Richland 2 black parents’ group wants school board chairman to step down

Feeling that Richland 2 school district leaders have not adequately responded to some community members’ concerns, the Richland 2 Black Parents Association says it wants school board chairman James Manning to step down from his leadership role.

“We strongly object to any allegation that we do not listen to our community,” Richland 2 spokeswoman Libby Roof said in response Thursday, citing regular meetings with community-based groups that are involved in the district’s strategic planning.

“We just feel that there’s a breakdown in leadership starting at the top,” said Hugh Harmon, a representative of the Black Parents Association. A diverse group of parents, community members and business leaders, Harmon said, “are concerned about some of the decisions the district has been making under Mr. Manning’s tenure.”

In a statement Thursday, Manning said he is committed to serving out his term as chairman through June 28 and, if elected for a second term by his fellow board members, “will be honored to serve.”

The Black Parents Association represents, leaders say, thousands of parents of diverse races, many of whom have expressed concerns about their children being treated unfairly in schools. The group was outspoken in the most recent school board election cycle, helping to tip the racial makeup of the board to an African-American majority.

Black students make up the majority of the district.

The group has raised issues related to racial inequality, school discipline policies and enforcement of Individualized Education Plans for special education students.

“If there’s one parent who feels that their child is being treated unfairly, that’s too many,” Harmon said.

“Richland Two administrators have and continue to respond to concerns brought to our attention,” Roof said. “This includes concerns brought to us directly from parents as well as the association. We have documented telephone conversations, emails and letters that show our willingness to hear from the association, that show information we have provided and that show our requests for details on allegations made by them concerning alleged actions of the district staff.”

The black parents’ group’s voice again reached a wide audience last fall after a black female student at Spring Valley High School was shown on camera being forcibly yanked from her desk by a white school resource officer and tossed across the room. That student and Niya Kenny, another African-American student who encouraged fellow classmates to film the incident on their cellphones, each have been charged with disturbing schools. The officer, Ben Fields, was fired by Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.

Harmon said the group feels the district leadership should have spoken up since the incident to apologize or “just (make) a general statement to the community saying, ‘This is where we stand on what happened.’”

Richland 2 leaders spoke at a news conference the day the resource officer video surfaced, with Manning calling the incident “shamefully shocking ... reprehensible, unforgivable and inconsistent with everything that this district stands for, what we work for and what we aspire to be.”

“There is absolutely no place in this district or any other district, for that matter, for what happened here,” Manning said at the time.

A page on the school district’s communications website also is dedicated to district leaders’ responses to the Spring Valley incident.

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 6:13 PM.