New updates with AASD Protest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Ty Tagami wrote an article about the protest at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf that opposed the new hearing superintendent that was appointed by the Georgia Department of Education in early September to replace outgoing deaf superintendent John Serrano.
The AJC reported that 12 employees have quit the school. One of them, Terynce Butts said “several Black employees, both hearing and deaf, were among those who quit because they felt the state did not respect diversity and the hiring process reflected that.” The AJC explained that the school’s top leadership currently includes no people of color or deaf people, which is problematic because the student body has a Black and Hispanic majority.
Butts said a “Black, deaf woman applied for the superintendent’s job and left the school after she didn’t get an interview and that the school suspended its diversity, equity and inclusion committee.”
The GaDOE told the AJC that it hired the best person for the job based on a full vetting process and that every qualified applicant was interviewed. The GaDOE also said it paused the diversity committee because school employees were creating policies without consulting the state of Georgia.
Based on my conversations with those familiar with the school but prefer to remain anonymous, the Black and deaf female applicant who left AASD after not getting an interview for the superintendent position is Glennis Matthews. She was recently selected as The Learning Center in Massachusetts’ superintendent. Matthews was a science teacher and popular with AASD students, who had high hopes that she would become AASD’ new leader. When Matthews became TLC’s superintendent, she became the first deaf superintendent who is an alumni of a HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). Matthews attended Spelman College in Atlanta.
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It is also my understanding that when Serrano was superintendent, he led the formation of a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee in a bid to improve cultural sensitivity and cultural competency. Serrano did this after the CEASD (Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf) recommended that the AASD develop opportunities for staff to receive “cultural sensitivity training.” The CEASD gave AASD provisional accreditation and Serrano was hoping to make adjustments to reach full accreditation. One of the DEI’s strategies was to have an antiracism policy in which a mediator would call staff members to come in for a meeting if they were suspected of exhibiting microaggressions.
This idea never came to reality because when former AASD officials showed a draft of their plans to the GaDOE, the GaDOE said the DEI committee should be disbanded because there is already a grievance process in place. This caused some within the AASD community to feel like the GaDOE was suppressing a BIPOC-majority deaf school. When Serrano left in the summer, many staff also left.
This means the school year started in the fall with tension among students and the remaining staff on who would become the school’s leader. In the middle of August, it became public that Glennis Matthews became The Learning Center’s new superintendent. Then in early September, it was announced that Lisa Buckner would be AASD’s new superintendent. Students held a town hall to ask Buckner questions at the end of September and decided to organize a protest after they felt deeply dissatisfied with their new leader.
AASD suspended its in-person classroom instruction last week citing concerns with Covid-19 exposure among some staff and students. In-person classes will resume next Tuesday, October 12.
https://www.facebook.com/AtlantaAreaSchoolfortheDeaf/photos/2017-05-25/1966515456918811/