Guilford Community Groups, Parents Show Support for Superintendent At BOE Meeting

Members of the Greensboro chapter of the NAACP and other community groups are accusing the Guilford County Board of Education of trying to edge out the superintendent. Sharon Contreras has been the head of the organization for a little more than a year.

Parents and community leaders packed into the Guilford County Board of Education meeting Thursday night to show their support for Dr. Sharon Contreras. They say the board is interfering with her operational responsibilities. For example, they say it voted to overrule the superintendent when she said she wanted later graduations in order to comply with a state requirement.

"Dr. Conteras's resume seems to say she has the skill set to do the job and the way she has handled herself in the year that she's been in Guilford County to reach out to our community, to let us know what's going on in the school district and ask for our help, yes I want to support her,” says Rev. Laverne Carter with Community Call to Action For Students Success in Education (CCASSE).

Carter says she's concerned over an internal email the groups obtained that appears to show interest from a board member in getting Contreras fired.

Civil rights groups also accuse the board of not working collaboratively with Contreras to effectively address racial achievement gaps and having more multi-cultural education in the classroom. Sandra Isley lives on Bellevue Street in Greensboro. She has a daughter in the school system.

“I support Dr. Contreras because our children need books with brown bodies and brown faces in it, and if she can get it to them then all the more better,” says Isley. “Greensboro needs a good shaken and waken up and Contreras just happened to be the first one to do it.”

Chairman Alan Duncan says the board has a long history of supporting programs and initiatives to improve disparities for all students. He acknowledged there were some differences between the board and Contreras, but says he's been supportive of her and commended her efforts to improve equity in the district.

“In terms of Dr. Contreras, I can only speak personally. I have supported many times in many ways with many comments on the outstanding work that she has done in the instruction area, the strong adherence she has with points of equity for students,” says Duncan. “That's a real leading edge for her in everything that she does and that's one of the reasons that we wanted her to be here.”

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown Twitter @kerib_news