‘Extremely disappointed.’ Kentucky superintendent suspended over blackface scandal
The Paducah Public School Board suspended its superintendent after an image of him in blackface surfaced online more than two months ago.
Superintendent Donald Shively was suspended 40 days without pay “for the purposes of additional education, training and community involvement” at a Friday school board meeting. The photo of Shively in blackface was posted on social media on Oct. 20. The school board released a statement then saying it had been aware since February 2019 of the photo and chose to take no action.
The board instead asked in October for public input and had “countless conversations with community members,” according to a statement the board released after Friday’s meeting.
“Board members were shocked, hurt and extremely disappointed to see the entire content of the photograph,” Carl LeBuhn, chairman of the school board, said Friday while reading from a board statement. “The photo is a total contradiction to the vision and mission of the Paducah Public Schools. The board unequivocally agrees that the photo is offensive.”
In a lengthy three-page statement, the board wrote that it weighed all options in determining how to handle the photo after the backlash. Board members accounted for public input and the need for “sufficient legal cause” to terminate Shively’s contract, according to the statement. Board members also weighed Shively’s performance, they said.
“The board believed in February of last year and agrees today that Dr. Shively’s performance as superintendent has been above average, if not exemplary, and that the educational experience offered to every pupil in our diverse student population has improved under his leadership,” the board wrote in a statement.
The board members also said they believe Shively regrets the incident. Five board members voted in favor of Shively’s suspension. One board member, James Hudson, voted to abstain.
Shively read a statement after the suspension was approved.
“I accept full responsibility for how my horrible and racially insensitive decision to wear blackface has impacted the community at-large, especially the students of Paducah Public Schools,” Shively said.
Shively also said he’d had conversations with the Black community in Paducah, and he will “embrace” the opportunity provided by his suspension to obtain “professional growth.”
“I apologize specifically to the African-American community for the hurt that was caused by my insensitivity,” Shively said.
The apologies were not effective enough for some community members who still advocated for Shively to be fired.
The Paducah-McCracken County chapter of the NAACP has been calling for Shively’s resignation since the photo emerged in late October. Officials from the group met with Shively within a week after the photo was posted, and they didn’t change their minds, according to a statement.
Another group named All of Us or None in Louisville put up a billboard in Western Kentucky advocating for firing Shively, according to WKMS, Murray State’s NPR station.
“Race is not a costume,” the billboard reads.
The photo of Shively was taken at a Halloween party in 2002, he said. The school board said Shively self-reported the photo in February 2019.
“Dr. Shively’s apology and remorse were felt to be sincere by the board,” the board said in a statement in October to explain its 2019 reaction.
“All members of the board expressed, or agreed that, while the costume was offensive and inappropriate, Dr. Shively’s demonstrated attitude and actions, dedication to the district, and commitment to ensuring equity for all students are more telling of his character and racial attitudes than an incident from almost two decades ago.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 2:20 PM.