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Lawrence Board of Education closes investigation over alleged racial comments in class

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Following an executive session, the Board of Education released a statement on Thursday saying that no outside legal counsel is needed to review the case involving alleged racial comments said by a teacher at South Middle School.

The case has been met with outrage by a group of parents in Lawrence.

On Monday, dozens of them protested at a Board of Education meeting and staged a sit-in to call for a recent settlement to be overturned.

The case dates back to mid-October, when Lawrence school leaders placed South Middle School teacher Chris Cobb on paid administrative leave after he allegedly said racist comments to a class.

On Monday, 41 Action News obtained a document showing a settlement reached between the Board of Education and Cobb.

According the document, Cobb will continue to be on paid administrative leave until the end of the school year. After the school year concludes, Cobb will resign from his teaching position.

The settlement over Cobb's resignation details how Lawrence school leaders will not disclose details of the case to prospective employers or the Kansas State Board of Education.

In return, the resignation summary states that Cobb cannot take legal action or file suit against Lawrence Public Schools in regards to the case.

According to the statement released by the Board of Education on Thursday, the board said it was ready to move forward after reviewing all of the case information.

 

“We believe the investigation was conducted thoroughly and appropriately,” said board member Shannon Kimball. “We concluded the investigation was done in a way that was in the best interest of the students."

Kimball noted the difficulties board members have had trying to answer questions from the community while not disclosing information regarding a personnel matter.

“As a board, we are obligated to follow the law when it comes to student confidentiality and privacy rights,” Kimball explained. “There are a lot of restrictions on what we are allowed to do in that regard."

Many parents have complained about a lack of transparency with the board in regards to the case, and the statement sent out Thursday further added to their issues.

“They're more worried about getting sued by him (Chris Cobb) than our children,” said Tasha Neil, who said her child heard the alleged racial comments. “It goes to the fact that this school district is sweeping a lot of stuff under the rug."

As a way to prevent a similar incident and responding outrage in the future, the Board of Education has proposed forming a community advisory council to continue conversations brought up with the case.

The council would be made up of school leaders, parents, faith-based organizations, and other community groups.

However, parents who spoke to 41 Action News on Friday said the solution did not go far enough.

“How is allowing this man to teach other kids what's best for the students?" said Monique Richardson, who said her son had Cobb for social studies and claimed to have heard the alleged racial comments. “They're just trying to sweep it under the rug, create an advisory council, think that we're going to go for it and it's going to be okay. It's not going to be okay.”

Richardson said she and other parents might continue protesting at future board meetings as a way to get their message across to leaders.

“We are going to continue the fight,” she said. “I'm going to fight for the death for me."

The station tried to interview Cobb at his home on Monday night, but he declined.

However, Cobb released a statement to media saying he was "unjustly accused" of making the comments.

Cobb also wrote that the source of the allegations has "a well-documented history of falsehoods."

The South Middle School teacher also went on to say "in today's environment where perception is reality and political correctness trumps the truth, my continued presence in the classroom would only serve to inflame the intended divisions caused by my detractors."

The Board of Education said the advisory board may meet for the first time as early as January.

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Tom Dempsey can be reached at Tom.Dempsey@KSHB.com.

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