Collierville parents, citizens push for diversity training

An interfaith group prayed at the steps of Collierville’s town hall Aug. 28 after citizens addressed officials about a racial slur a student wrote on a desk at the town’s new high school last week.

More than two dozen members of the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH) attended the meeting in support of speakers who expressed concern about that incident and other incidents. A black 15-yearold girl discovered the n-word on her desk Aug. 20 at the new multimilliondollar high school.

“We have a tremendous issue,” the girl’s father, Linwood Dillard, told the board Aug. 28.

He and other speakers asked the board to help ensure an opportunity for Collierville students to be educated about racial sensitivity and diversity.

“There’s no clear, pronounced objective to say this is not going to be tolerated ... This is a diversity issue that is heartfelt,” Dillard said.

Parents also addressed the town school board recently, saying the incident was not isolated and pledging further action.

Two tenth-graders were disciplined for writing on the desk.

“Collierville Schools in no way condones the behaviors of the students involved in this incident,” a statement from the district said. “Their actions reflect neither the values of Collierville Schools nor those of the greater Collierville community.”

One of the students was white and the other was African-American, according to the district. The district declined to identify the race of the student who wrote the slur.

“Each student wrote something on the desk,” the district said. “One of the students wrote the racial slur. Both students thought it was funny and — rather than erase it before leaving the classroom — chose to leave it to be seen by another student.”

Collierville celebrated the grand opening of the 158-acre school at East Shelby Drive and Sycamore Road in August. The project, which broke ground

in May 2016, included costs of $86 million for construction, $4 million in land and $13 million for furniture, fixtures and equipment.

The mother of the student who found the slur said she came to Aug. 28’s meeting for the sake of all students to feel safe when they go to school.

“My concern is for diversity training at the beginning of the year, not just when something happens,” the girl’s mother, Stephanie Dillard, said.

The Aug. 28 meeting was also attended by a man who found the n-word painted on his car in Collierville in 2017.

Two juveniles were charged after Jason Mitchell, a black pastor, found the slur painted on his car while it was parked in the old Collierville High School parking lot. The suspects were 13- and 14-year-old white males enrolled in a Collierville middle school and the high school.

Mitchell asked members of MICAH to stand up in the audience as he addressed the board.

“We’re going to show up. We’re going to force the issue,” he said.

Attendees of the meeting inquired about what happened to the recommendations of a consultant, Eddie Colvin, who studied diversity and inclusion in Collierville. In April, he presented the Board of Mayor and Aldermen with 20 recommendations after working with a multicultural focus group.

Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner said that issues from the focus group dealing with schools were turned over to the schools to implement. All town employees were given diversity training.

“It was worthwhile, it has some traction,” Joyner said. “Certainly everything that was brought up in that meeting at this particular time the board has not implemented; however, we will take into consideration all of your comments tonight.”