Jenny Peek
Sandra Rivera, right, with MTI’s Doug Keillor, is fighting to get her suspension removed from her job record.
One of the more surprising revelations to emerge from the firing and subsequent rehiring of Marlon Anderson — the black security guard who tried to explain to a student why a racial slur is offensive — was that the Madison School District does not have an official zero-tolerance policy on the use of racist language. Rachel Strauch-Nelson, district spokesperson, describes it as an “approach.”
That approach was reportedly put in place by former Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham, who left the district in August to join the Harvard faculty. Cheatham did not respond to a request for comment from Isthmus.
Kaleem Caire, founder and CEO of One City Schools and a former school board candidate, says he talked with Cheatham several times about the unofficial policy, warning her it would do more harm than good.
“When you’ve got a district that sets a policy that makes it impossible for a black man who could step in, or a black woman or a Latina woman to step in, and help these children and really communicate and connect with them on their level, and they’re going to get fired for it, we’ve really got a hot mess,” Caire says. “The district did this with good intentions, they’re trying to protect young people from the use of [racial slurs] especially by adults, I get that, but what was well intended is not always good for us.”
School board member Ananda Mirilli is also not supportive of the approach.
“I don’t believe zero-tolerance policies of any sort for any situation are centered in humanity,” she says. “Community is the healthiest [when] people feel a greater sense of belonging and a greater sense of restoration…. That is a conversation that we often don’t get to engage in because people get really caught up on punishment.”
Mirilli says the board believes “the N-word should not be used by any adults.”
“But we know that there’s learning curves, we know that just saying ‘don’t do something’ doesn’t yield behavior change,” Mirilli adds. “We know that there are nuances and context as to how people have said [the word]. And so it’s important to understand the impact the use of that word has in different scenarios.”
Mirilli and board member Nicki Vander Meulen recently formed a committee to review the district’s zero-tolerance practice. Mirilli couldn’t offer a timeline for the committee’s work, but says she hopes it will include a deeper discussion on the use of racist language.
“I think we’ve missed huge opportunities to teach our young people the harm of that word. There is a reason why this word is charged,” Mirilli says. “It’s because it was used to harm people; it was used to degrade people; it was used to create an industry of slavery; it was used to allow for the dehumanization of a large number of people that, in turn, died, were murdered, were kidnapped, were raped, were abused for hundreds of years. That is where I want to lean in.”
Caire, in a Facebook post after Anderson was rehired, recommended the district take three steps to address the zero-tolerance policy: Hire an independent “evaluator” to review all prior cases to ensure no other staff members were wrongfully terminated or encouraged to resign under the policy; if staff members are identified, to reverse those terminations and “make restitution” to them; and to inform the public of any revisions to its policy with regard to the use of racial slurs by students, faculty, staff and volunteers.
When asked what the district sees as next steps, Strauch-Nelson points Isthmus to a previously released statement from Interim Superintendent Jane Belmore. “I believe now is the time to take the opportunity to reflect, acknowledge the complexity we operate within, and ensure we make the best decisions that hold students at the center,” Belmore wrote. “I am prepared to take appropriate steps in the current situation, and I will begin to work with our administrative team to ensure that we mitigate any harm that was caused and begin the healing process and give the board time to review our practice.”
Anderson, who was fired on Oct. 16 and rehired on Oct. 21, is just the latest school district employee to be disciplined under the district’s zero-tolerance approach to racial slurs. The district says that 13 staffers were affected by the policy last year.
Madison Teachers Inc. reports at least seven of its members have run afoul of the district’s no-tolerance approach. Doug Keillor, the union’s executive director, says several resigned, at least two were terminated, and one was suspended.
Aside from Anderson, MTI is representing two staff members in grievances against the district. One staff member was terminated and the other was suspended; both violated the district’s unofficial zero-tolerance policy by using a racial slur.
Sandra Rivera, the woman who was suspended, shared her story publicly on Oct. 24 for the first time.
A district social worker for 20 years, Rivera was suspended in March after using a racial slur in a meeting with Nuestro Mundo’s leadership team; the meeting was to brainstorm professional development opportunities related to black excellence.
Rivera, who identifies as black and Puerto Rican, says the team was discussing how to better equip staff to deal with students using racial slurs — an issue she was concerned about. Telling her story at an MTI news conference, Rivera says one of her colleagues was surprised to hear this was an issue at their school, so Rivera gave a recent example she’d witnessed.
“In wanting to be clear, I quoted the student and said the N-word out loud and in its entirety,” Rivera says. “I did not direct the word at anyone. The context in which the word was used was not in a derogatory way, or to insult anyone or to use the word to directly cause harm to anyone.”
According to Rivera no students were in the room and there were no other black staff members at the meeting.
The school’s principal reported Rivera to the district, and she was suspended, which MTI attorney Tamara Packard says is the most severe form of punishment short of termination. Now, Rivera and MTI are asking the district to remove the suspension from her file.
MTI and district officials met with an impartial hearing officer on Sept. 16. Both parties are now working on legal briefs for the hearing officer, who will make a recommendation to the school board. The school board has the final say on whether to wipe Rivera’s record clean or not.
Rivera says the process has been stressful. “The lack of clear communication from the district has created a climate at Nuestro Mundo of stress, low morale, fear, mistrust, lack of risk-taking, secret conversations, intimidation, and it has interrupted the very work that we’re supposed to be doing,” she says.
Rivera says the district needs to consider the unintended consequences of its policies. “[The district] must do better for our students and our families and our staff and our community, and do away with fundamentally flawed, neutral policies that only benefit those who set the policy.”
[Editor's note: This article originally quoted Rachel Strauch-Nelson, district spokesperson, describing the district's approach to racist language as a "zero-tolerance approach." In fact, she called it an “approach.”]
