West Valley School Board rules Spanish teacher overstepped when he read aloud the ‘N-Word’ in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, does not reinstate teacher

The West Valley High School Spanish teacher who read aloud the N-Word in a passage from “To Kill a Mockingbird” will not return to the school, the school board ruled at a crowded Wednesday morning meeting.

The board unanimously approved Superintendent Kyle Rydell’s recommendation that Matthew Mastronardi’s contract not be renewed following his reading of the racial slur in his Spanish class, where the text is not included in curriculum.

In April, Mastronardi overheard a group of his Spanish students talking about the text they’re assigned to read in freshman English class and how their English teacher directed them not to read aloud the N-Word when encountering it in the text. Mastronardi chimed in that he would read each word as written, including the slur, and student Hayden Holdway invited him to “put his money where his mouth is, so to speak,” Hayden said last week, handing Mastronardi his copy of the novel open to a page containing the slur. Mastronardi obliged, and one of his students recorded him without his knowledge.

“The fact that he would take it out of where it was supposed to be taught, and just overhearing the kids talk about it, he jumped in to make it a teachable moment, or try to make it a teachable moment,” board President Pam McLeod said. “They weren’t specifically asking him until after he engaged them. I feel that he inserted himself into the situation.”

Mastronardi, in his final appeal to keep his job, asked the board to reinstate him, remove the discipline from his record and offer a job to his brother Andrew Mastronardi, who resigned an eight-year Spanish teaching position right across the hall from Matthew in a show of solidarity with his brother. Matthew Mastronardi doesn’t regret his actions, he said.

“My lone violation is that I spoke a forbidden word while reading a book. Furthermore, I have the audacity to tell the truth to my students that they also can read from a book as written no matter what the color of their skin is,” Matthew Mastronardi told the board. “It’s your right and duty as a learner, but it certainly doesn’t make you a racist.”

Resoundingly, board members determined the text didn’t belong in a Spanish classroom, absent of the care and guardrails put into teaching the text from the school’s English department faculty, who have collectively decided not to use the word aloud when teaching.

“Our (English language arts) teachers at the high school, they work diligently to create a plan of learning and thoughtful intent within the lessons in an emotionally safe environment,” board member Amy Anselmo said.

Matthew Mastronardi said as an educator, he had a responsibility to answer his students’ “bold” questions regardless of his content area.

“To say that an educator needs to stick to the script is perhaps the most anti-educational statement I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” he said.

Board members said they’d received emails from students in the class who were uncomfortable hearing the word read spontaneously. Parents of some students in Matthew Mastronardi’s class, Anselmo said, had opted their kids out of reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” and were provided an alternative in line with district policy. Matthew Mastronardi didn’t know who these kids were, and they were subject to the text outside of their own or their parents’ wishes.

“There were students who opted out, or their parents opted out of the child reading, and then that was brought up in your classroom with you not knowing which student it was. It shows a lack of concern for the families,” Anselmo said.

Matthew Mastronardi’s X posts recounting the incident, including the 8-second video in which he can be heard reading the slur, racked up over 2.3 million views and garnered conservative media attention on a national scale, as well as local attention. Despite the virality of Matthew Mastronardi reading the passage with the slur, school board members indicated Wednesday that that wasn’t the only rationale used in their decision not to renew his contract.

A provisional employee, state law allows school districts to not renew a teacher’s contract within their first three years of employment for any reason.

“There have been complaints received by the district from parents and students about the lack of topic content in Mr. Mastronardi’s Spanish class, and complaints about off-topic discussions regarding politics, religion,” board member Robert Dompier said.

Natalie Willis-Collett, a parent of one of Mastronardi’s students, said Matthew Mastronardi repeatedly discussed politics in his classroom, “consistently pushing his political agenda” to his students. Her main concern in the ordeal was Mastronardi allowing videographers from conservative education activist group Turning Point USA in their FRONTLINES series to enter the school to film an interview with Matthew Mastronardi in his classroom. A clip of her daughter was included in the video, fueling online bullying, she said. It’s one of several appearances Matthew Mastronardi has made on conservative media outlets since his X post went viral.

“Mr. Mastronardi made the decision he made, and then, in response to the backlash, deliberately solicited an extremely conservative pseudo-journalist to come to the school and conduct an interview in an attempt to save his job,” Willis-Collett told the board.

Willis-Collett was one of 29 speakers to address the school board Wednesday in more than an hour’s worth of comment. All but a handful spoke in support of Matthew Mastronardi and his decision to read the word.

Matthew Mastronardi was a popular teacher at West Valley High School, several students said speaking in support of their “honest,” “compassionate” and “caring” teacher. An online petition to reinstate Matthew Mastronardi, started by one of his pupils, garnered more than 2,500 signatures as of Wednesday. He’s also started an online fundraiser that has raised $9,700 as of Wednesday.

“The way in which Mr. Mastronardi said these words aloud had no ill intent behind it, had no discriminatory intent behind it, and certainly no racist intent behind it,” said Holdway, the student who prompted Matthew Mastronardi to read the text. “The context in which he said these words aloud was strictly academic while reciting excerpts from Harper Lee’s famous piece of American literature.”

Speakers raised concerns about freedom of speech and historical accuracy at the meeting. Heather Dalager told the board when she attended West Valley High School in the 1980s, her teachers read the word aloud, which added to the intent of the text against racism.

“We were taught the understanding of why the content of this book is so important to history,” Dalager said. “We’re supposed to learn from our mistakes, folks; we’re not supposed to repeat them.”

Spokane Valley Councilman Al Merkel and state Rep. Rob Chase spoke at the meeting in support of Matthew Mastronardi.

After the board unanimously decided not to renew Mastronardi’s contract, an attendee began shouting at the board, “Shame on you!” and “Enjoy being replaced!” as Matthew Mastronardi approached Rydell to shake his hand.

Some attendees convened outside after the decision and Matthew Mastronardi addressed the crowd, thanking his students for their courage in defending him. Students gathered around Mathew Mastronardi, asking him for final lessons, to which he imparted, “God is good,” “Serve the lord” and “Find out who truly loves you and surround yourself with those people.”

Matthew Mastronardi said without his teaching job, he’ll have more time to devote to his family and projects like raising chickens, as well as his podcast where he talks about “truth-seeking, about finding nuance in difficult, complex ideas that affect us today.” He doesn’t have another job lined up, but plans to continue educating, though “the medium will change,” he said.

“When one door shuts, I believe that God opens another one,” Matthew Mastronardi said.