Born In Cleburne and Future Cleburne Coalition

The Racism 

On April 9, 2022, a Black student, Ja’Veyon Kelly baked a cake to complete a class assignment. His mother, Eleanor Kelly, is a professional baker and taught her children her craft. Upon submission, Mr. Smith didn’t believe that Ja’Veyon baked his own cake and subsequently called him the derogatory n-word in front of another student in the freezer of the culinary classroom. There is an audio recording of Mr. Smith admitting that he called Ja’Veyon the n-word and his defense was, “I thought we were cool like that.”

The Retaliation

Ja’Veyon’s family reported the racism he experienced to multiple leaders in the school district including school board members and administrators. Not only has Mr. Smith not faced any consequences or taken accountability, he actually retaliated against Ja’Veyon and punished him academically. 

The Culture and Beliefs

Students and parents have reported that this is not an isolated incident of racism in Cleburne ISD but that this is part of the culture in the district. <Insert examples here>

Not only is this an issue for Black and Brown students who are the targets of racism, but an issue for the community at large. Racism is alive and well in Cleburne ISD. The leadership, from the school board to the superintendent to principals, are failing to protect all students from racism. Cleburne ISD’s core belief include: 

• Making all decisions in the best interest of our students.
• Preparing our students to be successful, productive citizens.

Cleburne ISD’s recent unwillingness and inaction to disrupt racism in Cleburne ISD indicates that leadership is NOT making decisions in the best interest of the students. Furthermore, the district is not preparing students to be successful, productive citizens when they are upholding and perpetuating racism in the classroom.

As a result, I am calling on [Superintendent Heath, Principal Renner, board member name] to take the following concrete actions to address the impacts of this racist misconduct: 

1. Correct Ja’Veyon’s final grade and approve his culinary certification.
2. Provide mandatory district-wide ongoing professional development for teachers, school leaders, and district administrators covering the topics of implicit bias, antiracism, microaggressions, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. This training should be sustained through a budget line item and overseen directly by the superintendent in order to demonstrate it is taken seriously. 
3. Within 6 months, provide a district-wide action plan to continue to address the diversity, equity, and inclusion of all of Cleburne ISD students. This plan should address processes and protocols to report and resolve actions that do not create a culture of inclusiveness, and outline plans to proactively support teachers and students in their growth and understanding. This plan should also require an annual report on the work done to improve learning for all students and their families, reported both in sum across the district and by campus, with student race/ethnicity, gender, and free-lunch eligibility examined. This report should be read into the record annually at a public School Board meeting.