The Sharon superintendent was placed on administrative leave. She alleges it was motivated by racial discrimination.
Members of the community held a rally in support of Victoria Greer on Wednesday.
The Sharon School Committee says it is not renewing its contract with the district’s superintendent, Victoria Greer, and, without giving a reason, announced she was being placed on paid administrative leave.
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The move is one that Greer, who is the district’s first African American superintendent, alleges was “motivated by discrimination and retaliation for raising concerns of race discrimination,” she told NBC10 Boston.
Greer’s contract with the district was set to expire June 30, 2021, according to the school committee. On Monday, the group announced it would not be renewing her contract and voted to place her on paid administrative leave starting Friday through the end of her contract. In a statement Wednesday, the committee said it had originally voted in an executive session to not renew her contract in early July.
The committee did not state any reasons for placing Greer on leave or why it was choosing to not renew her contract.
“As parents and as the elected representatives of our community, we know the anxiety that our students, staff and parents feel as we return to in-school learning after a six-month hiatus,” the committee’s statement reads. “We remain committed to ensuring a safe learning environment for our entire community. We look forward to working with the assistant superintendent and the entire administrative team to ensure a continuity in school leadership. We will keep the community informed as circumstances require.”
According to NBC10 Boston, Greer filed a charge of discrimination against the school committee on Tuesday with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. In her complaint, she wrote that she had been subjected to “demeaning and racist comments by members of the School Committee, abusive and disparate treatment, and unjustified and highly subjective attacks regarding my performance.”
The leadership shakeup and allegations come as the school committee continues to face opposition and pushback on the district’s reopening plans from the teachers union.
Members of the Sharon community held a rally in support of Greer on Wednesday and another event is planned for Friday evening.
“Dr. Greer has faced continued negative treatment and blatant disrespect,” a description of the event, organized by the Sharon Racial Equity Alliance, reads. “It appears that many Sharon residents are looking to highlight the slightest perceived misstep to support their belief that Dr. Greer is not the right person for the position. This relentless criticism, judgment and endless critique is unacceptable as it is rooted in gendered racism. Dr. Greer’s racist treatment needs to be acknowledged for what it is and directly challenged as such by members of the School Committee and the community.”
Lori Bihler, a member of the group, told NBC10 Boston she saw Greer’s ouster coming.
“We saw the pattern of mistreatment, which is textbook for Black women in education,” she told the station. “They get picked apart, they get needled, they get badgered, they get minutiae critiqued and then they end up losing their jobs.”
Developing: Families protesting the Sharon school cmte. vote to put the Superintendent on paid admin. leave. Supt. Victoria Greer, who is African American, also got a non renewal letter/has now filed a discrimination charge against school cmte. More on @NBC10Boston at 7. pic.twitter.com/pHTO8qQi7F
— Kathryn Sotnik (@KatSotnik) September 16, 2020
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