Several hundred parents, teachers and students spent nearly two hours Friday seeking answers after their principal was reassigned after some staff said he used racial inferences with employees.
Many at Lakeside High School Friday for a parent council meeting were concerned about the fact they may never know the whether allegations against former Principal Jason Clyne have been substantiated through a district investigation.
Clyne has been reassigned to another position in the school district after allegations that he called himself “master” of the Lakeside’s “40 acres,” in a meeting with school janitorial and security staff.
Among what they learned Friday from Regional Superintendent Trenton Arnold:
•Clyne will not return to Lakeside this year.
•Retired administrator Robert Williams will be assigned as substitute principal for the remainder of the year.
•Students engaging in poor behaviour on social media are may face reprimand.
Some people posting on Twitter about the incident have used the N-word.
“Any allegation that comes before the district is taken very seriously,” Arnold said. “Issues that continue to pop up … we certainly will investigate them with the same responsiveness you saw in this.”
Among recent assignments, Williams was the substitute principal at Champion Middle School at the end of the 2013-2014 school year, and served as substitute principal at Henderson Middle School for most of the 2014-2015 school year.
Deborah McCloud, whose daughter attends Lakeside High, said she’s seen issues of racism as she volunteered at the campus over the years. Her daughter, though, has not been privy to anything.
“I expected us to tackle the issue at hand, because there definitely is a divide here,” she said. “We can’t really move forward until we look at what’s going on.”
Students took to social media after the announcement of Clyne’s reassignment to voice their support for their former administrator, or to admit racism was alive at Lakeside. Several black students said it was about time the issues came to light.
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