Grand Strand school district only promotes white teachers to principal, lawsuit says
A Black educator in Georgetown County schools says “systemic racism” led to her being denied administrative positions in favor of white candidates.
Lakeva Greene-Winchester is suing the school district in South Carolina federal court over what she calls racial discrimination.
Greene-Winchester began her career as a teacher assistant in the Georgetown County School District in 2003. The lawsuit, which was filed this week, claims that Greene-Winchester was told in 2012 that she would “soon be certified at all levels to become a school principal.”
Since 2016, Greene-Winchester applied for at least six principal or assistant principal job openings, the suit states. In every case, except one, white candidates got the job. One of the administrative positions in question was awarded to a white person who did not apply for the position, the lawsuit claims.
From 2016 until July every person appointed to a school administrator position in the district has been white, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims that in every case, Greene-Winchester was more qualified than the white people chosen for the positions.
The lawsuit alleges that racism factored in the selection process of school administrators in the Georgetown County School District. She says the district intentionally violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
There are 22 schools in the district and 12 white and four Black assistant principals in the county, the filing claims.
Greene-Winchester asked for an unspecified amount of money in the suit including her pay she would have received if promoted to one of the administrative positions.
“It is our standard practice to not comment on pending litigation against the district,” Lindsay Anne Thompson, Georgetown County School District attorney, said in a voicemail.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 1:53 PM.
