THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060398
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 42 lines
A federal court jury awarded $300,000 in damages to a former King William High School principal who claimed she was a victim of racial discrimination.
The School Board voted not to renew Maryjane Smith's contract after a racially charged incident involving the expulsion of three black students last spring. Smith is white.
One juror said the verdict ``should send a clear message that racial discrimination - even reverse racial discrimination - will not be tolerated.''
Just before opening statements last week, Judge Richard L. Williams laid out the nature of the case to the jury of five whites and three blacks. He said Smith was alleging the board ``succumbed to race-based pressures from organized and influential members of the African-American community who demanded her removal.''
The pressures were mounted, Smith alleged, because she had recommended expelling three black students who admitted selling cocaine, but recommended suspending for 20 days a white student who admitted to possessing cocaine.
Smith's lawyer, Scott Gregory Crowley, noted that her recommendation was in strict conformity with the code of student conduct.''
The board, which has three white and two black members, followed Smith's recommendation on the expulsions and suspension.
After that, Smith said, she became the target of ``organized racial animosity.'' The pressuring was especially effective, she said, because the mothers of two of the black students were teachers at the high school and supported the demand for Smith's removal.
In what Smith called an effort to ``appease and gratify those same racist attitudes,'' the contract was not renewed. Despite a recommendation for Smith's renewal by Superintendent Sue F. Burgess, the board voted 3-2 for her ouster.
Richmond attorney John A. Gibson said the board will appeal to 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
KEYWORDS: RACIAL DISCRIMINATION by CNB