NAACP wants local apology for Valedictorian discrimination

• Originally Published in the News Virginian on Wednesday, August 11, 2004

By BOB STUART

The Waynesboro NAACP asked the School Board late Tuesday to apologize to Waynesboro High graduate Moreko Griggs over the decision to make him co-valedictorian with two other students after he was told he had won the sole honor.

The Rev. Mildred Middlebrooks, Waynesboro NAACP president, said she and other branch officials came to Tuesday's School Board meeting "for an apology to be given to Moreko."

She called the June ordeal for Griggs and his family "stressful and tumultuous," and said an apology was warranted and would bring closure.

Lorie Smith, the chair of the Waynesboro School Board, said she appreciated the comments of Middlebrooks and others on the issue.

But Smith said she needed to confer with other School Board members, including members Brian Edwards and Doug Norcross, both of whom could not attend Tuesday's meeting.

"We're going to consider the comments and suggestions,'' Smith said. "We would be remiss if we did not take these suggestions."

Smith did not offer a timetable for a response to Middlebrooks' request.

Griggs was present at the meeting. He leaves later this week to begin studies at Rice University in Houston.

Griggs, who is black, was told in May that he earned the top spot in the class of 2004.

But 18 hours before the June 5 graduation, Griggs and his family learned that students Jordan Coiner and Allison Martin, both white, would be named co-valedictorians.

Coiner's family had requested a recount after being told all year that she was the front-runner for the highest grade-point average, her mother said.

School officials then decided to discard the long-held method of tabulating scores, and to include in the recount grades earned during the last weeks of school.

Middlebrooks was supported in her apology request by other members of the Waynesboro branch and the president of the Staunton NAACP branch.

Vivian Jones, a member of the Waynesboro NAACP, asked the School Board "to take steps to ensure nothing of this magnitude happens again."

Staunton NAACP President Tom Martin questioned how "the change at the 11th hour occurred? No school I've talked to waits until the 11th hour. I would like to see Moreko with an apology. This is a slap in the face to Moreko and the whole minority community."

After leaving the meeting, Middlebrooks said she hopes for an apology in the next few days.

A Waynesboro High School committee currently is reviewing the policy that selects the valedictorian, said Superintendent Lowell Lemons.

Lemons said the policy will be stated and reaffirmed after the investigation.