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Opinions differ on race-related issues in TISD
By Justin Jones: justin_jones@terrelltribune.com
Weeks after her son was involved in a fight at a Terrell ISD campus, Stephanie Babovec is concerned for her son's safety.
Aside from the fight, which Babovec alleges stemmed from racial tension, she is just as concerned about bigotry and discriminatory attitudes that she said has been within TISD for quite some time.
Walt Davis, TISD superintendent, however denies those negative feelings exist in TISD.
“I haven't heard of any problems in the past [and] all of our teachers and staff are working toward the best education possible for the kids,” he said, “and the school district doesn't have any racial tensions, to my knowledge.”
But Babovec said her son's fight, along with the perceived racial tension following the double murder at Pizza Hut in Terrell, is more than enough proof to believe the city and TISD have a problem.
“I feel like the authority figures at the schools aren't willing to open their mouths and say anything because they don't want to offend any of the parents. They don't want to hear discrimination,” Babovec said. “In my opinion, it's [discrimination] all the way around [the city] and it's a broad spectrum.”
According to Babovec, negative thinking toward a particular race doesn't just stem from some whites but there are some blacks, Hispanics and others who act and think that way.
And people with racial attitudes, she said, need to stop thinking that way, that racism is a bunch of nonsense and nobody should take a back seat to anybody.
“I think kids being disrespectful - and that coming along racial lines - has not been an issue as far as I'm concerned,” said Hutch Hill, new principal at Dr. Bruce Wood Intermediate School. “I don't think kids have a tendency [to have race-related attitudes] but sometimes it can be motivated from society and their background or they come from a prior experience.”
Is there racial tension in TISD?
According to Davis, TISD has 4,439 students with whites totaling 38.1 percent, while Hispanics are at 31 percent, blacks at 29.2 percent and others are at 1.4 percent.
Those percentages support Hill when he says there is a lot of diversity in TISD.
“I think that with any community, when diversity is taking place, people have to learn [about] each other,” he said, “and [know] it's a new experience for everyone involved.”
Along with that new experience, Hill said there will be some hurdles needing to be cleared and that a transitioning period will be needed so everyone can get used to the idea of honoring, respecting and valuing diversity.
“I think that's a process in and of itself,” Hill said. “But I think it's also good to have that because if we can model good relationships among each other as adults, we can certainly model that for our kids and they can grow up to be better citizens.”
According to LuAnne Bourland, a TISD counselor for 16 years before retiring in July, a lot of the perceived racial tension comes down to how you look at the situation.
Bourland, who currently is a counselor for Trinity Valley Community College, said you are always going to have students who misbehave but you will have those who excel in certain areas.
“My philosophy is we all work together, we all live together,” she said. “If you don't teach your children - whether it's your students or your own children - how to compromise, accept and listen to other people and their opinions, it doesn't matter their color, race or gender. You have to teach them that and if you don't, you have created another cycle.”
Echoing Bourland and the fact that you have to teach children is Babovec, a mother of three TISD children, who said adults should also have good relationships and respect for one another, no matter the race.
She said that, coupled with teaching children positive, non-hateful attitudes at home, should help the situation.
“My son has been going to school in Terrell since kindergarten and he's never had a problem getting along with other kids, it doesn't matter what color they are,” Babovec said. “I don't teach my kids to hate.
“The schools need to get off their behinds and do more about the situation and be more aware and involved with what's going on with our kids. People in this town need to wake up and see that it's [racial thinking] a problem.”
And while E.P. Shaw, who has more than 40 years of experience in education, said he's pretty sure there's always been some racial negativeness [throughout the city], albeit stemming from ignorance, he believes TISD is on the right track since it desegregated in 1969-1970.
Desegregation to present
During that transition, Shaw, who was the last principal of the all-black Burnett High School - now W.H. Burnett Elementary School - went to TISD as its first black administrator.
As an assistant principal, Shaw said things went pretty well considering the circumstances and he and other staffers knew who troublemakers were on both sides, watching them closely to make sure bigger problems didn't escalate.
“We stayed on top of it and we made a lot of progress,” Shaw said. “There is still some [progress to be made] but quite naturally, what happened here a few weeks ago [the double murder] more or less gave those an opportunity who always had it there to come out. For the most part, though, I think things are really cooling down and I think we will overcome it. I have reason for saying that and I can validate it from experience.”
And while Shaw thinks progress is being made in regard to the city's perceived racial tension, he said during the past 10 years, Terrell has lost a lot of black teachers, which in his opinion, is a detriment to the system.
When Terrell first desegregated, Shaw said he brought every teacher except one from Burnett High School to Terrell High School and they did an excellent job.
What caused the decline of black teachers in his opinion over the years, Shaw can't pinpoint, mainly because he said he wasn't there [working in the district].
“But I do know this, if you create an environment that's wholesome and everybody feels like they are worthy and treated fairly, they are going to do a good job,” he said. “Something has gone wrong because I do know that they have left and our retention is very low for African-American teachers and that needs to be improved.”
According to Davis, Terrell has 42 black teachers compared with 258 whites and 16 Hispanics.
Whether or not the lack of black teachers is hampering the district, having a negative attitude regarding race is, according to Babovec.
“Either way you look at it, discrimination - whether it's because of race, size, weight ... - is wrong and I think it's a shame,” she said. “It needs to stop. Our children are at school seven or eight hours a day. They've got to see it and they've got to know and do something about it.”
Sometimes kids are just kids and they want to come to school, learn, be respected and understood, according to Hill, who thinks as long as that is in place a lot of those major issues, you don't have to deal with them.
“I think that we have kids who go to school, learn, attend classes and walk in the hallways side by side together, and there's never been an issue of race being a part of any problems that we have in school,” Hill said. “If we encounter any problems at all, we find it as not racially motivated.”
Aside from the fight, which Babovec alleges stemmed from racial tension, she is just as concerned about bigotry and discriminatory attitudes that she said has been within TISD for quite some time.
Walt Davis, TISD superintendent, however denies those negative feelings exist in TISD.
“I haven't heard of any problems in the past [and] all of our teachers and staff are working toward the best education possible for the kids,” he said, “and the school district doesn't have any racial tensions, to my knowledge.”
But Babovec said her son's fight, along with the perceived racial tension following the double murder at Pizza Hut in Terrell, is more than enough proof to believe the city and TISD have a problem.
“I feel like the authority figures at the schools aren't willing to open their mouths and say anything because they don't want to offend any of the parents. They don't want to hear discrimination,” Babovec said. “In my opinion, it's [discrimination] all the way around [the city] and it's a broad spectrum.”
According to Babovec, negative thinking toward a particular race doesn't just stem from some whites but there are some blacks, Hispanics and others who act and think that way.
And people with racial attitudes, she said, need to stop thinking that way, that racism is a bunch of nonsense and nobody should take a back seat to anybody.
“I think kids being disrespectful - and that coming along racial lines - has not been an issue as far as I'm concerned,” said Hutch Hill, new principal at Dr. Bruce Wood Intermediate School. “I don't think kids have a tendency [to have race-related attitudes] but sometimes it can be motivated from society and their background or they come from a prior experience.”
Is there racial tension in TISD?
According to Davis, TISD has 4,439 students with whites totaling 38.1 percent, while Hispanics are at 31 percent, blacks at 29.2 percent and others are at 1.4 percent.
Those percentages support Hill when he says there is a lot of diversity in TISD.
“I think that with any community, when diversity is taking place, people have to learn [about] each other,” he said, “and [know] it's a new experience for everyone involved.”
Along with that new experience, Hill said there will be some hurdles needing to be cleared and that a transitioning period will be needed so everyone can get used to the idea of honoring, respecting and valuing diversity.
“I think that's a process in and of itself,” Hill said. “But I think it's also good to have that because if we can model good relationships among each other as adults, we can certainly model that for our kids and they can grow up to be better citizens.”
According to LuAnne Bourland, a TISD counselor for 16 years before retiring in July, a lot of the perceived racial tension comes down to how you look at the situation.
Bourland, who currently is a counselor for Trinity Valley Community College, said you are always going to have students who misbehave but you will have those who excel in certain areas.
“My philosophy is we all work together, we all live together,” she said. “If you don't teach your children - whether it's your students or your own children - how to compromise, accept and listen to other people and their opinions, it doesn't matter their color, race or gender. You have to teach them that and if you don't, you have created another cycle.”
Echoing Bourland and the fact that you have to teach children is Babovec, a mother of three TISD children, who said adults should also have good relationships and respect for one another, no matter the race.
She said that, coupled with teaching children positive, non-hateful attitudes at home, should help the situation.
“My son has been going to school in Terrell since kindergarten and he's never had a problem getting along with other kids, it doesn't matter what color they are,” Babovec said. “I don't teach my kids to hate.
“The schools need to get off their behinds and do more about the situation and be more aware and involved with what's going on with our kids. People in this town need to wake up and see that it's [racial thinking] a problem.”
And while E.P. Shaw, who has more than 40 years of experience in education, said he's pretty sure there's always been some racial negativeness [throughout the city], albeit stemming from ignorance, he believes TISD is on the right track since it desegregated in 1969-1970.
Desegregation to present
During that transition, Shaw, who was the last principal of the all-black Burnett High School - now W.H. Burnett Elementary School - went to TISD as its first black administrator.
As an assistant principal, Shaw said things went pretty well considering the circumstances and he and other staffers knew who troublemakers were on both sides, watching them closely to make sure bigger problems didn't escalate.
“We stayed on top of it and we made a lot of progress,” Shaw said. “There is still some [progress to be made] but quite naturally, what happened here a few weeks ago [the double murder] more or less gave those an opportunity who always had it there to come out. For the most part, though, I think things are really cooling down and I think we will overcome it. I have reason for saying that and I can validate it from experience.”
And while Shaw thinks progress is being made in regard to the city's perceived racial tension, he said during the past 10 years, Terrell has lost a lot of black teachers, which in his opinion, is a detriment to the system.
When Terrell first desegregated, Shaw said he brought every teacher except one from Burnett High School to Terrell High School and they did an excellent job.
What caused the decline of black teachers in his opinion over the years, Shaw can't pinpoint, mainly because he said he wasn't there [working in the district].
“But I do know this, if you create an environment that's wholesome and everybody feels like they are worthy and treated fairly, they are going to do a good job,” he said. “Something has gone wrong because I do know that they have left and our retention is very low for African-American teachers and that needs to be improved.”
According to Davis, Terrell has 42 black teachers compared with 258 whites and 16 Hispanics.
Whether or not the lack of black teachers is hampering the district, having a negative attitude regarding race is, according to Babovec.
“Either way you look at it, discrimination - whether it's because of race, size, weight ... - is wrong and I think it's a shame,” she said. “It needs to stop. Our children are at school seven or eight hours a day. They've got to see it and they've got to know and do something about it.”
Sometimes kids are just kids and they want to come to school, learn, be respected and understood, according to Hill, who thinks as long as that is in place a lot of those major issues, you don't have to deal with them.
“I think that we have kids who go to school, learn, attend classes and walk in the hallways side by side together, and there's never been an issue of race being a part of any problems that we have in school,” Hill said. “If we encounter any problems at all, we find it as not racially motivated.”
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