A Washington Elementary School
District principal has resigned, amid controversy over how a student was
disciplined.
The resignation came on the heels of a suspension of a nine-year-old student
at the school who allegedly used the term "brown people" during a conflict
with another student. School officials determined the language constituted
racial harassment under the school's hate-crimes code.
Abraham Lincoln Traditional School Principal Virginia Voinovich submitted
her letter of resignation to Smartschoolsplus, a company that contracts with
school districts to bring back retired employees. The resignation is
effective Dec. 24.During a tape-recorded parent-teacher conference,
Voinovich said, "As we said to (the boy) when he was in here, in your heart
you may have that feeling, and that is OK if that is your personal believe,"
but that he should have kept the comments to himself.
Sherry Neve, the boy's mother, has said that she has not raised her son
to be racist and that he never differentiated a person's color until the
school made it an issue. The boy denied using the phrase.
A district spokesperson, Carol Donaldson, declined to comment on the
resignation, only saying that officials will follow the usual procedure for
replacing Voinovich, including working with a school site counsel made up of
parents, teachers, classified staff, administration and community members.
In a copy of the resignation letter sent to district officials, Voinovich
said she is resigning "for personal reasons."
The Washington Elementary School District serves parts of Glendale. Abraham
Lincoln Traditional School is located in Phoenix.
-
9-year old suspended for 'hate crime'
Staff writer Robert Anglen contributed to this article.