The first letter, drafted by Clyde Merriwether, a prominent member of the African American community, questions  the lack of African American males in senior leadership roles and directly asks Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau, “What you are going to do about the near complete lack of African-American male leadership within the school district and acknowledge what I believe is the continued focus on removing and demoting those that remain?”

Given the recent and historic emphasis on inclusion and Black male involvement in education across the country, and here in the Northwest, it is shocking for many to hear that a school district located in a city that prides itself on diversity currently has no African American males in senior leadership positions.

In addition to Merriwether’s letter, a letter drafted by Members of the Black Leadership Team at Leschi Elementary School, the Racial Equity Team & SEA Union Representatives regarding the district’s “decision to abruptly remove” Principal Lisa Moland has also added fuel to the fire.

Moland, an African American woman who was a first year principal at Leschi, was informed on March 27, when Seattle Public School buildings were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that she was no longer going to be principal at Leschi, and, according to reports, neither she, her staff nor members of the Leschi Elementary School community were provided with a proper explanation as to why she was removed.

“Leschi Elementary, a school situated in an historically Black neighborhood, has already experienced an abrupt removal of a Black, woman principal,” read the letter dated May 2, 2020 to Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau, the school board and other SPS administrators.