Struggling to Adapt
New Texas Monthly expose rocks the Kinkaid School
Pep rally at the Kinkaid SchoolThe Kinkade School/Facebook
The Texas Monthly articlewww.texasmonthly.com
Graduation at KinkaidMedia Center/www.kinkade.org
Courtyard at KinkaidMedia Center/www.kinkade.org
In a a seven-page feature that will appear in the March issue of Texas Monthly (already available online to subscribers), reporter John Spong dissects the results of Houston's prestigious Kinkaid School's self-imposed period of introspection following the brouhaha surrounding a viral e-mail penned in November 2009 by parent and former Lehman Brothers exec Hugh "Skip" McGee.
For those who need a refresher, in the e-mail McGee called the cancelation of a school pep rally "the tipping point" for the school, and vociferously opposed, among other things, his perceived repression of "the silent majority," the political agendas of "leftist" teachers and the Kinkaid administration's total loss of "common sense and good judgment."
After the e-mail went viral, the private institution opted to respond internally — in private. Spong's article, in which he speaks to several parents and alumni on condition of anonymity and one former administrator, ex-principal Mickey Saltman, on-the-record, is not a rehashed discussion of one parent's manifesto, however. Rather, the feature, headlined "Schoolhouse Rocked," is a look at how Kinkaid dealt with the apparent unrest — by Spong's estimation, not well.
Spong writes: "McGee's letter had exposed a rift that the school didn't want outsiders to see. Over the next fifteen months Kinkaid would do a good job of tamping down press interest but have a harder time getting the dust to settle on campus. The school's board of trustees promised a period of reflection and undertook an extensive survey to gauge the community's take [...] But the dialogue was marked by resignations and recriminations. What began as an angry letter from a disgruntled parent turned into a struggle over the most basic ways in which the school defines itself."
There is that in the article which is startling: For example, one quote from a parent who said, "I'm not saying I want the school to be some hyper-tea party, superconservative place. I just want a little more balance. And I don't want a bunch of gay, lesbian, liberal, communistic crap shoved down my kid's throat." But much is indicative of a larger struggle, within private education but also beyond, to gracefully adjust to an obviously changing world. (Spong and the parents he interviewed even make reference to the study by Rice professor Stephen Klineberg on how Houston's ethnic makeup is drastically — and rapidly — shifting.)
One element of the school's reflection, given particular attention in Spong's article, was the devotion of a regular monthly meeting of upper school faculty to the experience of gay students at Kinkaid. Openly gay alumni, their parents and faculty spoke about their experiences at the school, and, at the end of the meeting, gay faculty members and staff who felt comfortable standing and identifying themselves were asked to do so. Those who stood, Spong writes, felt a mixture of relief and apprehension.
Related or not, resignations followed. And ultimately, the Kinkaid board's final report, titled "Moving Forward," explicitly removed sexual orientation from inclusion in the school's umbrella diversity policy, although gay students were still explicitly protected in the school's non-harassment policy.
The report concluded that "student exposure to issues relating to sexual orientation will occur only when necessary for teaching the grade-appropriate curriculum," and, concurrently, all Safe Space stickers were removed from Kinkaid classrooms.
