The principal of the private Madeleine School in Northeast Portland is on leave, the school informed families on Wednesday, after a firestorm of public criticism over her decision to call the police to campus during a heated conversation with two Black parents in late March.
In a brief note to families, the Rev. Bonaventure Rummell, the parish priest who oversees the PK-8 school that educates about 250 students, wrote that the vice principal has been assigned Principal Tresa Rast’s duties while Rast is on leave. He assured families that the staff at the school “remain dedicated to prioritizing both the education and well-being of your children.”
Rast called police to the school after Mike Phillips and Karis Stoudamire-Phillips, longtime parents and volunteers at the school who are well known in Portland for their civic involvement, demanded to know her plan of action after their younger son was allegedly targeted by a racist slur on the playground. Stoudamire-Phillips said the couple refused to leave her office until they had clarity on a plan of action and acknowledged she raised her voice during the exchange…