Bemiss Elementary racism investigation dropped

A federal investigation into racial discrimination at Bemiss Elementary School in north Spokane has been dropped for lack of evidence.

“Resolution of an issue is always good,” said Nancy Stowell, Spokane Public Schools associate superintendent of teaching and learning services.

However, parent Tia Griffin, who filed the complaint, does not consider it resolved.

Griffin, who is black, said she is considering counseling for her family. She also is considering private school for her four children and is planning to challenge the federal agency’s decision to drop her complaint.

“I have nine lives. I have a lot of energy. I’m not going to give up,” said Griffin, a single parent who describes herself as middle class.

“I don’t need the money. I’m already blessed. It’s more than that.”

To be satisfied, Griffin said she would like to see some kind of district quality control agent to monitor how students and parents are treated. Griffin said she holds the school responsible for taking some of the “light” out of her children’s eyes.

She claims district staff have “taken away the voice” of her children.

Among Griffin’s complaints was that her first-grade daughter complained to a teacher that a boy repeatedly said to her, “I wish Martin Luther King was dead, and I wish all black people were dead.”

Griffin said the teacher took no action to stop the other student and questioned her daughter about the importance of the incident.

But an investigation by the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education found no evidence that Spokane Public Schools did not comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs receiving federal money.

In a letter dated Oct. 26, the director of the Office for Civil Rights in Seattle stated that the evidence was not sufficient to pursue Griffin’s complaints any further.

“They took eight months to write me back with that?” Griffin said.

The letter to Griffin noted that three of four teachers who taught Griffin’s children last year asked the principal to be present because of her anger during talks.

“One teacher also stated that she wanted someone present to witness her interactions with (Griffin) because she believed that (Griffin) had not accurately described her statements in complaints she made to the superintendent, the school board and the media,” the letter stated.

Spokane Public Schools has racked up hours compiling reports and completing interviews for four racial discrimination complaints in the past year, Stowell said Thursday. Now, when conflicts erupt, the school will be more diligent about documenting the interactions.

“All of this has caused us as a system to be more careful and thorough of documenting events just because lot of things happen in a conversation that people can’t recall,” Stowell said. “I think it is a lesson learned.”

Some things were documented well, but that wasn’t done districtwide, she said.

Of the remaining racial discrimination complaints, two are still under investigation, and a third has been resolved.

Griffin, who will soon graduate from Gonzaga University, has 60 days to submit a request for reconsideration.

She said she has spoken with attorneys about her situation but said, “No one has really wanted to take my case. I’m going to have to seek the West Side.”