Police Called To Sewickley Academy After Students And Parents Raise Concerns About Inclusiveness

EDGEWORTH, Pa. (KDKA) -- There have been issues for months about inclusiveness at Sewickley Academy.

Since the summer, several Sewickley Academy administrators and faculty members have been let go. It reached a tipping point on Thursday when police were called to the school in response to students and parents raising their concerns.

Students have not been happy, and several started a petition to address their concerns. According to Sewickley Academy parents, students were called into a full senior high meeting Thursday to address the petition.

WATCH: KDKA's Bryant Reed Reports

School leaders said some students felt pressured to sign the petition. KDKA was told organizers and some allies then went to speak with the head of the senior high about the concerns.

"I was really proud of them. It was very brave of them," said parent Lisa Wren.

Wren went to support her daughter, as did Mark Cox and his wife. They said the meeting ended with the school leader leaving.

"All of the students felt like they have been abandoned and weren't being listened to," Cox said.

The group said they then went to take the petition to Dr. Ashley Birtwell, the head of schools. By this point, more students and at least one faculty member had joined.

"It was a peaceful effort to give her a petition in support of caring for their schoolmates," Wren said.

When Dr. Birtwell was unavailable, Cox and Wren said assistant head of schools Ken Goleski confronted the group, called police and fired a faculty member on the spot.

"To have the police escort me off the campus where my kids have gone for 10-plus years, it's just surreal. It's completely uncalled for," Cox said. "It didn't have to end that way."

However, the school said in a message to parents, "Unfortunately, there was a situation today which necessitated outreach to local authorities to ensure everyone's safety. The authorities have since left campus as the situation has been resolved."

"What a complete misrepresentation of the facts," Cox said.

Sewickley Academy sent this response to KDKA-TV on Thursday evening.

"Please know that at Sewickley Academy, we have always encouraged our community to voice their ideas and help take our learning to new heights. However, such initiatives must be done in a constructive and inclusive manner. For this reason, we are extremely saddened by the recent events at the Academy and members of our community's choice to voice their opinions in an unproductive manner that has also turned our once safe space into one that feels anything but that. This is not in line with our core values and is counterproductive as we look to build a better Academy for the future."

Birtwell sent an email Thursday night to families and students about the incident. It can be found below.

Dear Sewickley Academy Community,

It is with the utmost disappointment that I am writing to share with you an incident that happened on campus this morning. Today's activities were not reflective of the Academy and our core values.

Tensions have been heightened on campus this academic year, particularly within the Senior School. I have listened to many views and voices throughout the year, and I have worked hard to foster and build our community at Sewickley Academy. Last week, I notified the Senior School families that certain Senior School faculty members had inappropriately shared information about personnel changes with students both in and outside of the classroom. I began today with a discussion with some of those faculty members, as well as several Board members, in an effort to determine a productive and collaborative manner in which to ease the tension through the final trimester of the school year. This discussion also included a request that an unsanctioned opt-in session focused on Critical Race Theory (CRT) planned by certain faculty members for lunchtime today be postponed until a later date.

Sewickley Academy has offered numerous diversity, equity, and inclusion-related initiatives throughout the school year with more planned prior to Summer Break. With all of these programs and plans already underway, the Board of Trustees and I expressed concern to the faculty that their planned opt-in may deviate from our efforts to strengthen our community. CRT is a complex subject, and we believe it is important that any potential discussion of this topic coordinate with all of the work and progress we have been making. As an institution devoted to academic excellence, it is also important that any discussion about CRT be presented in a responsible manner by professionals with the appropriate qualifications.

To that end, rather than proceed with the opt-in, we asked the faculty members to, instead, work with us to present the topic in a time and manner that has the support of and input from our Board, our parents, the DEI Consulting Firm with which we're working, and our DEI Task Force. Unfortunately, these faculty members denied the Board's and my requests.

It also is my understanding that, during this meeting, students and parents gathered for a discussion during which rumors and misinformation may have been shared throughout the Senior School. This resulted in notification of the news media and approximately 25-30 members of the Academy's community entering my office shortly after the meeting with faculty concluded. Though Academy staff attempted to manage the group in a calm manner and asked them to disperse, the group refused to cooperate, and their disorderly conduct escalated. As a precaution, police were called to maintain order and to ensure everyone's safety.

I am working closely with appropriate parties to discuss applicable consequences that adequately reflect the severity of today's events, which were completely avoidable.

We believe in fostering a healthy discourse on subject matter important to the school's community. And, we take pride in being a safe, open, and inclusive space, especially for our students. Today, however, a group of individuals violated the spirit of our core values.

Today's events leave us at an inflection point, and we have determined that it is in the best interest of our students, faculty, and community to take a moment to pause, reflect, and regroup. To that end, we canceled Senior School classes for tomorrow, Friday, March 4, 2022. Pre-K through Grade 8 students will have conferences/classes as usual.

The Trustees and I wish to remind our community that ongoing disruptions are counterproductive to our learning environment and our ability to address issues that are important to our entire community. Going forward, let us work collaboratively to remain focused on top-tier education for our children, the safety of our community, and our ongoing work to build a better Academy for the future.

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