Seattle schools superintendent responds to racism allegations

SEATTLE — Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau responded on Thursday to a call from the NAACP that she be fired.

Juneau said she was surprised by the complaints because she is so committed to advancing racial equity.

Last week, the NAACP said Juneau exacerbates racism at the district, pointing to the departures of six Black men from top leadership positions.

“Denise Juneau, over the last three years, has purged all Black male leaders in the Seattle school district,” Gerald Hankerson,

regional president of the NAACP, said at a news conference.

Thursday, during a virtual meeting with reporters, Juneau responded that except for a couple of people let go for performance reasons, “several of those men on the list went on to bigger and better roles in other districts and organizations.”

Juneau said her extended cabinet of leaders has more African Americans than her predecessors and said she is committed to working with the NAACP on racial equity.

“We’ve been making very intentional efforts at recruiting educators of color,” Juneau said.

Juneau is the first Native American woman to lead the district and said she and the NAACP share the same goals.

“I have experienced firsthand individual, institutional and systemic racism,” Juneau said.

Cox Media Group