It’s been a rough couple of weeks at Springfield High School, where Black History Month came to an ignominious end as Principal Lisa Leardi gave a shout-out to R. Kelly—evidently unaware the singer/songwriter is a convicted sex offender.
“I addressed that immediately when it happened,” said District 186 Superintendent Jennifer Gill. “It’s not something I think should’ve been done.”
As for if this shows a lack of awareness for even recent Black history, Gill said, “Black history is something we should celebrate every day of the year, but we should also be emulating those we wish to live by, and those were not good choices.”
In September, R. Kelly was found guilty of kidnapping, bribery, and sex trafficking (among other things). He’s due to be sentenced this May.
On Wednesday a week ago, a SHS student was arrested and charged with a hate crime for authoring an anti-Semitic graffito. The unnamed student, initially held at a juvenile detention facility pending a psychological exam, was also charged with disorderly conduct and criminal defacement of school property.
“Anything that would be anti-Semitic or would mean any type of aggression against any ethnic or religious group is absolutely not to be tolerated in our schools, and we will act swiftly to work with law enforcement and families to be sure that those things don’t happen.”
Gill said she reached out to the Jewish Federation in Springfield and Jewish students in the wake of the incident.