NAACP eyes school disciplinary policies
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on February 25, 2011 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MICHAEL K. DAKOTA
NAACP officials Lendell Williams, Sylvia Barnes and Charles Wright discuss what they see as race issues in the Wayne County schools.
The Goldsboro-Wayne branch of the NAACP plans to form a blue ribbon committee to examine disciplinary policies of the Wayne County Public Schools, members announced at a press conference Thursday.
Charles Wright, education chairman for the group, said it was also "an appropriate time" to update the county's residents on the status of the NAACP's Title 6 complaint against the Board of Education.
"This is still a very viable complaint and investigations are ongoing," he said. "We have and will continue to assist and update the investigative authorities as pertinent information becomes available."
The schools are likewise cooperating with the investigation, said the school system's public information officer Ken Derksen, who noted that additional files had been submitted as recently as last week.
"There's no quick resolution," he said. "It's ongoing, and we continue to cooperate with the Department of Justice and Office of Civil Rights."
As for establishing a blue ribbon committee, Wright said it will be comprised of representatives of different groups from across the county, who will come together to look at the suspension rates and policies of the district.
When asked about the role parents and home life plays in the education process, Wright said the NAACP has always encouraged parental involvement.
"Parental involvement is very important," he said. "When we examine all the different data and all of the different reasons that children are suspended, some of it is attributed to the actual home environment. It's going on in the white districts (schools) and far greater numbers in the black district schools."