A former Sun Prairie principal says there is a “double standard” in how Black employees are treated by the Sun Prairie Area School District.
Renee Coleman, who says she was forced to resign last month from her position as principal at Sun Prairie East High School, does not believe Black employees are afforded the same levels of support — particularly if they make a mistake — as their white counterparts.
“They give more support to white colleagues than to myself,” Coleman said. “If something happened in my building, there would be no district support. But if something happened in another building, there would be lots of support.”
The Sun Prairie Area School District released an equity statement in 2018 that “serves as a directive for profound transformation” in the way the district “serves its community, families, and students.”
Coleman and others say that the equity statement is not being followed.
“They have an equity statement they use only when it’s beneficial to them,” Coleman said. “They pride themselves in hiring people of color and then there’s no support. There’s a double standard in terms of support.”
Black employees are not as credible in the eyes of the district as white employees, Coleman said.
“When you (as a person of color) make a statement to a person, and a white person makes a statement opposite of yours, you’re not credible but they are credible,” Coleman said. “That’s a double standard. When you have women who don’t agree with a statement, they aren’t credible but the white men are credible.”
Sun Prairie School Board member Alwyn Foster resigned last week in solidarity with Coleman citing “issues related to our Black staff members historically.”
“I resigned because of her treatment,” Foster said. “I’m sick of it and I thought I could no longer be part of a system that has historically done Black women and men this way.”
Foster agreed the district’s equity statement is not practiced.
“We have this amazing equity statement, but it’s not in action,” he said.
Coleman said she was forced to resign by the school district last month following two separate investigations by the district.
Coleman described one investigation as “he said/she said” pitting her word against the words of four white male employees. The investigation stemmed from alleged verbal misconduct by Coleman during an event this past summer.
The other investigation came from accusations that Coleman “misgendered” another faculty member by referring to that person as “Mister” rather than the more gender-neutral term “Teacher,” which is that individual’s preference.
Coleman said the snafu was not intentional and the district is overreacting.
“I’ve never put my hand on a student, cursed at a student or mishandled a student,” Coleman said. “That, to me, is fireable, not he says/she says. Where’s the restorative practice? Where was my opportunity to reiterate that this is not who I am and have a conversation with the staff member?”
As a Black woman in a leading role for the district, Coleman says she has experienced worse than an honest pronoun mistake.
“I have been called out of my name by people,” Coleman said. “Parents have called me the N-word on the phone. But I have yet to say ‘I can’t work here’. I’ll just take it.”
Three people said the Sun Prairie Area School District fails to back staff of color as they strive to provide Black and Brown children with reflective mentorship, education and support.
“I have a problem with a district that has Black and Brown children with people of color on faculty not being able to support them,” Coleman said. “Staff of color speak up and try to support them, and they get rid of us.”
Teran Peterson, who served as a community liaison in the district and ran for Sun Prairie school board, agrees with Coleman’s assessment.
“Sun Prairie has a lengthy history of not being able to see through the success of Black staff,” Peterson said. “They hire Black staff members to be able to build relationships with Black students. You hired those people to look, feel and talk differently. But when that happens, the policy handbook gets thrown at them.”
Foster saw the same thing. Faculty of color who deeply connect with students of color and are outspoken about supporting those kids are soon shown the door by the school district, both Foster and Peterson said.
“It seems to happen in Sun Prairie with the most powerful and influential Black men and women,” Foster said. “There seems to be a tendency that those members don’t stay in the district for long and it seems they are pushed out.”
Peterson pointed to LaRon Ragsdale, an athletic director and dean of students at Sun Prairie West High School, as an example of people of color being pushed out. Ragsdale resigned last year.
“There were kids who had love and passion for him and then when things looked a little different (in how he handled a situation) he got the policy book thrown at him,” Peterson said.
Peterson talked about incidents where students were asked to pretend they were on a plantation and demonstrate how they would punish slaves; a student walkout after kids wore blackface at a basketball game; and Coleman’s departure as incidents that show equity is not being celebrated in the Sun Prairie Area School District.
“I think it’s the superintendent’s office,” Peterson said when asked who to blame for the district’s racial issues.
Neither Peterson nor Foster knew what the ultimate solution could be for the district’s racial problems, but both were certain if Coleman was a white man, none of the investigative and forced resignation backlash would be transpiring.
“If this were an accusation made towards a white staff member, would they have been given an opportunity for restorative justice or performance improvement?” Peterson said. “Why did it go from zero to one hundred? Would that have been the experience if she was a different color?”
Madison365 has reached out to the Sun Prairie Area School District and is awaiting comment.
