An emergency meeting to address demeaning and racist behavior in Collingswood schools by faculty and fellow students packed the borough community center’s meeting room to overflowing on Monday night with over 200 attendees, many of whom were concerned parents. Organized by the school district, which saw dozens of students walk out of the high school during the school day on multiple days last week, the two-hours-plus forum allowed students to share detailed accounts of racism, including an accusation of touching a student inappropriately.

Embattled Collingswood-Oaklyn schools superintendent Dr. Fredrick McDowell began by noting his own experience with racism when he attended high school in a rural southern military town. Like many black youths he too regularly experienced “getting kicked out of class for talking too loud” among other perceived misbehavior. Just two years into his tenure at district helm, McDowell said Collingswood needs to develop an environment where all students feel safe but also, in reference to calls for disciplining or firing faculty, an environment where due process is followed.

On short notice, McDowell brought in professional facilitator Ali Rogers, a youth consultant from Merchantville who said she grew up with a multicultural background, to run the meeting. Rogers charged the audience with getting “comfortable about being uncomfortable” with the experiences and feelings the students were going to share. “We can’t change anything if we worry about how we feel,” she said.

The high school students who led the walkouts last week — which were initially spurred by frustration vented online — then took the floor.

“We need to be treated with respect and dignity. We need to be treated like human beings,” sophomore Kevin Jones, one of the student organizers, declared. Co-organizer and fellow sophomore Joshua Pritchett recounted an incident from his own experience, saying a phys ed teacher asked him if his injured leg occurred because he had been running from the cops. In fact, Pritchett noted, the injury happened while playing football.

Perhaps most disturbing was freshman and black student Addison Dowdy-Henderson’s account of a teacher who allegedly touched her inappropriately during last fall’s high school homecoming dance. She was then ejected from the dance and had to call one of her fathers to pick her up. The next school day, she was called in for questioning by administrators.

Dowdy-Henderson said she was then accused of refusing to answer questions though she repeatedly tried to explain she was not refusing but instead, she said, her dads had told her not to answer questions unless one of them was present.

Eventually, the vice principal who chaperoned the dance sent her a letter of apology but the young woman said she still feels unsupported since no assistance has subsequently been offered. Dowdy-Henderson related she does not know the name of the teacher but continues to see him in the halls of the school and his presence “sits at the back of my mind constantly.”

Poignantly, one of her black fathers, Charles Dowdy-Henderson expressed that he was especially proud of Addison for using her voice. He also publicly apologized to his daughter for not recognizing what she was facing. “I was naive because I chose to be.” Having grown up with racism, he and husband Mark chose Collingswood because of its values and the idea that their children would not encounter trouble for having two fathers. Instead, he sees his children having to endure racism much like he and his husband faced growing up. “It’s 2023 now but it’s like 1963.”

White senior Tatum Randazzo also attested to her black classmates’ experiences. She said her black boyfriend faced mistreatment due to racist assumptions when he got in trouble with staff. She spoke of a wider problem within the school environment that leads to the best teachers leaving the district.

Kevin Jones agreed with Randazzo’s assessment of staff leaving, feeling that the biases of colleagues help push many of them out. He then called for more black staff and teachers in the district. At the high school, Jones noted, he can name all of the black staff and quickly rattled off about five names.

Gary Frazier, a community activist from Camden who provided support to the student walkouts last week, delivered a fiery speech and declared none of the students should face repercussions for their participation. “We are not our ancestors though we have their blood in our veins,” he said.

Accounts of discrimination and harassment went beyond racism against black students.

A gay trans student, who noted that while he is white and can often evade discrimination because of that factor, said he was repeatedly and deliberately misgendered by a teacher. He also affirmed the experience of classmates who are black and discriminated against.

One 16 year-old bilingual student, who noted her father didn’t attend because he doesn’t speak much English and wouldn’t be able to follow along, said more support is needed for the increasing ranks of Spanish- speaking students who are learning class material along with a new language. While she gladly volunteers to help when asked to translate and tutor, she noted the burden can be heavy since she has her own studies. Her suggestion, which was received with applause, was to hire Hispanic educators as well.

At times, some of the adults looked visibly uncomfortable. There was one instance of pushing back on the largely student- led conversation; the adult then apologized for interrupting. Broadly speaking, though, adults and parents were supportive. Several thanked the students for using their voices to speak against injustices they face. They also promised to help and be allies. Others acknowledged the point that non-black students can be outcasts and discriminated against, as well.

One parent, who has a technical background, told the audience, “what we really should be asking ourselves is, is white supremacy welcome in Collingswood? Because I can tell you, there’s indoctrination going on, over the internet, on hidden Discord servers, aimed at recruiting of middle school students to a white nationalist group.” She said she had given the evidence she found on Twitter four years ago to former superintendent Dr. Scott Oswald and Collingswood police chief Kevin Carey.

All eleven board of education members attended and listened quietly, none speaking. After the meeting, president Regan Kaiden said she was “comfortable with how Dr. McDowell has handled the issue so far. Racism is not a new problem at CHS. And he brought in Ms. Rogers, a move I applaud, because as we know, a district or entity can’t audit its own racism.”

Rogers herself noted later, “no one can walk away from this space and say ‘I didn’t know’” about the discrimination issues present in the district.

Noting the meeting had run over its announced stop time by 45 minutes, McDowell ended by talking about an immediate initiative he was putting into place Tuesday for any student to submit a discrimination complaint online. The superintendent subsequently delivered on his promise by sending an email time-stamped at 6:31 p.m. Tuesday evening, though the Affirmative Action process he says students should use to report discrimination is not new and in fact has existed since 2005 with subsequent revisions in 2011 and 2016.

The board’s relevant policy states: “A complainant should discuss his/her complaint with the staff member most closely involved in an attempt to resolve the matter informally. If the matter is not resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant within ten (10) working days, the complainant may submit a written complaint to the Affirmative Action Officer.”

Borough commissioner Morgan Robinson, whose children are CHS graduates, said, “we need to continue listening. I’m choosing to believe the superintendent will take the actions he said he’ll take and if he doesn’t, he’ll be pressured to take those actions because he represented what he was going to do in a very public way. I’m glad the dialogue’s been opened, and I’m very proud of the kids who got up and spoke today because it takes real courage.”

For those looking to help spur positive change in the community, Robinson pointed to the upcoming borough-sponsored Get Up, Collingswood! event on Monday evening, March 27 at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, where the borough will be looking for volunteers to form a new borough equity and inclusion committee, “a great opportunity for residents and students to get involved and help to inform and expand programming such as Black History Month and Juneteenth activities.”