Need for racial sensitivity in the spotlight

Although their focus is typically on helping youth learn lessons, even school board members sometimes show they have some learning to do, as well.

Millerick should have known better. He does now. He will also be devoting time to take cultural sensitivity training.

Ross Millerick, president of the Novato Unified School District board, learned a painful and public lesson when he used a racial slur during an April 27 meeting while relating an account of a 1998 incident at San Marin High School.

He says he was quoting the slur yelled by fans from the stands of a prep basketball game.

He wasn’t wrong in recalling the incident as an example of our need to continue to confront racism and work toward eliminating it, but he was wrong in reciting the slur.

Millerick publicly apologized at last week’s board meeting. School officials, realizing Milerick’s verbal error, were first to step forward and take action by calling an investigative committee.

Unfortunately, Millerick’s public apology came weeks after the meeting. In fact, before he issued his public apology, he initially declined to comment when contacted by a reporter.

If this was so-called damage control, Millerick and the district nearly waited until the controversy was at a full boil before taking public preventive action.

Millerick’s use of the slur came during a meeting on education and safety of the district’s athletic programs. His intent was to illustrate the importance of adult supervision at prep sports events.

His history lesson unfortunately turned into a lesson for himself.

“This was the wrong choice by me,” Millerick later said of his use of the epithet that he said had been uttered by fans.

His comments were well-intentioned, but his use of the hateful and hurtful word was an unfortunate stumble — an incendiary one. The public rightfully expects better of its public leaders, especially those whose work involves building the lives of our communities’ youth.

Millerick has a long reputation as a dedicated public servant and leader of Novato’s public schools. His error in judgment should not overshadow his dedicated service to the community.

This is an unfortunate stumble — but a terrible one.

Millerick also apologized to the two other district leaders involved in the online session and “to the entire Novato community.”

His public lesson serves as a wider community lesson that the utterance of such hateful and hurtful words, regardless of the speaker’s intent, is wrong.

Millerick should have known better. He does now. He will also be devoting time to take cultural-sensitivity training.

A special ad hoc committee of the Novato school board and the county Office of Education is investigating the incident as part of its work looking into budget, personnel and management issues facing the district.

Other trustees have been mum on Millerick’s error in judgment and his apology.

It is unclear why they are choosing to withhold public comment, individually or as a board, other than they are waiting for the completion of the investigation.

What is clear is the district needs a policy requiring prompt action in publicly condemning the utterance of such slurs as soon as they are uttered, not a day or weeks later.

Setting a public example of sensitivity and racial equity should be a priority, more important than showing deference to someone higher in the district’s leadership, such as a trustee whose choice of words deserved a prompt correction and apology.