Comment leads to call for superintendent’s ouster

Parents offended by controversial comments Gwinnett Schools Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks made at a board workshop last week are calling for his resignation.

The parents — black and white — are concerned that Wilbanks, the nation’s longest-serving superintendent, made statements that could be perceived as racist.

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KIMBERLY SMITH / ksmith@ajc.com

J. Alvin Wilbanks

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The comments in question occurred last week during a presentation about the disproportionate discipline of minority students in Gwinnett.

An administrator said the issue is a problem for school districts nationwide except in Idaho, according to a study. Wilbanks then asked the administrator, James Taylor, executive director of the department of academic support: “Do they have any blacks in Idaho? They don’t have many.”

Parents circulating the comments on the Internet are expressing their disappointment in Wilbanks and school board members who ignored the controversial comments.

“I sent it to about 60 parents, and they were offended,” said educator Monise Seward of Snellville, who is developing a charter school in Gwinnett.”I’m surprised that he still has job…. It’s unacceptable.”

The comments also alarmed June Townsend, who is white. She says she has a “multicultural” family and is sensitive to issues of diversity.

“It seems to me … he was making a stereotypical comment that the reason we have this problem is because we have a lot of black students,” she said. “Why did he need to make a racial comment? It made me feel like this is not a good person to have as superintendent of the largest school district in our area. “

Wilbanks said late Wednesday his comments were not meant to be “racist” or “insensitive.”

“Those who know me and my record are well aware of my commitment to raising student achievement and to providing safe and orderly schools for all of our students — no matter their race, ethnic origin, or socioeconomic background,” Wilbanks said. “The NAACP certainly is aware of these efforts because we have involved them in some of our most significant efforts to ensure that our discipline policies are impartial and clear and in the best interest of all students.”

The Gwinnett Chapter NAACP, however, issued a statement Wednesday scolding Wilbanks for his comments. Branch president J.P. Portalatin said he called Gwinnett Schools on Wednesday to talk to Wilbanks, but was told that he was unavailable at the moment.

The organization is not seeking Wilbanks’ resignation, but does want him to apologize.

“This type of rhetoric not only dishonors Gwinnett County Public Schools, but casts a cloud on the abilities of Superintendent Wilbanks and the school board members to lead the school system effectively,” Portalatin said.

Long-time school board member Louise Radloff defended Wilbanks, saying that he is not biased, cares for all children, has a national reputation as an educational visionary and is “probably doing more for public education than anyone else I know.”

“It would be very scary for me if I had to go out and hire a superintendent tomorrow,” Radloff said. “He is a very good man, and he is a very compassionate man.”

Wilbanks has a record of reaching out to minorities since he was hired in 1996. He has directed staff to make efforts to hire a diverse work force. Gwinnett Schools was recognized in 2007 by Black Collegian Magazine as a Top 100 Employer in the nation.

In November 2006, Superintendent Wilbanks created a task force of educators, students and community members to review discipline policies at Gwinnett Schools. The group suggested changes to the school system’s discipline policies and helped to provide clear guidance to principals about doling out discipline.

This school year, Wilbanks created a new position to help students at risk of dropping out get the adult guidance they need.

School board member Mary Kay Murphy also defended Wilbanks.

“I feel there was absolutely no intent to insult,” she said. “The report we reviewed reflects a national problem that must be solved locally for the benefit of boys and girls and all ethnic groups …. We cannot rest until all students are achieving not serving detention or expulsion.”

School board member Dr. Robert McClure said that parents shouldn’t jump to conclusions about Wilbanks or his statement.

“I would encourage people to step back and look at the overall record of a person,” McClure said.

McClure said the purpose of the presentation about the disproportionate discipline of some minorities in Gwinnett was to talk about the issue and find ways to address it.

“Since Idaho was statistically unusual, the number of black students would be relevant in deciding whether Idaho had something to teach us,” he explained. “My first question in my mind was what was Idaho doing that was different. Mr. Wilbanks was doing the same thing. He went a step ahead and was asking the question, would the numbers be large enough for us to rally behind the assumption that the regularity of discipline referrals are any different from anyone else’s?”

The public reaction over Wilbanks comments, McClure said, could hurt the open dialogue about discipline.

Portalatin said the disparity of discipline in Gwinnett Schools is a problem that needs to be addressed by Wilbanks.

African-American students made up less than one-third of the population at Gwinnett County Public Schools last academic year, but they accounted for nearly half of those facing disciplinary panels for bad behavior. Of 1,910 discipline hearings held in 2007-08 to dole out long-term suspensions or expulsions to students, 931 of those were held for black students. About 18 percent, or 345, discipline panels were held for white students.

State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), who chaired a 1997 legislative study committee on school discipline, said he is concerned about Wilbanks’ comments and the discipline numbers in Gwinnett. Fort said he is not looking for leniency for black students, just fairness.

“The issue for me isn’t whether or not the students should be disciplined,” he said. “What I’m looking for is equity and fairness in meting out discipline.”

“The bottom line is that studies show that African-American students … are not only punished more often, they are punished with harsher penalties,” Fort said.

Eric Freeman, an assistant professor at Georgia State University who works in the department of educational policy studies, has researched the discipline disparity problem and said that blacks are not the only group in which discipline disparities exist. Hispanics and other minorities deal with it, too.

“It’s a social phenomena that manifests itself in schools,” Freeman said . “We don’t know exactly why it’s happening, but it shows up when we look at the numbers. …There are lots of inequities in our society. It’s only one generation ago that we had the civil rights movement. We can’t expect that all of these residual effects are gong to be eliminated from a social setting like schools.”