BUTLER COUNTY (KDKA) – As George Floyd protests continue across our area, local graduates are fighting for change in their own backyard.
“We feel like now is the time to have that conversation because people are more willing to listen and learn,” Seneca Valley graduate Forrest Barnes tells KDKA.
Barnes and four of his friends from high school have participated in the protests but wanted to do more.
“Our overall goal is to end the system of racism. And to do that, we have hit a critical point in education. While it would be nice to hit at the large aspect of the nation, we thought it would be best to start in our own hometown,” Bryce Benjamin said.
Earlier this week, the group launched a petition.
“It would be a mandatory African American history course or African American studies that would be in grades K through 12. More employment opportunities for minorities in faculty and administration would be open and available,” Barnes said.
All five of the men are black and tell KDKA that most of their classmates did not look like them.
The National Center for Education Statistics reports that more than 90 percent of Seneca Valley’s student body is white.
“I think we had around 565 students when I graduated in 2013, and there were about seven or eight African Americans among that number,” said Erick Lee.
Lee said there are race issues at every school, but the lack of education and knowledge that his peers had available did not help.
He tells KDKA his two younger siblings are still in the district and learning the same material he was taught a decade ago.
“It was just the big names and the civil rights movement. They even said they didn’t dive deep, in-depth into the oppression that black Americans have faced in our history,” Lee said.
“In my first week of college, I learned more about African American history than I ever did in 12 years at Seneca Valley School District. I feel that there are many students out there in this country with similar experiences when they go to college and realizing I’ve missed out on a lot of critical points of African American history,” Benjamin said.
Lee said the goal is to make the change for the future generation and improve what he said is already a prestigious school district.
“It’s one of the best schools in the state and we want to keep that stature while continuing to make it better and progress,” Lee said.
In just a few days, more than 1,700 people have signed the petition in support.
“We didn’t really expect to get even 100 signatures that quickly. The support and outreach from family, students and even faculty is really exciting to see. It’s not just us pushing for this change, but it’s a broader spectrum of people,” said Brad Banks.
The group of graduates is working on a presentation to give to the school board, along with the petition.
“If nothing comes of this, at least we are having a conversation. And at least the country and we the people are moving in the right direction,” Banks said.
KDKA reached out to the Seneca Valley administration to find out if these changes would be possible within the district.
Spokeswoman Linda Andreassi said the school board president talked with one of the graduates to hear their concerns firsthand.
“Our plan moving forward is to closely examine our policies and K-12 curriculum for implicit bias, prejudice or racism and address all findings. We will also look for gaps in the curriculum regarding black history, while building more robust resources for students, staff and the community. We will also provide comprehensive professional development trainings for staff specific to race and racialized conversations and continue to work with a diversity consultant to improve our recruitment efforts for teachers of color. Our commitment to systemic change will continue in all departments as we must prove a welcoming and safe environment for all students,” Andreassi said.
Regardless, Barnes, Banks, Lee, Benjamin and Creamon Frazier tell KDKA they are committed to making a change in the school district that made them.
“We know that Seneca Valley may never be able to fully grant all of this, but the effort on our end never stops. It’s a big push for us because we want to make sure the students that do look like us at Seneca Valley, that their voices are heard, that they know their history and know it’s just as meaningful. We want them to have a valuable experience and don’t experience some of the negative things, racist insensitive things, we experienced while we were there,” Barnes said.
“We understand these types of things take time. This is a commitment, this is not some other trend on social media. We are willing to stick this out and endure the time and process this may take to play out, Lee said.
If you are interested in finding out more about the petition, click here.
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