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New Haven Superintendent Addresses Principal's Demotion

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NBC News

New Haven's superintendent of schools on Monday made her first public comments about the demotion of a principal over the use of a racial slur and said she took actions she believes are fair.

When schools reopen, Tracey will have the principal report to the school district's central office for continued training and in the meantime will determine the role the principal will have in the central office.

The New Haven Board of Education voted last Monday to demote the principal of Brennan-Rogers Magnet School who used a racial slur in a “hypothetical situation” following a critical race theories workshop, according to Superintendent Ilene Tracey.

In a statement to NBC Connecticut, Tracey said she finds the term offensive and launched an investigation into the incident when she was made aware of it.

“After reviewing the investigative report and considering the context in which the language was used, I am confident that we were right to hold the principal accountable for her actions,” she said in a previous statement.

The statement said she consulted with the city attorney and the principal’s union before she recommended a demotion and reassignment.

“She will undergo sensitivity training and continued critical race theories training to learn about the impact of her words and to prevent such an incident from happening again. She has also been asked to work to repair the harm to the individuals in the school with whom she interacted for the words she used.”

The board was only able to vote on Tracey’s recommendations. It’s unclear if termination was an option for Tracey to put before the board.

On Monday, Tracey made a public statement, saying 'It was hurtful what was said. The situation was concerning and after taking into account everything, I delivered accountability. A demotion and a loss of wages is not an easy thing for an administrator," Tracey said.

Tracey read a letter from the principal, in which the principal reported apologizing to staff members and said there was no intention to hurt them and said she thanked them for coming forward.

The letter went on to say that the principal realized that she did something wrong and there have to be consequences and she wishes she could take it back.

When schools reopen, Tracey will have the principal report to the school district's central office for continued training and in the meantime will determine the role the principal will have with the central office.

"Had the principal said the word directly to an individual, like calling the individual the word, it would have been a different story," Tracey said.

She added that she is not sticking up for the principal and as superintendent, she has to be fair. Tracey said she has to also understand that there were people who felt they were harmed and wants to validate their concerns about being harmed.

Superintendent Ilene Tracey's full earlier statement is below:

"Monday, I presented to the Board of Education a personnel report. It included my recommendation to change the status of a principal related to an incident that occurred after a critical race theories workshop. It was reported that an insensitive term—the “ N” word was used. Upon investigation, it was used in a hypothetical situation. I, like so many in our community, find the term, whether used directly or not, to be grossly offensive. Upon learning of the incident, our Human Resources Department initiated an investigation. After reviewing the investigative report and considering the context in which the language was used, I am confident that we were right to hold the principal accountable for her actions. After consulting our attorney and meeting with the union, I determined the actions to be as follows:

The principal was demoted, which will result in reduced compensation. Contrary to reports, she has not been given an assignment as of yet. She will undergo sensitivity training  and continued critical race theories training to learn about the impact of her words and to prevent such an incident from happening again. She has also been asked to work to repair the harm to the individuals in the school with whom she interacted for the words she used. As a district, we have been engaged in discussions on critical race theories and need to utilize this along with restorative practices to repair any harm that was done. In addition, the report will be released publicly.

I’d like to thank the Board of Education for their decision to support accountability in this matter. To not act, to not show that this behavior isn’t in line with our values as a district, would have been a mistake.”

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