Madison School Board would make decision on staff ‘racial incident’ discipline under proposals
On Jan. 11, the Madison School Board began evaluating new responses to staff racial incidents that would have the board make discipline decisions.
The conversation came at the end of a week in which the district’s communication on staff use of racial slurs received criticism from an independent hearing officer, who advised the district to overturn a disciplinary suspension given to a Nuestro Mundo social worker last year following her use of the N-word in a staff meeting.
The “zero tolerance” practice the district began using during the 2018-19 school year. Seven staff members were disciplined. The practice came under international scrutiny last fall when West High School security assistant Marlon Anderson was fired for using the N-word while telling a student not to call him that.
Ideas discussed Saturday included the School Board making decisions on any discipline related to a racial incident, focusing on a restorative process rather than a punitive one.
Despite spending far more than most taxpayer supported K-12 school districts, Madison has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
