Principal apologizes for ‘racially insensitive’ scene in middle school play
In the scene, a character eats peanuts and is transformed into a monkey; in the school’s casting, the only Black student who was in the play performed that role.
Credit: WXIA Author: Jon Shirek Updated: 11:49 AM EDT May 5, 2021
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. School administrators in Forsyth County apologized, Monday, to students and parents, because of a performance of a play last week by a middle school drama club that included a scene that the administrators acknowledge was racially offensive.
And administrators are blaming themselves, not the students, for failing to make changes before the curtain went up.
CUMMING, Ga. â The Forsyth County School system is using its third round of federal stimulus money to provide a bonus to employees, support the summer school program and upgrade air quality systems at two elementary schools.
âWe [expect to receive] about $13 million,â said Larry Hammel, chief financial officer for the district. âThat s nothing like the $242 million Gwinnett County is going to get, but it is the money we re going to get.â
In total, Forsyth County Schools has received $20.5 million through three rounds of education stimulus funding since last summer.
During a meeting of the Forsyth County School board earlier this month, Hammel said $7 million of the expected $13 million will be used to provide a $1,000 bonus for employees. The bonus will supplement the $1,000 stipend already allocated by the state for school staff for next year.
The fulltime and in-person learning option for students is known in North Carolina as Plan A. In March, Gov. Roy Cooper gave the go-ahead for older students to return to their schools if they want in March.
Superintendent Tricia McManus was at Mount Tabor greeting students as they entered the building. The students wore a purple sticker on their clothing, indicating that they had been screened.Â
Though no longer recommended by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, McManus said the district will continue screening for at least a few weeks. For some students, they haven t been on campus at all. The screening process is something that paints a picture of why it s important to not come to school if you ve been exposed to COVID or if you have symptoms, McManus said. These next two weeks, we are getting them used to why we re asking those questions in the first place. This is part of our education process and then we ll start to ease off.
Forsyth County
Schools students who have been fully vaccinated are no longer required to
quarantine if they faced direct exposure to COVID-19, according to an
announcement posted to the district’s website.
CUMMING, Ga. â Officials with Forsyth County Schools are questioning a formula for federal stimulus funds they say is lopsided and unfairly penalizes the district based on the makeup of its student population.
Georgiaâs public schools have received nearly $6 billion in federal stimulus funds in the past year aimed at helping K-12 schools respond and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The school-based funding has been included in three separate stimulus bills approved by Congress over the past year.
The first two rounds under then-President Donald Trump were referred to as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act; the second under President Joe Biden were included in the recently-approved American Rescue Plan.