Ballard Principal Found to Have Retaliated Against Student

 From the Seattle Times:

When Ballard High School senior Eric Anthony Souza-Ponce first heard his English teacher describe a class essay assignment — to write about how the Frankenstein monster in the novel by Mary Shelley represented oppressed people — he was taken aback.

To Souza-Ponce, who is Latino, the essay was asking students to write about “why oppressed people do bad things,” he said. “It perpetuates that people of color do bad things.” 

This was in January 2021.

In September, a 36-page investigation report found Wynkoop “engaged in a retaliatory action” when he transferred Souza-Ponce to another class, which is a violation of board policies.

As for the other charges, the investigation did not find Olsen’s curriculum was “overtly racist.” After parents Ponce de Souza and Souza appealed that decision, district investigators further found that Olsen and Wynkoop created a “hostile school environment” and violated the district’s policy on harassment, intimidation and bullying “by engaging in conduct that substantially interfered” with Souza-Ponce’s education.

Seattle Schools officials did not find Souza-Ponce was discriminated against because the appeal didn’t “allege facts that the actions were taken against your son because of his race.” 

This conclusion shows how district officials make “the process as opaque as possible and show they will take any out to not have to address the very real issues,” Ponce de Souza said. “So they say we didn’t specifically say he was hurt because of his race even though that was the entire issue with the class.”

Here's the original essay question from teacher Wendy Olsen:

“How does oppression, neglected potential, and trauma affect a person’s identity?”

The assignment wasn’t racist on its face, Souza-Ponce said; it was the responses to the essay question and class discussions that were problematic.

During class discussion, Souza-Ponce said, Olsen compared Black and brown communities — who have been historically oppressed by racist systems — to Frankenstein’s monster, who in the novel murders people, including a child. Drawing that comparison is racist and depicts marginalized groups as “subhuman,” he said.

“All we wanted was for either Ms. Olsen or Mr. Wynkoop, or someone with anti-racist training to come to talk to the class and tell them why it (essay question and class discussions) was so harmful and how it could have been avoided and handled differently,” Ponce de Souza said.

Responding to Souza-Ponce and his parents’ emails, Olsen wrote that she was “heartbroken” her curriculum led to this outcome. She said she was glad they brought this to her attention and she was seeking out “mentorship from teachers to try to be more effective in the future.”

Most of the students interviewed did not think Olsen or her curriculum was racist but that she had made several insulting and inappropriate comments. For example, Olsen said she liked Malcolm X because he was “articulate.”

The district has apologized but then there's this:

It’s not the first time students have questioned whether Ballard High, where nearly 74% of the enrollment in the 2020-21 school year was white, is doing enough to combat racism.

About a year ago, Addie Svec, who graduated from Ballard High in the spring, created a change.org petition calling on staff to be held accountable for accusations of sexual harassment, racism, homophobia, and transphobia. It has more than 1,400 signatures. 

The Times said this but I think it is wrongly worded as the principals have no union. 

Wynkoop believed he made the right choice transferring Souza-Ponce to another class, according to a statement that Wynkoop’s union representative sent on his behalf. He is also “dedicated to always improving around race and equity and improving as an anti-racist educator.”

The Times had been taking comments but closed them "because too many recent comments were wilting our Code of Conduct."