Parents And Students Criticize Carrboro High School Principal, While NAACP Voices Support ...Middle East

NAACP Chapter President Herman Foushee speaks at a press conference in support of Helena Thomas on Wednesday, June 11 (Henry Taylor/Chapel Hill Media Group)

The controversy around leadership at Carrboro High School continued to heat up this week, with a local chapter of the NAACP weighing in on demands to oust Helena Thomas, the school’s principal. 

Public controversy began when CHS parents and students released a letter on behalf of over 70 anonymous staff members, alleging mistreatment and poor communication from the school’s administration. When satisfactory action wasn’t taken, they staged a walkout from Carrboro High School on Thursday, May 29. They were specifically criticising the administration under its current principal, Helena Thomas, who was later suspended with pay and barred from attending her school’s graduation ceremony on Saturday, June 14. In response, the Chapel Hill Carrboro NAACP held a press conference on Wednesday, June 11, citing concerns around the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools District Office’s treatment of Thomas, who is a Black woman. They called upon the district to give Thomas due process while evaluating complaints, and criticized the choice to place her on paid leave.

At a school board meeting on June 5, prior to Thomas’ paid leave being made public, five Carrboro High School parents spoke directly to members on what they saw as their lack of an adequate response. Dean Avary is the father of Oak Avary, one of the students who organized May’s walkout. He described some of the experiences of his daughter, who is transgender, during her time enrolled at CHS.

“For Oak, she has endured multiple events of overt discrimination in the last couple of years,” he said. “To be clear, no one is expecting perfection from a school, much less teenage kids. What we do expect, however, is that the school administration has our child’s back. That has simply not been the case, and it’s heartbreaking.”

Avary added he believes the problems at CHS go beyond failure to address instances of discrimination.

“The PTSA is a shadow of its former self. Teachers are at their wits end,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have a five alarm fire at Carrboro High School. This is not the time for more listening sessions and meetings. Action must be taken to put out the fire, and I respectfully submit that the fire isn’t going to be put out by the people who started it.”

Jen Hunt, another CHS parent, said the lack of action at the time on the part of CHCCS showed the district’s stance on the issue.

“This isn’t just disappointing, it’s dangerous. Because when you don’t act, it sends a clear message all across the district. But it really sends a clear message to us, and what you’re saying is ‘your experience doesn’t matter.’”

Brian Link, the president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Association of Educators, attended the meeting to share a message on behalf of educators at Carrboro High.

“Quote, and this is from the coalition of teachers, ‘We appreciate all that parents are doing on our behalf and the behalf of our students, but we’re currently involved in a process and have agreed to forego public statements until we’ve seen it through June 13. We thank everyone for listening to staff.’ The staff asked for an ADR [alternative dispute resolution] process. We have a person from the outside who is listening and conducting interviews. That was their number one ask. It was met.”

During Thursday’s meeting, CHCCS School Board Member Rani Dasi responded directly to the concerned parents at the end of public comments, assuring them the board and the district are taking action even if it wasn’t being made public.

“When we are considering issues that impact people’s lives, like our students, like our staff, like our faculty, none of you would want us to rush through or tell everybody what’s being considered as we’re going through this process,” she said. “For the respect that you would want in considering your career, I think we want to consider that there needs to be time and space for considering a lot of different factors.”

After learning of Thomas being put on leave more than a week prior, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro chapter of the NAACP held a conference at the CHCCS district office at the Lincoln Center, the same place the student walk out had ended. Chapter President Herman Foushee laid out specific requests from the NAACP to the district.

“We are reaching out directly in the hopes of achieving a fair solution for Helena Thomas,” he said at the press conference. “We believe that the district office has unjustly responded to community concerns at [Carrboro] High School, at her expense. As a result, she has had to endure considerable harm to her professional and personal reputation.”

He called for the district to follow due process while investigating claims and concerns from the community.

“We request that she remain in full standing as a principal until there is a formal investigation that confirms any wrongdoing. Our support for Thomas emphasizes our commitment to the intersectionality of economic equity and racial justice.”

Sherika Hill, co-chair of the NAACP’s education committee, was another speaker at the press conference. She said the complaints raised by parents against Thomas were without merit, but that she understood the action they took.

“Let’s be clear that the allegations and the claims that were raised by those parents were unfounded, for the most part,” she said. “And there has not been a comment by the administrative office or by the school board to that point, which raises our concern. And so, because there was silence on behalf of the administrative office and the school board, the parents organized as they should have, and they motivated their children to speak out for advocacy.”

She responded to assurances from the school board and the district that an investigation is taking place, but the details cannot be made public yet.

“There should still be clear and vocal transparency on what written policies, protocols, and standardized processes are being followed,” she said. “It is not okay to say we’re doing an impartial administrative review when we don’t know when it is going to end.”

Hill continued by questioning whether or not the district was following proper disciplinary protocols.

“It is our knowledge that if any disciplinary actions are taken against Doctor Thomas by the district office, that she should be able to appeal to them to the school board. Please let us know when that appeal process is open, because this woman has one ask, and that is to join her students in her community at graduation. What is so wrong about that?”

Andy Jenks, the chief communications officer for CHCCS, responded to these claims by stipulating that a paid administrative leave is not a disciplinary measure, and that it is not a permanent status. He said the district is moving along with due process, even if that process is happening behind closed doors.

“There’s a lot for us as an administration to reflect on,” he said “But I think I can also say in the same breath that this takes time and it’s important to get it right. And sometimes that’s not always the most satisfactory answer when things take a little bit of time and you don’t have public updates because this is a personnel matter, but we appreciate that it’s such an engaged community who comes forward because we all want the same thing, which is what’s best for our kids and our schools.”

School Board Member Vickie Feaster Fornville was in attendance at the conference, and stood alongside NAACP representatives and community members. She urged those with concerns to slow down for a moment and ask questions before taking action.

“Be patient and, and ask questions,” she said. “And if you want to ask questions, that’s fine. But if you don’t know that what you’re repeating is actually factual, do due diligence and not repeat it without knowing because that only causes more harm.”

She denied the idea that the board or the district knows anything about these allegations that the public is unaware of.

“We are not intentionally covering up anything. We are not intentionally silencing anyone. So that is my understanding and my stance at this point.”

As of Thursday, Helena Thomas remains on paid leave and will not be able to attend Saturday’s graduation ceremony. The district has not made any official decision on the future of her employment at Carrboro High School. 

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