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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- The St. Clairsville-Richland City School District and Belmont County NAACP continue to work together to resolve concerns after a recording of St. Clairsville High School Principal Justin Sleutz saying a racial slur was shared on social media in late September.
Sleutz later released a statement, saying he was repeating the lyric of an inappropriate song students asked they could play in the football stands. He apologized for saying the word. The NAACP has since been looking into the school and principal, and members sat in on Wednesday morning when the school board conducted its monthly business.
During Wednesday's meeting, NAACP President Jerry Moore II said the group would make no recommendations nor otherwise address the matter at this time.
"We're here just in an observation capacity to watch the school board meeting," he said.
He added that he would meet with Superintendent Walt Skaggs later this week. Moore had brought a list of complaints against Sleutz in a binder.
"There's a lot of different complaints," he said, adding they are from students, staff and parents.
The board held a brief closed-door session to investigate charges or complaints.
"We're going to meet Friday and talk about some of the things we've done, and obviously we'll talk about those after Friday and we've had an opportunity to meet," Skaggs said after the meeting.
He added that the district is scheduling a training day to work with staff about diversity and cultural sensitivity issues.
"We're also working on the same thing for our students. It's still in the works at this time," he said. "We're working out the details on that. ... We're trying to do as much to educate our students and our staff and move forward in a positive manner. Hopefully we can learn from things and move on."
Skaggs said the district will focus on "sensitivity and being aware of what we say and what we do."
Moore has said anyone wishing to contact the NAACP and file a complaint can call him at 740-827-5520. The group can also be contacted through its Facebook page or by email at belmontcountynaacp.org.