Two Black members of the Aurora Public Schools board engaged in racist behavior when they accused the former superintendent Rico Munn, also Black, of not acting Black enough in failing to hire Black employees over other people of color.
The findings are part of an outside investigation ordered by the school board, conducted by employment attorney and investigator Doug Hamill, reports the Aurora Sentinel.
The board has refused to renew Munn’s contract to serve the district and its 38,000 students of whom more than half are Hispanic and 18% are Black.
Munn’s replacement will be Michael Giles from the Cherry Creek School District, who is Black, and serves there as the assistant superintendent of equity, culture, and community engagement. Giles was one of three finalists for the job, all of whom are Black.
Here are some of the findings of the school board’s outside investigation:
“Based upon a thorough review of multiple documents and testimony from many witnesses, I conclude that it is more likely than not that Mr. Munn was constructively discharged from his position as Superintendent because of his race,” the decision said. “Specifically, a preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that certain influential Board members convinced a majority of the Board to favor the non-renewal of Mr. Munn’s contract based upon their discriminatory belief that Mr. Munn failed to conform to the stereotypes of his race – i.e., that he was ‘not Black enough’ to advance the Board’s mission of hiring and retaining Black employees.”
A consultant who worked with the school board for several years also said Munn’s “Black card” was repeatedly called into question by some board members, the Sentinel reports.
Just as shocking as the report’s findings of blatant discrimination, is that it is so thoroughly reported by a publication that is somewhere left of the Denver Post.
Here’s something you won’t often hear us say, if ever again, but check out the rest of the Sentinel’s report here.