AASB meeting draws a crowd

Racially insensitive incident prompts district parents to seek answers

Public outcry over a racially insensitive incident in the Altoona Area School District brought many to a school board meeting Monday night.

On Jan. 18, two Altoona Area High School teachers reportedly admitted to using school resources to print out and hang up images of student Dustin Shields' school ID photo and an asparagus-looking cartoon character.

The Blair County NAACP investigated the incident separately from the district's internal investigation, which has not been completed yet, according to Superintendent Brad Hatch.

"When we are able to put out a comment, we will," Hatch said. "But at this point it's an ongoing personnel investigation."

Blair County NAACP President Andrae Holsey, Shields' father, Dallas, and his aunt Karyn, were among the roughly 20 people in attendance at the meeting.

Dallas Shields said he was appalled by the situation involving his son. During public comment, Dallas asked the school board members, "What would you do if that was your kid?"

Dallas and Karyn said -- even though school officials won't confirm who was involved in the incident -- they know who the teachers are and want them to be removed from the district.

"Not only will they not comment to the public, I haven't received any sort of explanation, either," Karyn said, adding she's only received an apology from school officials.

"Other than that, it's been, 'I'm not at liberty to discuss this with you.' It's so frustrating," she said.

"It's frustrating because those teachers should be out of a job," Dallas added.

Holsey said he has over a dozen "ethnic intimidation" incidents sitting on his desk to address.

In a similar racial incident that occurred in the Tyrone Area School District years ago, the student involved was charged with a misdemeanor. Under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, Holsey expects charges to be filed against the teachers and will contact the Department of Education if school officials don't take severe action against them.

"They should not be allowed to continue teaching at this school district," he said.

Holsey's mother, Kristie, is a retired teacher from Bedford Area School District and was a member of the NAACP long before her son became president.

She said, in her more than 30 years as a teacher, she treated all students with equal respect and said the two Altoona Area teachers abused their power and position as role models for students.

By hanging the two pictures on the wall, she said the teachers showed the other students that it's OK to insult students who look different than them and to bully them in school.

"This gave all teachers, including myself, a black eye to our reputation and our character," Kristie said.

Bernard Joyce, a retired administrator from the Altoona Area School District and chairman of the Blair County NAACP's executive board, said the teachers' behavior was "reprehensible."

"Our schools must be safe havens for all students where they feel valued, respected and free from any discrimination of any kind," he said.

District resident Janei Forbes said, as a person of color who has been made fun of her whole life, she's proud of Dustin for sticking up for his culture by taking the photos down and refusing to turn them over to school security.

"I hope this is a wakeup call that you have bullies in this district, abusers and disgusting people who are working for you who are supposed to be mentors, supposed to be our eyes as parents," she said. "As parents, we are sick and tired of silence."

Board President Val Mignogna said it falls on the board to facilitate a safe environment in school.

"I appreciate the decorum that was displayed," Mignogna said, adding the Shields incident was discussed by the board during an executive session.

"The message was sent and received by the board," he said. "We take it very seriously and hope to never be back in this position again."

In another matter in which five AASD teenagers were arraigned for their role in a New Year's Day shooting incident, Community Relations Director Paula Foreman said the school is not at liberty to discuss the incident and redirected media questions to the Altoona Police Department, which did not immediately respond for comment.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, the Altoona Area School District police indicated to an Altoona police officer that there was fighting in school between some of the students for weeks, leading to those students being expelled and enrolled into a cyber school program before the shooting took place.

Hatch said the district takes a proactive approach to any concern school officials are made aware of.

"If we're aware of any kind of situation, we do try to communicate with parents and intervene when possible," he said. "The last thing we want to happen is anything that can create a dangerous situation for any of our students."

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.