Cadotte inquiry: Please don't interfere, activists ask

Two north Minneapolis activists on Thursday urged elected officials, the media and residents to stay out of the school district's investigation of a racially charged confrontation between a school board member and a principal.

This week more than 200 parents and children from Burroughs Community School and a state senator gathered near the southwest Minneapolis school to protest the district's placement of Principal Tim Cadotte on leave while it investigates the incident.

During a visit to the school last month, Board Member Chris Stewart, who is black, accused Cadotte, who is white, and his school community of being racist in their opposition to a sweeping plan to reorganize the school district in response to shrinking enrollments and budgets.

At a news conference Thursday, Bill English, co-chair of the Coalition of Black Churches/African American Leadership Summit, called for leaders and the public to let the probe run its course.

"Neither the principal [nor] director Stewart at this time are guilty of any infraction [and] are innocent until proven guilty," English said. "The general public, elected officials and the press should allow this investigation to go forward without interference and without any attempt to influence public opinion."

Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, spoke at the rally for Cadotte. Dibble is one of seven politicians who sent a letter Monday to board chair Tom Madden, calling for Cadotte to be reinstated as soon as possible. House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, and Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, also signed the letter.

English organized Thursday's news conference with the Rev. Randolph Staten, co-chair of the coalition, at the Minneapolis Urban League office in north Minneapolis. About 20 people attended the news conference.

Dibble didn't respond directly but said he wants Minneapolis residents to have productive conversations about the challenges the district faces.

Schools officials on Tuesday unveiled a plan to close four schools -- three elementary schools and one middle school in south and southeast Minneapolis -- and reduce the number of magnets by five in time for the 2010-11 school year. If approved, the plan would trigger the redrawing of the district's elementary boundaries.

The school board will vote on the proposal May 26.

Two contentious fliers

Staten and English also blasted the Star Tribune for not publishing a letter Superintendent Bill Green submitted to the editorial department.

Said Scott Gillespie, the Star Tribune editorial page editor: "Dr. Green's spokeswoman [Susan Eilertsen] asked for space to publish a statement. Instead, as always, we invited a piece that made an argument. Beyond that, we don't comment on why we reject commentary submitted for publication."

English on Thursday distributed copies of two fliers that he claimed were created by Burroughs parents. One has a picture of a white child with the word "loser" across his forehead. The text included: "Soon your children may no longer have access to the same strong schools they do now."

The second flier said in part: "Our school district is ignoring the successful neighborhood school we have helped build. They want to give busing another try."

Kip Wennerlund, co-chair of the Burroughs staff-parent site council, said he has never seen either flier and that the site-council didn't distribute anything beyond a position statement in March.

The statement outlined their opposition to the district's decision to phase out a program for Spanish-speaking students and the possible reassignment of Burroughs students to other schools.