Suffield parents, students raise concerns about recent racial incidents to the superintendent and school board

Parents and leaders of the Suffield Race Relations Coalition have brought forth concerns and recommendations about recent alleged racial incidents that occurred within Suffield Public Schools to Suffield Superintendent Timothy Van Tasel and the Suffield Board of Education.

Last Friday, members of the coalition and parents of Suffield student held a rally to share their personal experiences of racism within the school system, from the past and present.

Suffield parent Michelle Wilson said her daughter, Haley Wilson, witnessed a student yelling out the N-word several times in front of a teacher during a remote learning session in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It lasted for more than seven minutes before I told my daughter to get off the call,” Michelle Wilson said. “I immediately called the superintendent, the principal and the teacher to say what was going on. Initially, the teacher... said it never happened. Then upon my insistence, the principal pushed further and the teacher did realize, (and) did admit to what was going on in the call and his negligence of not stopping the student on the Zoom call.”

Michelle Wilson said, to her knowledge, no action was taken and her daughter was left feeling insecure. She added that her daughter brought this incident to Van Tasel, during a meeting he held with all the students of color this year, during which he stated that that didn’t happen.

“He almost got into an argument with her, with her getting upset, before he realized he was talking to the wrong student, and it was never resolved. He called me two years later to say that he was sorry,” Michelle Wilson said.

“It sort of breaks my heart a little bit. I’ve been in this school system my entire life. I should not have to argue, say I went through a racist incident and you did nothing about it,” Haley Wilson added.

Suffield Race Relations Coalition member Dr. Cassandre Victor Vega also alleges that a student was referred to as the N-word in class, while other students and the teacher were present on April 18. Other incidents they allege include a teacher who made both racial and gender stereotypes while teaching students in class in April and a second grader at Spalding who told her school psychologist that she doesn’t want to live anymore due to her classmates harassing her for several months about the color of her brown skin, according to Vega.

In response to the recent incidents, Van Tasel said that both he and the Board of Education have vowed that they will respond and have responded to concerns that have been raised.

“There may be things that we were not aware of. It’s tough to respond if we haven’t been given the opportunity or were made aware of it, but we are very, very committed to being responsive to any circumstances as it relates to race or discrimination within the Suffield Public Schools,” Van Tasel said.

Maureen Sattan, chair of the Suffield Board of Education, said in a statement that Suffield Board of Education believes that all students must be provided a safe and welcoming environment in the town’s schools.

“We do not and will not stand for racism or discrimination against any group, and our board goals and policies support this fundamental belief,” Sattan said.

When asked about the possibility of a meeting with the coalition in the near future to discuss its concerns, Van Tasel said that communications have been ongoing.

“We recognize that we have to work collaboratively to bring resolution to any of those if we want to create safe and welcoming environments for schools,” Van Tasel said. “Our students have to see that their parents as well as the faculty and staff of the school district are working together. We’re very committed to doing this. Obviously, we will continue, not that we haven’t done it already. We’re going to continue to have these open lines of communication, because we need to and we recognize that.”

Van Tasel also said that if there are concerns, to make school officials aware of what is happening, so that they can be addressed. He also said there is an online anonymous reporting tool that students and families can use to report any issues they may be facing.

“We’ve created this, understanding that maybe not all students are comfortable bringing forward concerns that they have experienced while attending Suffield Public schools. … If somebody doesn’t want to bring it forward, recognizing that there may be students or families who are concerned that if I report this, I would be faulted and so therefore, we’re trying to create whatever mechanisms we have and then communicating those out with our families as well as our students.”

Van Tasel said members of the coalition have been part of the DEI Council and multiple meetings and conversations that have occurred.

“There hasn’t been one of these moments that I have not been a part of that I have not taken from them areas or opportunities where we could look to do some things differently, including professional learning, which we have already been engaging with over the past two years,” he said.

Michelle Wilson said it is important that the Suffield Race Relations Coalition worked with the parents to voice their concerns.

“We’re no longer being siloed into different communities,” Wilson said. “We’re coming together to fight this racism.”

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