21-05-2025
Madeleine School principal fired after racial incident
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The now-former principal at in Portland said she was fired after refusing to resign following a heated encounter with the parents of a
The attorney for Tresa Rast said she was fired months after the incident in March.
The boy's parents, Karis Stoudamire-Phillips and Mike Phillips, met with Rast after their son told them what happened. When KOIN 6 News spoke with the parents in April, they said they demanded a plan of action to address what happened to their son, and other racial incidents at the school. But they claim that Rast said their son made the whole thing up and then suspended the boy three days later.
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During that meeting, Rast called the police and claimed the parents were yelling and refused to leave.
'To be honest,' Mike Phillips said, 'we weren't whispering, but it wasn't warranted for that type of action where you thought it was any violence because it wasn't. It was a conversation of accountability.
'There was never an intent to go over there and cause a ruckus. And that is not what we did,' Karis Stoudamire-Phillips said in April. 'But yes, we were met with dismissiveness. We were met with disrespect from the minute that we walked in there.'
'I get triggered because when you understand what happens with Black men when the cops are called, she wielded a level of power that was so irresponsible that, in the wrong situation, I might not be alive,' Mike Phillips told KOIN 6 News in April. 'And I take that extremely seriously because there wasn't a threat.'
The Phillips' attorney told KOIN 6 News they declined to speak again publicly on the incident.
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At the time, the family created an online petition demanding an apology from the school and the Archdiocese of Portland and an acceptance of responsibility. The petition garnered about 5000 signatures.
On Tuesday, KOIN 6 News reached out to officials at Madeleine School and the Archdiocese of Portland but have not heard back at this time.
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