legal counsel to develop high Wildcat standards.”

Jamie Schumacher said she was not there to attack school administration but to put a stop to racist comments that, she said, “happens everyday.”

“We want change,” Schumacher said. “This has gone on way too long.” She said she had received “statements and stories of bullying and racism” from other local familes, too.

“Openly racist and disrespectful, this latest stuff has gone over the edge,” she said. “The school needs to do something to change behaviors. We want to see change. A non-tolerance policy with substantial repercussions. We want a meeting or an open forum to come up with a plan of action. We won’t stop until it happens.”

The visit to the school board by the two parents followed a recent incident in which a couple of high school students either posted, or re-posted, some racist remarks online at their social media accounts. School officials, at the time, strongly condemned the remarks but added the incidents occurred outside of class time, limiting what they could do.

Later in the meeting Monday, HHS Principal Jeremy Truelove reported to the board about a special guest speaker to the high school that addressed students and staff on Sept. 6. Dr. Beryl New, former director of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) in Topeka, spoke to students and teachers with the message there is always more good work to do in these areas.

For more on this and other stories, please log in to your holtonrecorder.net account and select “Sept. 13, 2023” under “E-Editions.”