Amelia Schafer, ICT/Rapid City Journal
A South Dakota superintendent has been fired after an Office of Civil Rights report revealed racist comments aimed at Native American students.
Nicole Swigart, superintendent of Rapid City Area Schools, was terminated by a school board vote of 6 to 1 on Tuesday, Aug. 13.
The situation stems from racist remarks attributed to Swigart during a U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights investigation.
Swigart’s alleged comments were made public in a Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Resolution Letter published on May 29.
In the letter, when asked about low attendance rates and high tardy reports among Native students, Swigart is quoted as saying that Native families operate on “Indian time,” making students often two hours tardy.
Swigart also reportedly said to the Office of Civil Rights that certain tribes, specifically the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people, “do not commonly value education and inform their students that they do not need to graduate.”
As the Rapid City Area Schools superintendent, Swigart oversaw about 3,716 Indigenous students throughout the district.
The School Board initially placed Swigart on a 30-day leave on July 1 in which she was required to complete cultural competency training and work toward rebuilding relations with the Indigenous community.
Since the report’s publication, Swigart has claimed that she had no recollection of making the comments attributed to her.
Again on Aug. 13 she said she did not make the comments attributed to her in the letter.
On June 4 in a statement during a school board meeting, Swigart apologized for the pain her comments had caused but added that she did not recall saying them.
As of Aug. 13, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has not completed a request from ICT and the Rapid City Journal for the full transcript of Swigart’s interview.