Fourth grader reports racial slur — principal calls cops on parents and expels boy

The parents of a Black student in Oregon who reported being called a racial slur asked the school principal at the private school what she planned to do about the incident — and she called police and expelled the son, according to a report.

The father of another child who reported hearing the slur told Oregonlive that Tresa Rast, the principal at The Madeleine School, suggested that the student had made up what he'd heard and recommended therapy so he could be “deprogrammed” from anti-racist training she said he had received while previously attending public school in Portland.

The expelled boy's mother said her guard was already up from a similar incident involving their older son, now a freshman in high school

“I told [Rast], you do understand that I don’t have confidence in you, based on my previous experiences with you,” said the boy's mom, Karis Stoudamire-Phillips. "She told me, ‘Well, if you don’t trust me, why have [your child] at this school?’”

Stoudamire-Phillips acknowledged the conversation became heated, which she said was to be expected under the circumstances, and she said Rast asked her and her husband Mike Phillips to leave her office. The principal called police to the school when the parents asked how administrators planned to respond to their son's allegations.

“You have to understand that a Black man having the cops called on him is a totally different implication,” Phillips said. “It’s a complete abuse of power, a ‘Look what I have over you.’"

Phillips waited for police outside, wanting to make clear that he was unarmed, calm and had nothing to hide, and Rast told officers the situation was under control, but the family heard nothing about the matter for several days until a school official called to say all involved students denied saying the slur.

Stoudamire-Phillips sent a strongly worded email to Rast and the parish priest Rev. Bonaventure Rummell, who oversees the school, and accused them of encouraging "overt and subtle racism" on campus.

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"[Rast] is completely inept," Stoudamire-Phillips wrote. "It is simply ludicrous to insinuate that one of the only Black boys in the entire Madeleine school would inflict such trauma on himself and lie [about the racist epithet].”

The next day, April 3, the family received an email from Rummell with the subject line, "Termination of partnership."

“It has become clear that the relationship of trust and confidence that is necessary for a collaborative partnership between parent and school officials for the good of your child no longer exists,” Rummell wrote. “Our partnership is hereby immediately terminated as of the end of the day, April 3. This decision is final and from our perspective this matter is now concluded.”

Around 50 parents at the 250-student school have signed on to a letter asking to reinstate the Stoudamire-Phillips’ son and overhaul internal policies and practices regarding racism allegations, although the letter stops short of calling for Rast's resignation, and Rummell has asked if the family would like to meet and said he was "personally crushed by this experience.”

The Stoudamire-Phillips family said they wanted a public apology, Rast's dismissal, an independent investigation into the school's handling of their son’s complaint, counseling for their son, mandatory anti-racism training for all administrators, staff, faculty and families, and the adoption of clear anti-racist policies.