William Ross came before the Board of Education on behalf of Ms Cosby to follow-up on concerns she had last meeting and to "keep it on the front burner".  Last month Ms Doris Cosby addressed the Board with concerns she and others have regarding Bainbridge High School Cheerleaders.  Ms Cosby stated she would like to know why there are 2 cheerleading squads, 1 white with a token black cheering for football and the other totally black cheering for basketball.

Mr Ross noted there was vigorous discussion in Talk Bainbridge. (past thread here)

See the complete 11 minute video of the discussion

He stated there is 36 years of history to enter into some dialog about and bring some things to the table, for instance, we have never had a black principal at BHS or a black superintendent, a black head football coach and until last year no black head basketball coach. 

He stated the cheerleader issue is just a microcosm of a larger picture that needs some discussion.  Mr Ross stated he would welcome discussion and some answers as to why it is like that.

Dr Cochran stated his personal opinion was that we do want to achieve racial diversity but have the best people for any given position.  He stated there are some excellent principals that just happen to be African American.  Dr Cochran stated he makes no apologies for that and does not believe the board has to make any apologies for that.

Mr Ross stated he just wants to keep the dialog open.  Mr Ross also stated he did not think he should have to personally call Dr Cochran to discuss this. "It needs to be discussed in the open." he said.

Clarissa Kendrick commented that, as a member of this Board, there has been some discussion and whenever the discussion comes up, she would willingly participate and look at it from a positive perspective and see what needs to be done and express her professional opinion.

Superintendent Jones stated that in their dinner meeting the process of choosing the cheerleaders was described to the Board.  He stated cheerleading is a competitive Georgia High School sport.

Dr Cochran stated it bothers him that they are being accused of not being open minded and fair minded and the Board is just as fair about things as they can possibly be.  Dr Cochran stated he did not think it was a fair accusation. 

Mr Ross stated that was not what he was saying.  He wanted to make sure that there could be some open dialog in situations where we think we are not treated fairly.

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