The Portland school board has refused to fire a black dance teacher who called in sick to take private lessons and officiate a competition – on the grounds that it would be racist.
School board members who voted 4-3 to keep Damon Keller at Ockley Green Middle School called last week’s outcome “extremely worrying”.
Keller repeatedly pretended to be sick to avoid work for his part-time dance teaching job.
After being told his contract didn’t allow him to take Wednesdays off to give private lessons, Keller called in sick several times that day.
He is also accused of calling in sick after his request for unpaid leave to judge at a dance competition in North Carolina was denied. Keller finally took part in this competition and judged there.
His behavior led to an angry clash with school officials, prompting Principal Julie Rierson and Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero to fire him, The Oregonian reported.
Popular dance teacher Damon Keller (pictured) kept his job after the Portland school board reversed his firing over racism fears
But board member Michelle DePass admitted she saved Keller from being fired because of his race. DePass, who is black, said when voting, “The district has been documenting Keller for eight years.” They’ve been waiting for him to screw up.
“I’ve never seen a white man under such scrutiny for so long and then fired.” “We shouldn’t hold black people to a higher standard of behavior than everyone else.”
The successful votes of DePass and three other board members — two of whom were black and one white — drew criticism from fellow board member Andrew Scott.
He countered, “I’ve never heard comments that were so racist in a setting like this.” “At that moment, we filed a future lawsuit… It was extraordinarily disturbing.”
Keller will be penalized for his absence, but details of his punishment have not been released.
The teacher – hailed as an extremely talented man whose former students went on to dance with Justin Bieber and Rihanna – has struggled with a history of disciplinary issues, including student physical misconduct and neglect.
However, Keller’s students reacted angrily to his firing and went on strike in April to protest the loss of one of the school’s few black teachers.
They also claimed that the plans to fire him were racist.
In April, students staged a strike to protest Keller’s firing
Despite his alleged past misconduct, Keller is a popular teacher at the school and his dance students have later become backup dancers for the stars. Pictured: Students staged a strike to protest Keller’s firing in April
After the students’ strike, Keller requested a public hearing where school board members debated whether firing the black dance teacher would be racist.
Ultimately, the 4-3 vote ended in a crucial vote by a white board member who was forced to side with either three white members who voted to fire Keller or three black members who attempted to fire him to keep in office.
Portland is known for being one of America’s most progressive cities. Many of its residents and officials proudly proclaim that they identify as left-wing extremists on issues such as race and gender identity.
And although Keller is one of the few black teachers at Ockley Green Middle School, his student cohort is 60 percent black, Latino or mixed-race, according to Oregon Live.
During his hearing, a parent at Ockley Green Middle School said he serves “as a rare African-American male role model” for students in the predominantly white area.
Many complained after the decision to fire Keller that, despite a long list of disciplinary issues, his loss would be troubling, especially for black students.
Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero (pictured) fired the teacher for lying about giving private dance lessons during school hours
The high turnover of principals meant that Julie Rierson became the third in three years last fall
A number of behavioral issues reportedly emerged during his seven years at the school, including in March 2016 when he allegedly pushed a student to the ground after a game of dodgeball.
Afterwards, he claimed it was an involuntary reflex after the student hit him when he was expecting a high-five.
He was also reportedly accused in 2018 of throwing shoes at female students to get their attention and harassing female students for changing their menstrual products while he was trying to rush them to class.
In 2021, following an investigation, the state Commission on Teachers’ Standards and Practices sentenced him to a two-year suspended sentence for “gross dereliction of duty.”
Keller didn’t deny the allegations against him at the time, but insisted it was just that he wanted to keep his job.
While still on parole as of spring 2022, a scuffle also reportedly broke out when he left his class to talk to a student without permission, resulting in a week-long suspension. When he returned, he asked to take Wednesday afternoons off to give private lessons – the issue that led to the vote last week.
One of the core issues of the controversy is the high turnover of principals at Ockley Middle School, with current principal Julie Rierson starting last fall as the third principal in three years.
When Keller asked to take time off each week for his private lessons, Rierson declined, citing his union contract that prohibited teachers from taking part-time jobs during school hours.
Although he was turned down, an investigation found he went anyway, but tried to cover it up by calling in sick.
When educated on the apparent pattern, he reportedly attempted to convert the leave to unpaid leave.
In March, he again enraged school officials by flying to North Carolina to serve as a paid judge for a dance competition, also while in school.
Keller claimed he was ill and didn’t travel to North Carolina until after school Friday night, but was unable to produce flight records to support this. An official at the dance event reportedly told school officials that he had been there all day.
When Rierson wanted to fire him, Guerrero agreed.
However, since all school boards had to agree to fire certified educators under Oregon law, a public hearing ensued.
Students at Ockley Middle School staged a strike in April to protest Keller’s firing. He is pictured giving a dance lesson at the school in 2018
Michelle DePass (left) and Andrew Scott (right) argued at the public hearing about whether firing Keller would be racist
Andrew Scott, one of the school board members who voted for Keller’s dismissal, told Oregon Live he was initially considering the hearing as an open matter.
He felt he had clearly violated his union contract, lying to his superiors and paying double while the students were unable.
At the hearing, however, he was angrily challenged by black school board members who argued that racial discrimination in firings had a long history.
“Disproportionately, disciplinary sanctions are imposed on the basis of race,” said Michelle DePass, whose comments Scott called racial hate speech.
“Control of black employees in our public institutions falls disproportionately on black men.” These findings impact retirement and ultimately lead to the loss of black wealth. “I think shooting is too severe a punishment.”
After school board member Julia Brim-Edwards sided with her black colleagues and voted to keep Keller, cheers erupted from the audience at the hearing.
But while students will be glad they kept their favorite teacher, principals and school officials have expressed concern at the precedent being set.
“The Board has some repair work to do with school leaders so they know we’re here to support them with the tough decisions they must make as they run their schools,” Scott said.
“The precedent is of great concern to me.” “We, as a board, have limited our ability to fire future teachers who behave in a similar way.”