Reviewing Interviews from HIB Investigation - Part 4, Chandra Hampson

The Hampson interview is probably the most problematic of the interviews. Like Director Zachary DeWolf, she feels it important to lay out a roadmap to her thinking leadership based on her childhood.  Her words do open up broader questions about what school board leaders believe about leadership, especially as the school board elections approach.

In fact, several things that Hampson says deserve further discussion and I'll be writing a wrap-up post bringing in those issues.

She talks quite a bit about her Native culture and being a Native woman. However, it is a bit of a surprise that she spent about half the interview talking about herself. Also, Hampson said she would supply MFR Law Group with evidence of her work to support the Black community. She did NOT do so even though the report says she was offered several chances to do so.

Clearly, she wanted to present a narrative that she couldn't possibly have committed racist acts. The report supports that she didn't. But boy, does she go out of her way to say that Scarlett and Al-ansi could have racist ideas and, in fact, are the ones who made for the uncomfortable situation.

Storytelling is how Native people explained things, and Hampson does not mind when people try to get her back on track.

Is she saying she was off-track? Hard to know. Unlike DeWolf, she does not go into any detail around the circumstances for the investigation. She speaks in vague terms and seems to contend that Keisha Scarlett is a difficult person (and Hampson isn't the only one to say so).

Hampson clearly and publicly identifies as Native. When Scarlett refers to Hampson, she often refers to her as White and references her behavior as White-privileged. Hampson herself said she had full White privilege but what she is referring to is the level of melanin in her skin. 

As a child, Hampson "learned she could switch between White and Native communities." 

Hampson's family would slap her if they thought she was having an identity crisis and could not identify as Native. 

Then there is this very off statement in the interview where I don't know if Hampson chose the words or whoever wrote up the interview did:

With Hampson's siblings, there was never any confusion. They look Indian; they look exotic with black hair and brown eyes."

Exotic? 

All that to say that she says she has experienced racism in her life including micro-aggressions.

Then Hampson makes some very blunt statements about herself. 

Of course, Hampson knew this was not true because she grew up as a Native person with full White privilege due to her appearance. 

Hampson is well aware that Scarlett and Al-ansi interact with her as if she is exclusively White. This is an issue for Hampson. For example, the language of being a pro-Indigenous suddenly shows up after allegations were made against Hampson. 

Referencing the head of Native American Education Manager Gail Morris:

Morris and Hampson have talked a lot about delicate conversations and conflicts that come up between the Black and Native communities. Sometimes this is perceived as a fight for the bottom or the "Oppression Olympics." 

She really believes that there is not a good understanding by Scarlett and Al-ansi about who Native people are and what their histories are, like how Native people show up in spaces with a commitment to education. 

In general, the problems expressed by Native people are not just with Hampson; there have been other conflicts between Scarlett and Al-ansi and Native people.

This has been painful, because there is a sense of wrong done, and Hampson knows that Scarlett and Al-ansi do not see her as a Native woman. They are attempting to erase her identity which is the very thing that has been done to Native people since the colonizers arrived in this country.

Well then. So Hampson is blaming Scarlett and Al-ansi for the conflict and she's not racist but they possibly are? 

Hampson said the superintendent did not respect her when she was SCPTSA president and when Hampson got elected to the Board. 

It is very painful because a fellow Native person is not utilizing the same cultural guidelines that they grew up with.

My understanding is that Native tribes are not a monolith. And yet they all have the same cultural guidelines? I did ask a couple of people and I was told that, of course, Native Americans respect their elders but more than being in leadership, it is what a person says and does in that role.

Hampson talks about the disrespect SPS staff shows to the Board and singles out Juneau's Chief of Staff as "the most disrespectful."

Hampson claims communications with Scarlett "have always been on Scarlett's terms." 

Hampson has been unclear about Scarlett's communication preference. How does she want to communicate - text, email, phone?

Seriously folks, this is senior leadership in SPS and they can't get this kind of day-to-day communication clear? 

Then we get to a serious point and I hope in two years voters remember this (which was not in the report). Hampson thinks Scarlett doesn't understand the Board's responsibilities and says:

You have a level of fiduciary responsibility and accountability. Your accountability is to your constituents, not staff. 

In this moment in time, Hampson's constituents are Redacted, Redacted and the other Black and indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) who have supported the anti-racism work for so long. 

I don't know who the redacted people are. 

I'll talk about this more in the final post on this but whoa! All of Hampson's "why doesn't senior staff understand the role of a board director" and then she tells the citizens of Seattle that she isn't elected to help ALL students in Seattle Schools? Just those she chooses to focus on?

Connections with Juneau and DeWolf:

At the time, a Native superintendent, Denise Juneau, had been hired and Hampson and Juneau's family connection go back to Indian activist families in the Bay Area. 

As well

DeWolf and Hampson know each other from the Native community. Hampson is close to DeWolf's stepmom.

Didn't know that. Interesting. But in one place, talking about after she was elected, Hampson says she didn't need DeWolf's help in the Native community because she was well-known. I checked with a few people and they categorically say that was not true. 

Public Education Activism

Hampson goes onto explain, at length, her involvement in public education in Seattle by talking about being a parent at Sand Point Elementary.

When she moved to the Pacific Northwest, she knew racism would be insidious but did not expect it would be overt.

Once exposed to the school, she was pretty heartbroken at the extent of racism and overall dysfunction. 

The Sand Point neighborhood in NW Seattle is a very wealthy neighborhood. The school covers a fascinating combination of wealthy individuals, low-income housing and middle and upper-middle class families. 

She goes on:

Hampson was in a place of advocating for housing justice and believe that many families who lived in the federally subsidized housing (the "Magnuson Community") were on edge and not getting support from the school. 

She says the then-principal at Sand Point "exacerbated the situation and was retaliating against families." She goes on at length about Charleena Lyles, a parent at Sand Point who was killed by police in front of her children in her home.

Hampson felt as if she could not get SPS to acknowledge the principal's behavior was not appropriate or take a position that the principal was creating and exacerbating a situation for a parent who was later murdered by the police. 

She really thought that SPS would admit to her or any parent that a principal's behavior was not appropriate? That could have gotten the district sued and I'll bet she knew that but this narrative fits better for her.  And interesting that she can call out behavior of others as "inappropriate" but not her own.

Hampson still holds SPS responsible. General Counsel Greg Narver would hate to hear her say it, but she has publicly testified that SPS must be responsible for their part in not better supporting the Lyles family. 

Her thoughts on supporting Smart Goal 2 in SPS Strategic Plan, Black males

Hampson testified on behalf of and in support of this work and feels it is really important that the Board understands that if you start mixing groups together, those students do not get served on their authentic and unique news and stories. 

Interesting. 

Then there's a long tangent about Native American students, SPS programs and who should be doing what. 

It's interesting about her involvement in the SPS work for Native students because she did nothing when Juneau was getting rid of the Urban Native Education Alliance (UNEA). Hampson complains in the interview about a terrible assignment involving Native stories that one of her children had in class. The head of UNEA, Sarah Sense Wilson? She had the exact same issue with a child of hers in high school and even had a hearing at JSCEE about it. 

Hampson says she was raised to believe that 

Positional relationships are important, and people must have respect for others who take on leadership positions. 

Sure but respect is a two-way street. 

On working with then-director Jill Geary:

When Geary was an elected official, Hampson gave the position authority and respect, and although she disagreed with Geary, she honored her position.  At the time, Geary said she would take the anti-racism policy to Scarlett and they would work together.

On SCPTSA:

Sebrena Burr was the first Black leader of the SCPTSA, which has historically been a bastion of access for white families. 

 

(The interview states that Burr was the president of the SCPTSA from 2008-2019 which is incorrect. Burr was there from 2016-2018, Hampson from 2018-2019 with several other leaders in the years before 2016.)

Before Burr's leadership, SCPTSA was just a white institution. 

After serving for two years, Burr asked Hampson if she would take over leadership of the SCPTSA. Hampson did not want to take it over and did not want to deal with Whiteness.

But she thought it was "an honor" to be asked and said yes. 

Hampson's work embodied trying to move the SCPTSA to more of an institution that served people of color. There was a growing intensity of racism in the schools, and Hampson partnered with Brent Jones. 

The (SCPTSA) Board has transitioned to be representative of families of SPS and providing centers for the voices and needs of people who are furthest  from education justice. 

The SCPTSA has started focusing on issues that are impacting communities, not isolated incidents but the big unchecked box was hate and bias in schools.

She goes on about the number of cases of reported racism incidents in schools. She claims that Scarlett wasn't doing anything to help until there was an incident at Old Van Asselt that included a 911 call. 

There was no accountability from SPS and no pathway for acknowledging resolution or healing. 

Oh the irony. That's just what Scarlett and Al-ansi asked for.

She said instead of "a laundry list" of issues, the SCPTSA wanted to focus on racism in schools. 

Offline, everyone agreed, and Juneau appreciated the singular focus. 

The superintendent, Juneau, had new beliefs and priorities, and activities shifted. In the past, Hampson had enjoyed an incredible alliance with Brent Jones, the former chief of equity, and now she could not even get traction to meet with the superintendent.

Yes, I know. Those two paragraphs seem to contradict each other.  

Jones used to talk to Hampson and keep her apprised on these issues, and she would occasionally testify that SPS needed to look at things or would not take action on certain issues.

When Brent decided to move on, he was very clear about requesting Hampson's support for Dr. Scarlett. 

 

In one meeting, SPS staff made clear to Hampson and others that SPS staff did not feel they had support from the SPS senior administration to prioritize work around racism, because there was no overarching anti-racism policy. 

Hampson found a policy online and shared it with Dr. Scarlett, saying they should look at developing a policy like this. However,

There was tension that started when Scarlett began her position, and this tension continued.

It seemed like Hampson wanted Scarlett to get going right away on Policy 0040, the anti-racist policy, just as Scarlett was, according to Hampson, "getting her bearings."

She goes on that the problem is not just with Scarlett. 

As an individual, when people throw meeting protocols out the window, that problem is on the superintendent. They do not have a level of decorum they can expect in a public setting. If things devolve in public settings, it really pulls the rug out from under Board members to be able to work with SPS staff at all. 

Hampson has heard that Juneau participated and has supported eliminating cultural norms of decorum. If they are able to throw all decorum and process out the window because of a fight, because of the suggestion that the Board and the process for developing Policy 0040 was anti-Black, Hampson felt like she had nowhere to go. 

First, is that weaponizing "decorum" or "protocols?" Because, from my reading, many BIPOC think that many of those issues are white-dominated and so whose "cultural norms of decorum"is she speaking of?

Hampson wants to complain about this and yet what about when SHE is rude and/or disrespectful from the dais to other Board members and/or the public? 

In the Addendum to the original complaint from Keisha Scarlett and Manal Al-ansi, the women state:

- Hampson repeatedly was upset that she was not regarded as the board sponsor of Policy 0040.

- Hampson said that the two women had "invisibilized" her through not acknowledging her role as VP of the board.

- Al-ansi says Hampson "began orchestrating extensive, time-consuming monologue in convening that Al-ansi organized, facilitated or was a confirmed presenter. "

- The day before the terrible August 28th phone call with the two women, Hampson, DeWolf and X, Dr, Scarlett had emailed Hampson to find a way to move away and get away from conflicts, saying:

...unaddressed, such dissonance can have a toxic ripple effect on other relationships both with my team, colleagues other board members and community stakeholders."

In reply, DeWolf asked for the phone call "to discuss the Policy 0040 timeline." 

Both Scarlett and Al-ansi thought this was great and there would be movement ahead. But that wasn't to be as DeWolf seemingly wanted to present Al-ansi as having been "dishonest" because of an email that he says she stated that she was working in partnership with him.

I'll just note that I take no side on this email except that Al-ansi was clearly not trying to twin herself with DeWolf. And again, this kind of email misunderstanding could have been solved be actually talking to each other.

I did have to smile at one point when the description of Hampson's takeover of the phone call being called "long--winded." So true and while Hampson tries to hurry Board member comments along at Board meetings, she has no problem going on and on herself.

- Hampson claimed that Al-ansi and Scarlett had missed an August 12,2020 date for the policy. 

- Hampson told them the work was taking too long and claimed the draft she had had come from "community." She told the women to get their draft done on her timeline or she would submit the original draft. According to the two women:

Such threaded actions would erase and devalue the community-centered processed, timelines, guildance and contributions from Black students, Black educators, Black activist, and Black leadership both in SPS and the Black community.

- That at the fateful September 16, 2020 Executive Committee meeting that "President DeWolf stated that he campaigned for the school board to focus on children; and therefore, was not concerned with adults experiencing racism at SPS. Director Hampson agreed with him. To both women:

DeWolf's comments are disturbing as they illuminate a lack of the multi-faceted, structural understanding of racism necessary for effective anti-racist policymakers. 

- In the final paragraph of the complaint:

Director Hampson's narration of Black leaders stalling, lacking urgency, failing to be accountable to the community, and failing to do their jobs is a dog whistle tactic that reinforces stereotypes of Black people as unintelligent and lazy, SPS senior Black leadership as lazy and Scarlett and Al-ansi as lazy. Director Hampson used disgraceful tactics to attempt to gain control over this policy process and create the narrative that she, alone, holds the interests of community and is better suited to lead its development than Dr. Scarlett and Director Al-ansi.