Alden Road music teacher suspended for having students pose as slaves

A music teacher at the Alden Road Exceptional Student Center in Arlington showed “significant poor judgement” during a lesson- and it’s landed him with a suspension.

The Duval County Public Schools investigation in to Richard Wright Jr started in February, when paraprofessionals in his class raised concern about a lesson being taught to students that the District defines as “severely intellectually disabled”. The investigative report obtained by WOKV shows Wright told his students to pose as slaves navigating through obstacles and being chased by dogs.

Wright told investigators that he wanted to have students get up and moving while learning about the Civil Rights Movement. He found a song online- one that has been used in elementary school education- and created what he called a game around it. The game involved putting pillows on the floor and telling the students to dodge those while “hiding from the masters”. He then asked his two paraprofessionals to take stuffed animal dogs and follow the students with them, however the investigation says one paraprofessional refused while the other walked out of the room outright. The paraprofessionals told investigators that they were not only uncomfortable with the lesson and believed it to be insensitive, but also didn’t believe the students were not fully able to understand the situation they were being asked to simulate.

While the District acknowledged Wright’s intention behind the lesson, they determined it was not appropriate.

“A reasonable person would know the historical significance of this reality (being bitten and chased by dogs and running for one’s life) and to be conscious of the level of discomfort and pain this would likely represent to individuals of African American descent when asked to pose as dogs chasing slaves through forests. This conduct represents a profound lack of awareness of the impact such an activity would have,” the investigation says.

The documents further note that Wright had previously been told to keep his lessons simple, to not use video, and to ensure he wasn’t offending the staff. He has not been the subject of any prior disciplinary action or investigation by DCPS.

The School Board voted Tuesday night to suspend Wright for 30 days without pay. He will also have a written reprimand put in his personnel file and will need to complete a course in “Cultural Competence” by the end of the year.