Black Parents Demand an Apology : Education: The Centinela Valley superintendent, who is white, said black adults haven’t provided positive leadership.

At a tension-filled school board meeting Tuesday night, a group of black parents and community activists demanded an apology from Centinela Valley Union High School District Supt. Tom Barkelew, who was quoted last month as saying black adults have not provided positive leadership in the district.

Questioned by a black parent during public comment, Barkelew, who is white, admitted he made the remark attributed to him in a Nov. 1 article in the Hawthorne Community News. The article quoted him saying: “When you’re going through a transition, it takes good, positive leadership, and I don’t see that from the Black adults.”

Barkelew’s acknowledgement drew a gasp from the audience, and several black parents toting signs that displayed part of the comment began chanting: “I want an apology.”

Barkelew made no other comment, and board members said nothing.

Debra Wong, who has three children at Hawthorne High School, told Barkelew she resented the implication that she and other blacks parents are providing bad leadership. “I teach my children never, ever to lump one race in a bag,” she said.

Barkelew said in an interview that his remark was directed at Lionel Broussard and Adrain Briggs, both of whom are black. They founded the Committee for Racial Free Education last year to assist parents, students and employees who claim to be victims of discrimination by district officials.

“In August, Broussard and Briggs said they were going to destroy the board. Is that positive?” Barkelew said. Except for Broussard and Briggs, he added, “I’ve had no contact with any other black adults.”

Briggs said Tuesday that he and Broussard had pledged to “close the district down” if the board did not adequately address longstanding allegations that blacks are not treated fairly. Both Briggs and Broussard said after the meeting that they would seek Barkelew’s resignation at the next board meeting, Jan. 22.

Board members, however, have no plans to discipline Barkelew for the remark, board President Pam Sturgeon said Tuesday.

“He has a right to his opinion,” Sturgeon said.