Racism has been an on-going topic of discussion in District 186 Schools. The topic was at the forefront of Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

Former Matheney-Withrow Principal Charlena Jackson, a Black woman, was moved from that position to coordinator of Project SCOPE.

Gail Simpson, former co-chair of the Minority Improvement Advisory Council reminded the board the district is still under a consent decree: “I would just implore you to understand and to know, if you don’t already know, the district is still under a consent decree. Please be aware of that, and please govern yourselves accordingly.”

The consent decree refers to an admission statement signed by District 186 in 1975 that resulted in the creation of a busing system to better balance out the race populations in local schools and the order for Springfield schools to hire more Black teachers.