Board Member Suggests Parents Motivated By Bias Group Seeking Principal’s Ouster Angered By Elected Official’s ‘Kkk’ Comment

The president of the Spokane School Board outraged parents Tuesday when she portrayed a neighborhood revolt against an elementary school principal as racially motivated.

“I’m sorry if 16 parents simply don’t like Shari Kirihara,” Terrie Beaudreau told a television reporter.

“Maybe it’s because she is Japanese-American … It almost smells like the KKK walked into town.”

A loosely organized group of at least 40 Madison Elementary School parents are calling for Kirihara’s ouster. Last month, they filed a 200-page complaint with Spokane School District 81.

The parents say Kirihara has ridiculed students, ignored allegations of physical abuse, undermined their organizing efforts and failed to tell them when their children were being psychologically evaluated.

After word of Beaudreau’s comments reached the Franklin Park neighborhood, she quickly backpedaled, saying her remarks, aired Tuesday night on KREM-TV, were misunderstood.

The “KKK” comment was directed at reporter Tom Grant and his “methods of reporting,” she said.

She would not explain why she made the remark.

“It is just like in any other conversation, you know what your intent was,” said Beaudreau, a school board member since 1985.

But offended parents who listened to Beaudreau on TV aren’t buying the after-the-fact explanation.

“I guess that’s what you use when all else fails, when you know you are in the wrong,” said Howard DuHaime, who transferred his son out of Madison last year after a confrontation with Kirihara.

Other parents said Beaudreau is ignoring the real motivation behind their complaints: Kirihara’s performance.

“We come to them with performance issues, and they come back with racial issues,” said Jeanette Faulkner.

“For four years, they haven’t wanted to take our issues seriously,” said Nancy McLaughlin, a former Madison PTO president. “The district is not willing to take ownership in the issue now.”

McLaughlin, who hosted a Japanese-American exchange student last year, said she was “deeply offended” by Beaudreau’s statements.

The 410-student school is home to an English-as-a-second-language program and is one of the most racially diverse in Spokane.

Kirihara declined to comment Tuesday.

The new controversy threatens to further erode relations between Madison parents and the school district.

Most of the parents are refusing the district’s offer to mediate the dispute. The suggested mediator, Fred Schrumpf, was a paid district consultant last year, giving lessons in conflict resolution. Schrumpf’s position with the school district makes him biased, the parents argue.

District officials and school board members, meanwhile, are investigating new allegations raised in the 200-page complaint against Kirihara.

Asked about Beaudreau’s televised comments, Associate Superintendent Cynthia Lambarth said, “As this situation continues to develop, we are continually faced with surprises.”

Incoming PTO president Mary Haworth, one of Kirihara’s backers, said she has “never seen any indication” of racism in three years of dealing with parents opposing the principal.

Those parents also have not given any indication of racist motivations in their complaint, or in hours of interviews with The Spokesman-Review.

, DataTimes