Mom says Cleburne teacher used a racial slur toward her son, treated him unfairly
%20(1).JPG "Cleburne ISD says it plans to expand its diversity and sensitivity training after a parent said her son was referred to with a racial slur by a teacher.")
A Cleburne High School teacher used a racial slur in referring to a Black student, the student’s parent said this week.
The teacher used the slur while saying Jayveon Kelly didn’t complete an assignment correctly in April, said Eleanor Wright, the student’s mother.
In an audio recording another student took shortly after hearing the alleged racial slur, Kelly can be heard saying, “What was that all about? That’s not being cool.”
The teacher responded, “I thought we were cool with each other. I thought I could talk like that but I guess I can’t.”
Wright said she and her son met with school administrators and the teacher last month. Wright said the teacher and the administrators apologized.
In a prepared statement, Elizabeth Childress, the school board president, said, “This incident does not reflect who we are as a school district. This is not the climate or culture we tolerate in Cleburne. In the face of this situation, and related concerns now being expressed, our district administration is expanding on the standards and initiatives already in place to include cultural diversity and sensitivity training for our staff.”
Wright said she went public with the incident when mistreatment of her son continued. The teacher was inappropriately critical of one of Kelly’s assignments and denied Kelly a graduation cord for his involvement in the course of study, Wright said.
Wright tweeted about the situation Monday after her son graduated over the weekend. She said Kelly feared retribution if Wright had gone public sooner. Wright identified the teacher by name, but the Star-Telegram could not reach that teacher for comment and could not independently verify the teacher’s identify.
Wright said the teacher alleged in a phone call that Wright’s son didn’t receive a cord for the course of study because he didn’t finish all of the credits necessary, but her son says that he did. The Star-Telegram obtained emails in which Wright complained to the teacher about denying the cord, and the teacher requested a phone call to “clear up this misunderstanding.”
The administration didn’t confirm or deny whether a teacher was disciplined in the matter. A spokesperson said, “That information cannot be provided due to procedures relating to personnel confidentiality.”
In a prepared statement, the district said, “Any concern received by Cleburne ISD is taken seriously and investigated. Appropriate measures are utilized, with the ultimate goal of bringing about resolution.”
Carolyn Myres, who has a grandchildren in the Cleburne school district and is a former district administrator, has reached out to Wright in support and said she hopes the district will discipline the teacher, publicly apologize and implement sensitivity training district-wide.
Myres said her granddaughter was referred to with a racial slur in a school assembly by a staff member in December 2021. And at a school play, Myres said, students in the audience chanted a racial slur.
The school system did not respond to questions from the Star-Telegram about Myres’ concerns.
Superintendent Kyle Heath said in a prepared statement that the district aims to create an environment where “every student and every staff member feels welcome, comfortable and included.”
“I believe adding diversity and sensitivity training is an essential and critical addition to the toolkit we have in place for our CISD team,” Heath said.
Wright said she also chose to publicize the incident because she has two other children in Cleburne ISD.
“Now, someone that they are supposed to look up to – a role model - is using the word, so I just didn’t feel like that was right,” Wright said.
Wright said she plans to speak about the incident in front of the school board.
This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 4:09 PM.
