White principal warned for offense that got Black principal demoted, Ohio group says

Months after a Black principal’s promotion was reversed over a social media post, a white principal in the same Ohio school district received a written warning for the same offense, a group of community members says.

In May, assistant principal Damicka Bates, who is Black, was approved by the Pickerington school board to be promoted to principal at Pickerington Elementary. But in July, that decision was reversed due to a social media post, WBNS reported.

Bates and her family had gone downtown to look at protest artwork when Bates took a photo of her daughter in front of some graffiti, according to the outlet. Bates posted the photo and several others to Instagram, but an uncropped version automatically uploaded to Facebook, showing a “phrase critical of police,” WBNS reported.

Bates said she immediately took down the photo once she realized what had happened and issued an apology to law enforcement officers on her Facebook page, according to the outlet.

The school board unanimously voted to reverse Bates’ promotion, according to the Columbus Dispatch. She remained an assistant principal at Tussing Elementary.

A few months later, parents complained to the district that another elementary school principal, Ruth Stickel, who is white, had been making remarks on Facebook including the phrases “Black Lives Matter is a leftist lie,” and “He is a criminal,” on a news story about a George Floyd memorial scholarship, WSYX reported.

Stickel, however, received a written warning that she could lose her job if she violated the district’s social media policy again, according to the outlet.

“Future use of social media should reflect professionalism and behavior consistent of a school employee and, more specifically, as a building principal that leads staff in ensuring professionalism and protecting the goodwill and reputation of the school district,” chief administrative officer Zack Howard wrote to Stickel, WSYX reported. “This unprofessional behavior will not be tolerated and any future violations will result in future disciplinary action, including possible termination of employment.”

Members of the community say the school district disciplined the principals unequally for the same offense, and some gathered outside the district’s offices Monday to voice their concern.

“Stick to a standard and make that the standard for everyone,” Charles Newman, a Pickerington alum who organized the rally, told WCMH.

The group is calling on the school board to remove Stickel from her position, appoint someone to oversee diversity and inclusion in the district and to add four seats to the school board to be filled by people who are not white, among other changes, WCMH reported.

“We want to make sure the line of equity is fair across the board and things to put in place that what happened in this situation doesn’t happen anymore,” Newman told the outlet.

Rex Elliot, Bates’ attorney, said the two incidents are different and that parallels shouldn’t be drawn, the Dispatch reported.

The school board held a virtual meeting Monday night to “discuss personnel matters,” a spokesperson for the district told The Columbus Dispatch. Stickel’s case was the only item on the agenda, according to the newspaper.

The board has not yet commented on the outcomes of the meeting.

This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 9:59 AM with the headline "White principal warned for offense that got Black principal demoted, Ohio group says."