At a packed Caurus Academy school board meeting Monday night, dozens of parents stepped up to cheer the school while several condemned it, but few directly addressed the racism controversy that has drawn national attention to the Anthem charter school. 

The majority of parents praised Caurus Academy and its administration, cheering school staff during the three-hour meeting. But deeper issues within Caurus appeared to have boiled over for some frustrated parents, as they expressed concern over what they said are long-standing issues at the school that has not been addressed.

But while several alluded to a reported incident involving racist hecklers at a girls varsity volleyball game last week, only a few remarked on it directly.

The Oct. 22 playoff game between Salt River High School and Caurus was halted after crowd members reportedly heckled players with racist gestures and slurs. Salt River High School is located in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

Kevin LaMountain, a board member, said the school has fielded an avalanche of negative comments following the incident and media coverage.

“This school has handled the hundreds if not thousands of negative comments through Facebook posts. The story went national,” he said. “It’s not as though the comments that we’re getting are from 10 miles around this campus. They’re from tens of thousands of miles away. The school has done a fantastic job at handling all of that.”

Members of the crowd referred to the players as “savages” when the match became competitive on Oct. 22, said one Salt River alumnus who was at the playoff game. Other reported racist acts included tribal war chants and so-called tomahawk chops, a chant considered disrespectful.

The two teams finished the game on Oct. 25. Spectators rooting for Salt River appeared to outnumber others in the stands at the makeup game.

Canyon Athletic Association, the organization that oversees competition between non-traditional schools in Arizona, launched an investigation into the incident. After meeting with both schools, the CAA ruled no sanctions against either team and announced a new committee to develop cultural competency policies for participating schools.

School staff and a board member praised Caurus’ handling of the controversy. And while many parents voiced their support for the charter school, some raised serious concerns, claiming a bullying culture exists on the campus.

‘They were great sports’

Wendy Davison, Caurus’ principal, appeared to nearly cry at the board meeting as she praised the volleyball team for their composure Friday as the schools completed the match, which Caurus won.

“I am so proud of these girls who stepped out on the court in an extremely difficult situation on Friday,” she said. “They were composed, they were mature, they were great sports. … I was extremely proud to be their principal and their athletic director on Friday.”

Taté Walker, a spokeswoman for Salt River Schools, said in a statement Friday that the incident was just a symptom of a more systemic problem.

“There are more conversations to be had especially with regards to how discrimination, inclusion and restorative justice is handled within schools, whether in the classrooms or on the court,” Walker said.

Davison said administrators with Caurus have met with administrators from Salt River High. The school may try to disseminate more information to students following the incident about racial issues.

“We always talk about racial sensitivity, diversity, cultural competency,” she said. “I don’t see it on a daily basis, but it happens often. It certainly has happened since this whole thing has started.” 

Other issues emerge

Public comment, mostly from parents, took a little over an hour and a half. Many spoke in support of the school, but several raised serious concerns involving student safety.

William Wendt identified himself as a parent. He said that Dameon Blair’s position on the board – Blair is both the school’s director and the chair of the board – concerns him. Blair’s dual role has made some parents leery of speaking publicly about their concerns, worried about retaliation.

“Parents’ concerns for safety and security have not been resolved,” he said.

Tracy Rollins, who said she was a mother of a former Caurus Academy student, told the board her son was bullied, once beat-up and exposed to graphic pornography during his time as a student at Caurus.

A man who identified himself as a father of a Caurus student said his daughter is blaming herself for a sexual assault. Caurus did not support her in the aftermath, he said. The Republic is not identifying the father by name because it does not identify survivors of sexual abuse without their permission.

“She thinks it’s her fault,” he said. “It’s not her fault.”

Many parents commended Caurus’ administration and staff without addressing the reported racist incident at the volleyball game. Katie McKinnon said as a parent, she was overjoyed with her experience at Caurus.

“It has been a phenomenal experience,” she said.

But Wendt said the school’s environment and its principles are competing.

“Your administration is creating an environment that is diametrically opposed to the values of this school,” he said.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @LilyAlta.

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