GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – There was a flurry of support for superintendent Claude Tiller Jr. at a school board meeting on Thursday night.
“They’re sending the message that if you’re BIPOC (black, indigenous, person of color) you can’t make any mistake,” said Stephanie Guzman.
Superintendent Tiller Jr. is on paid administrative leave as the district looks into comments he allegedly made on an Atlanta-based radio talk show.
On Thursday night, the Green Bay Area Public School District Board of Education held a special meeting to discuss potential litigation strategy and talk with their legal counsel about the situation involving Tiller Jr.
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The Board of Education did all of this in closed session which is common practice when discussing personnel matters.
School Board members wouldn’t talk with the media after their meeting which lasted for over three hours.
About twenty community members showed up at the district office on Thursday night to support Tiller Jr.
“I want to highlight the momentum that Dr. Tiller began in addressing the issues facing our district,” said GBAPS parent Amanda Garcia. “He’s been intentional about meeting community members.”
“Finally we have one person in power who looks like us and you’re going to let him go and put him on administrative leave when this could be a learning experience,” said Guzman.
“To see all this change in the school system, the superintendent has done a great job,” said GBAPS parent Jason Wright Sr. “People are communicating, we have parent involvement and youth activities.”
The group also was critical of the Board of Education, saying they need to do a better job of being transparent and listening to community members. They said that Dr. Tiller Jr. has been listening to and trying to engage with them.
They also believe there are inequities within the district that haven’t been addressed properly.
“Here we have him making a mistake, not even a mistake he was speaking facts,” said Guzman. “That’s the worst part of it, he was telling the truth in the way he knew how to speak.”
According to a former school board member who claims he saw the video recording of Tiller’s comments on the radio talk show, the superintendent made disparaging comments towards his co-workers, teachers in the district, and the Green Bay community as a whole.
Local 5 News isn’t getting into the specifics of what that former school board member alleges Tiller Jr. said because we haven’t been able to see the video recording yet.
Tiller Jr.’s alleged comments came during an early February appearance on the REALationship Talk with Dr. Adrienne on WAOK in Atlanta. He was in the city to recruit teachers and made an appearance on the show.
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The former school board member who said he saw the video recording said Tiller Jr’s comments came during the commercial breaks. The entire video has been removed from the internet.
A lawyer for the Green Bay Area Public School Board said they didn’t request for the video recording to be removed. They said they do have a copy of the video recording and will release it next week.
“You bring a black man, put him in the highest position in the school district and in less than one year you have his head on the chopping block,” said Robin Scott who is the executive director of We All Rise. “We’re not comfortable with it and we’re not going to stand for it as a community.”
Local 5 News attempted to reach out to Tiller Jr. for comment. He didn’t respond to our phone calls or emails.
Several community members Local 5 News spoke with on Thursday afternoon said they are waiting for the video recording to come out before making any judgement.
“The last thing the district needs to be doing is to be working from damage control mode and that’s what they’re doing,” said GBAPS parent Rhonda Sitnikau. “I think they need to be looking at what the school community is thinking about this.”
“Dr. Tiller has brought in a new perspective that is much needed in our community,” said Gratzia Villarroel a local professor.
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