KY superintendent, former principal must complete racial bias training after complaint, board says

The state educator certification board on Monday took action against a Kentucky superintendent and a former high school principal, requiring both to get racial bias training.

The Education Professional Standards board placed Bowling Green Independent Superintendent Gary Fields on probation for five years. The board suspended former Bowling Green High School Principal William King’s principal license for six months.

Fields told the Herald-Leader Monday that the board, commonly called the EPSB, approved an Agreed Order Monday based on an “anonymous complaint regarding an employment decision I made in 2017.“

“At the time, the decision was in the best interest of the students in our district and I would make the exact same decision again today if presented with the same situation,” Fields said.

The Herald-Leader obtained the agreed orders for Fields and King under the Kentucky Open Records Act, which outline allegations against the two educators.

On February 20, 2020, an unidentified teacher reported Fields and King to the EPSB for violation of state school law. Fields’ and King’s agreed orders said the teacher reported that the district subjected her to racial discrimination by holding her to standards that were not required of any other coaches at her school and by terminating two of her assistant coaches, who were Black.

“Teacher reported that her principal answered yes to the question of whether he wanted more white coaches and players on the girl’s basketball team during a meeting with the basketball coaches and a team parent,” Fields’ agreed order said. King’s agreed order alleged that he was the principal who answered “yes.”

“In resolving this matter, I have not admitted to any wrongdoing, and the Bowling Green Board of Education has supported me and my decision making throughout this five year process,” Fields said. “I could have had a hearing to dispute the anonymous complaint, however based on both the time and expense necessary, it would have been a distraction to my current work and priorities of the school district.”

Fields and King maintain their innocence with regard to the allegations, but acknowledge that the evidence, if presented at a hearing, could result in a finding that they violated a professional code of ethics, their respective agreed orders said.

King, who is listed as Bowling Green Independent district’s director of technology on the district website, did not comment on the suspension of his license Monday. He was quoted in the Courier-Journal in 2017 as saying he did not make the alleged comments.

Trainings

The ESPB agreed order said prior to September 1, 2022, Fields must provide written proof to the board that he has completed a total of 20 hours of professional development or training on the topics of racial bias, implicit bias, diversity and inclusion, and discrimination laws.

If Fields fails to take the training, his state certificate shall be administratively suspended until the condition is fulfilled. His certification is subject to probation for a period of five years.

Fields is aware that should he have future violations, the board would initiate new disciplinary action and seek additional sanctions, the agreed order said.

In suspending King’s principal certification for six months, the board’s agreed order said he also must complete a total of 20 hours of professional development including training on the topics of racial bias, implicit bias, diversity and inclusion and discrimination laws.

Previous lawsuit

Fields did not immediately respond to a question about whether the action was in connection to a 2017 federal lawsuit filed by LaVonda Johnson, a former Bowling Green High School girl’s basketball coach who is Black.

Johnson, the girls’ basketball head coach at Bowling Green High School from the 2007-08 school year to 2017, went 254-56 in 10 seasons with the program, which won its first state tournament game during her tenure, the Herald-Leader previously reported.

Johnson filed the federal lawsuit against the Bowling Green Independent School Board and Fields after she was fired. She had been placed on a plan that set out expectations to correct alleged problems of her handling of the girls’ basketball team, a document in the lawsuit said.

According to the court document, at issue was whether the employment action was racially motivated.

A federal judge last year agreed that Fields could be removed as a defendant in the lawsuit, according to the court document.

In addition, Johnson’s attorney Jeff Walther told the Herald-Leader Monday that the federal lawsuit was settled in 2021.

Johnson alleged in a 2017 news release that King said he wanted the coaching staff and team to “reflect the diversity of the school,” according to previous Herald-Leader reports.

“When asked whether that meant he wanted more white coaches and white players, King responded ‘Yes,’” Johnson said in the release.

In 2017, Black students accounted for 19.1% (239 students) of the entire student population (1,247 students), the Herald-Leader reported.