Several community members, including a Mary Baldwin University history professor, raised concern at last night’s Augusta County School Board meeting and alleged racism in the school system.
Laura Pyle, an attorney in Staunton, said she is concerned about the suspension from school of students who are bullied, not the students who have perpetuated the bullying.
As a court-appointed guardian for children in custody disputes, Pyle works in the interests of children and makes recommendations to the court system. In reviewing each child’s case, Pyle said she prefers to meet with them at school, because it usually serves as neutral ground for a child.
“I look at kids’ whole situations: school, home, often multiple homes, counseling, detention, doctors’ records. I always try to meet with kids at school first,” Pyle said.
Suspending students who have been bullied, according to Pyle, gives bullies the upper hand.
“Every kid has a moral right to a safe environment and to be supported and to be taught that we are here to take care of each other,” Pyle said. “Throwing kids out of school and into detention does not solve problems, it creates worse ones.”
Pyle said she works with every child’s case to work herself out of a job and she asks the school board to consider with each child’s case “what more Augusta Schools can do for that student and what will teach them that we don’t give up on kids.”
Felicia Calloway’s son and daughter have experienced racism at Wilson Memorial High School. One day in April 2023, she visited the school to bring muffins to her children and two boys who had discriminated against her son previously harassed her on school grounds.
“Imagine what our children have to refrain from and miss out on, dignity, self-respect and education while those who provoke and prevail get the upper hand constantly,” Calloway said.
She had come to the school to express love to her children “in an environment that’s supposed to be safe and encouraging for all,” but instead was met with hatred.
“But are Augusta County Schools really safe for all, or is it just safe for one specific culture?” Calloway said.
Christine Polson lives in Staunton and is a former school board member. She said she spoke at last night’s meeting as a mother who cares about children in Augusta County, Waynesboro and Staunton. Polson serves on the Legal Redress Committee of the Staunton branch of the NAACP. She has heard local stories of racial harassment and discrimination among children and adults. “And they break my heart.”
She said everyone should imagine what it is like to be a Black student in Augusta County Schools. She has heard from students who have been taunted by other students and the victims of racist language. Some Black students have reached a breaking point and lashed out at others, yet were punished themselves.
“Please recognize that we still have a problem with racism in our schools,” Polson said. “Please create safer spaces for children and families of color to share their experiences with racism and please believe them when they tell their stories. We can work on this as a community.”
Dr. Amy Tillerson-Brown is a history professor at MBU and dean of the MBU College for Women. She cited Office on Civil Rights data that Augusta County Schools’ population is approximately 85 percent white and 3.2 percent Black. However, Blacks are 14.4 percent of the county’s population and 38.7 percent of the prison population.
“What do these statistics mean? It’s referred to as the school-to-prison pipeline,” Tillerson-Brown said. Black students are forced out of classrooms and into the justice system.
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Rebecca Barnabi
