Red Wing schools placed 'under the microscope'

Red Wing School Board members agreed to publish a statement last year addressing offensive behavior, it appeared the infamous Wangster Day incident was behind them. Federal officials decided last month that it's not.

The district and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights reached a 13-point agreement placing the district under a two-year action plan to address civil rights issues at Red Wing High School.

The plan - a direct response to an unsanctioned 2009 homecoming stunt where dozens of white students came to school dressed in hip-hop attire - calls on the district to provide periodic reports through the 2011-12 school year documenting steps it has taken to "avert the formation of, or to address the existence of a racially hostile environment."

Red Wing native and former University of Wisconsin-River Falls Chief Diversity Officer Craig Morris said he was shocked to learn of OCR's involvement in Red Wing.

"For a school district like the Red Wing district to be involved - it's pretty rare," Morris said.

Members of Red Wing's black community brought the issue to light last year at a School Board meeting, saying the staged event was a mockery of black culture. Red Wing High School Principal Beth Borgen told board members that the event had gone under the name Wigger Day and been staged in previous years.

"It was wrong what they did," Red Wing resident Maxine Pruitt said Tuesday. "The Office of Civil Rights agreed with me."

She filed the complaint with OCR, which kicked off a 10-monthlong investigation. Red Wing Supt. Stan Slessor signed the resulting agreement Aug. 26.

According to U.S. Department of Education spokesman David Thomas, the complaint alleged the high school's black students were subjected to a "hostile environment" as a result of Wangster Day and "the district failed to respond appropriately to the incident."

Pruitt said the part that most disturbed her was how the stunt survived for several years without any public outcry.

"It's because nobody ever made a fuss," she said.

As part of the agreement, the district must allow Office of Civil Rights officials to visit the district and monitor the agreement through interviews with student and staff.

That could mean a sustained presence by the agency, Morris said.

"They will haunt you," he said of OCR investigations.

Other elements of the agreement require the district to update its harassment policy, monitor anti-harassment efforts, form a working group to address its anti-harassment program, and to provide black students with a forum to discuss racial issues, along with a clear pathway for logging any related complaints.

The district must also issue statements addressing intolerance - including a statement to be issued the week before homecoming, "and will specifically note the applicability of all policies governing racial harassment to activities related to homecoming week."

"They've got them under a microscope," Pruitt said.

Morris said OCR could decide to further its investigation if officials decide the agreement has been broken. Slessor said OCR officials did not discuss possible penalties in the event the agreement is broken.

"We anticipate that we're going to follow through," he said.

Pruitt took action against the district after her daughter, a 2010 Red Wing High School graduate, told her about the incident last year.

Though School Board members addressed Pruitt's concerns last year, she said they didn't go far enough. She had sought an apology to the school's black students.

"They did everything but the public apology," she said.

As a student growing up in the early 1960s, Pruitt said she vividly recalls the turmoil in her native Arkansas during desegregation. She said racial tensions have since cooled in the South.

When she moved her family to Red Wing five years ago from Arkansas, Pruitt said she had higher expectations.

"My daughter shouldn't have to go through that in this day and age," she said.

Slessor said he thinks the agreement can mend wounds left by the incident and remind students that actions have consequences.

"I think it's healthy. I think it's a positive," he said.

School Board members will be briefed on the issue at Monday's meeting, but will not act on it, Slessor said. As superintendent, he can authorize the action.

He said the district intends to abide by the terms of the agreement.

"We take these things seriously as well," Slessor said.

Thomas said the district indicated its wish to resolve the case prior to the completion of OCR's investigation. The education department did not release copies of any OCR findings or investigation reports.

Slessor said he hopes the ongoing Wangster saga doesn't mar the district's reputation, but admitted it would have been best if the incident never occurred.

"I never felt it is a black eye to the district," Slessor said.

He said he hopes the public will withhold judgment until after the district puts the agreement into action.

"I want us to be judged on our level of response when it happens."

Pruitt held guarded optimism as to whether the OCR agreement would make an impact on local attitudes regarding race.

"I kind of do, but I don't think it will on a large scale," she said.

Slessor said he hasn't heard any rumors of students attempting to stage the event this year, but said they would face strict penalties.

"Punishment will be enforced," he said. "It will not be nebulous in terms of response to any violation."

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