REDMOND, OR -- It’s been a week since a Redmond 10-year-old told City Council about being called “Monkey” and the “N word.” Redmond Schools Superintendent Dr. Charan Cline says the district took action when the incidents were first reported to Lynch Elementary in December, "The school started working very intently with Gavin and his family. We did a lot of work with a number of the kids that were involved in this. There was some amount of punishment that happens, of course. But most of it happens through counseling and education." He tells KBND News, "Gavin, himself - the principal formed a mentoring relationship with him. They check in with each other pretty constantly at recesses and after school."

Counselors then worked with all students at Lynch, which is the district's most racially diverse, "We also have increased the amount of SEL lessons - Social and Emotional Learning lessons - in that school. We already were running a program called CharacterStrong, which is about teaching positive traits that we hope to see out of kids." Dr. Cline says, "Really, what we’re talking about here is ‘How do we create a better, more inclusive school district? How do we keep working to make sure that every kid’s welcomed and every kid can thrive in our schools."

Cline says the district takes allegations of racism seriously, even if incident don’t occur in school, "Kids bring a lot of things into the schools that they hear from their parents; they bring a lot of things into schools that they hear from each other. In fact, we know a lot of this stuff didn’t even happen at school. A lot of it happened in the park after school or the times before school." He adds, ?"I can say for the Redmond School District, we’re neither allowing these to happen, I don’t think we’re creating an environment where these things can happen. And when they do happen, we’re doing something about it and we plan on doing more. Our goal is really to create an environment where every kid can thrive; every kid can come together and get a great education. That’s our goal and that’s what all our staff are working to achieve."

Schools also work with social organizations, Cline says, to help families struggling with racism, poverty, abuse and other issues, in an effort to build a better community, "Our schools have worked really hard and really diligently to make sure that every kid is welcomed and every child is part of the team."