Name: After hour of split public comment, Seaman Board of Education to create task force on potential name change
Brand: cjonline.com
SKU: cjonline-com-39
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

After hour of split public comment, Seaman Board of Education to create task force on potential name change

preview

Topeka Capital-JournalView CommentsAn advisory task force will collect community input on a potential name change for Seaman Unified School District 345 and return to the school board&nbsp;with a report, but not a recommendation, on such a change, the Seaman Board of Education decided on Monday evening.After an hour of split public comment, the board voted to accept superintendent Steve Noble's proposal&nbsp;to create that advisory task force to guide the community conversation on a potential name change.The board had not yet discussed a name change but had been under intense public pressure to broach the topic after an October report from two student journalists at the school confirmed rumors that district namesake Fred Seaman was a leader in the Topeka chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.Proponents of a name change had accused the board of failing to take any significant action or even bringing up the issue for discussion during a school board meeting, with board president James Adams instead issuing statements condemning racism on behalf of the board.Adams on Monday said the delay in the discussion was the inadvertent result of the fact that the school board, which only meets monthly, has mostly been meeting virtually since October. By nature of the conversation, Adams said it would not have been ideal to discuss the name change via Zoom.During the public comment period, several people — including students and teachers — urged the board to change the district's name as a display of its commitment to diversity and inclusion. They argued that by keeping the name, the district was honoring, if unintentionally, the legacy of a man who worked to promote white supremacy during his time as a school leader in the community.On the other side of the debate, critics of a name change — made up mostly of some parents, alumni and long-time members of the community — argued that few students ever wore and represented the Seaman name with the intent to honor the long-dead KKK leader, who they also condemned as a symbol of hate.&nbsp;But rather than change the name, the critics said a better way to condemn Fred Seaman would be to live against his ideals and work toward being a more inclusive community.They also pointed to the potential cost of a name change, which while still unknown for Seaman USD 345, they estimated could be in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.The board agreed that given the sensitive nature of the conversation, the task force would be the best way to distance the board from the fact-finding process, to allow the board to more neutrally make a decision based on the report of the task force.The task force will be made up of district stakeholders, including students, staff, parents, alumni, community businesses, and organizations.The district will also work with the Kansas Leadership Center — a nonprofit organization based out of Wichita, funded by the Kansas Health Foundation and committed to helping groups and organizations tackled difficult challenges — as a neutral arbiter to guide the task force in its work.Noble estimated the timeline for the task force to develop a report could take as much as a year, with June 2022 being a late estimate for a returned report. But he also emphasized the work could wrap up much sooner than next spring.In addition to the advisory task force, the district's equity council, which was created last summer in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and protests but before confirmation of Fred Seaman's KKK ties, will continue to discuss ways to improve relations among the district community.The group will meet Thursday and once a month for the rest of the school year, with board member Frank Henderson chairing the council.At the school level, a group of students formed the Equity Action Network in November to talk about ways to make the school more inclusive, and to ask hard questions and have truthful conversations about race.&nbsp;Board member Karl McNorton, whose family has lived in the Seaman community since the 1850s and who&nbsp;had previously staunchly defended the district's name, said he had had a change of heart last week as he came to realize the truth of Fred Seaman's legacy.However, he harshly decried what he said was cyber bullying he had seen against him online, saying that while he encouraged people to debate the issue civilly and "keep up the good fight," he wanted them to be careful of "who you hurt.""This doesn't have to be our legacy, or our grandchildren's legacy," McNorton said. "The healing has to start now."Adams outlined three goals for the board and school community as it takes on the potentially divisive topic of renaming Seaman.First, he said the district should strive to be a role model for others, especially since some form of the conversation on complicated racial histories is happening all over the country.Second, the district should strive to gather as much input as possible “through a healthy process of engagement,” Adams said.Finally, the district’s discussion process should seek to strengthen the district, rather than divide it.“Going through a tough issue can make you weaker,” he said. “Our goal is that it makes us stronger.”View Comments

Topeka Capital-JournalView CommentsAn advisory task force will collect community input on a potential name change for Seaman Unified School District 345 and return to the school board&nbsp;with a report, but not a recommendation, on such a change, the Seaman Board of Education decided on Monday evening.After an hour of split public comment, the board voted to accept superintendent Steve Noble's proposal&nbsp;to create that advisory task force to guide the community conversation on a potential name change.The board had not yet discussed a name change but had been under intense public...

After hour of split public comment, Seaman Board of Education to create task force on potential name change

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS