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SYRACUSE - A worksheet distributed by Syracuse Elementary teacher Lera Reinholt has parents angry at its racist overtones.
The handwritten two-page worksheet deals with the Ku Klux Klan, asking fourth-graders to, among other things, define Klan terms and give five reasons to join the Klan. It also contains a word search with several Klan-related terms, including "nigger" and "commie."
Pastor Sarah Tuttle learned of the worksheet from someone in her church whose daughter is a student in the class. When she first heard of the paper, she thought maybe it was explaining about the Klan, but "when (the parent) showed it to me I was absolutely horrified."
Tuttle said she faxed the worksheet to Wawasee Schools Superintendent Mark Stock because the teacher did not respond satisfactorily to the parents' requests for an explanation of the paper.
Stock called Tuttle immediately and said the matter would be looked into. After a week, Tuttle called Stock back, who said the corporation was still looking into the matter but that nothing had been done yet. Tuttle then copied the paper and gave it to school board members at the Wawasee Education Summit on May 6.
Tuttle received a call from Stock on Thursday, saying he had spoken extensively with the teacher about the worksheet. He told Tuttle it was not the teacher's intent to promote the Klan, but he realized that by itself the paper looked promotional. He invited Tuttle to a meeting of the Minority Issues Task Force, also on Thursday.
She said he assured her that the paper would no longer be taught, and said the class has since talked about the Klan being a negative group.
The information on the worksheet reportedly came from a magazine article written about 10 years ago, and is also displayed on a poster in the classroom. The class's history text contains two sentences at the end of a chapter about the Klan, said school patron Rose Belin.
Belin asked the school board Tuesday what they were going to do about the "paper being circulated in the classroom." She said it's been in the school system for 10 years before someone brought it to their attention. "This is serious - we should not just sweep it under the rug," she said.
Stock told Belin that because it was a personnel issue it was confidential, "but as far as taking it seriously, we do.
"We need to make sure the staff understands the racially sensitive nature of things. ... Our community's cultures are changing; we've got to make sure our people are aware of that," he said.
After the meeting Belin said that when she tried to talk to the teacher about the worksheet, the teacher was "evasive, defensive and indignant" and she "wouldn't answer one of my questions."
Belin thinks the worksheet is Klan propaganda and that even though the Klan is part of Indiana history, the worksheet is not the way to teach children about it. "The Klan is a hate group. Do you see anywhere on this paper that it's a hate group? There is no excuse ... for this to be allowed," she said. "An educator should know better."
"It's against the law to pray in school, but they can distribute this?" asked another patron.
"A lot of these things happen - if we don't do something about it, it will continue to happen," the patron said later. "If they don't take any disciplinary action they're agreeing with what she's doing."
Belin agreed. "I want this teacher reprimanded," she said.
She said Stock "was appalled" to learn of the paper. "He has done a very good job ... making sure this will never happen again," she said.
"I would like something positive to come out of this," she said. "I want these little fourth-graders to know that this is very, very wrong."
Stock said this morning Wawasee is following procedure for personnel issues and these matters are confidential. The procedure includes meetings between Stock, the building principal and the teacher.
He said the issue isn't closed and that they want to be thorough and find out the context of the situation.
A meeting is planned for today between the parents and the teacher.
