Forest Hills students protest board scrapping Diversity Day
Turpin and Anderson high school students walked out of their Wednesday morning classes in protest of the district canceling Turpin’s annual Diversity Day .
The voluntary event has been held at Turpin High School for at least six years and was scheduled originally for late March. Administrators postponed the event on short notice due to parent and board concerns and rescheduled the event for mid-may.
But the Forest Hills board of education held a special meeting earlier this month banning Diversity Day from occurring on school property or with school funds. With so little time left in the school year, the board’s decision ultimately led to the event’s cancellation.
Turpin, located in Anderson Township, serves more than 1,000 students in the Forest Hills School District. According to U.S. News & World Report, more than 90% of Turpin students are white.
Racial Diversity Awareness Day at Turpin traditionally includes a series of activities, discussions, video clips and breakout sessions with guest speakers that focus on history, the criminal justice system and empathy, according to the event’s permission slip.
This year the event was scheduled to included guest speakers from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Back2back Ministries Cincinnati and Cincinnati’s Citizen Complaint Authority.
The district was aware of students’ intent to protest Wednesday morning. In a Tuesday evening message, Forest Hills communications coordinator Josh Bazan said the district “recognizes and respects the rights of its students” to peacefully protest and express their ideas and opinions.
“The first priority for FHSD, at all times, is to provide a safe and secure learning environment for every student and we will continue with our commitment to maintain a high level of safety for students while on campus,” Bazan wrote in a news release.
The Forest Hills board of education will convene Wednesday evening for a regular business meeting at Nagel Middle School at 6:30 p.m.