A preschool center outside of Atlanta is under fire after a parent posted a photo he said showed staff discriminating against Black students reports KCTV5.
On Wednesday, a man identified online as Marquis, a father of a Kids 'R' Kids student in Roswell, Georgia, shared the disturbing image on Instagram. In the photo, he alleges that all of the white children have been served meals, while each of the Black children pictured appeared to be without food.
“This is truly unbelievable. You better know this won’t be the last time you hear from me on this,” he wrote in the photo’s caption. “Why does every white kid have their food? Not one Black child has food in front of them! Thank God for cameras in classrooms because there is no way to hide this racism.”
He went on to say that it's unfortunate many Black families aspire to send their kids to suburban schools just to be subjected to subpar conditions. He concluded his message by directly mentioning the corporate social media page of Kids ‘R' Kids, expressing that he expects the company to address the incident.
“As Blacks we always strive to send our kids to schools in suburban areas, but I’m telling you first hand that is not always best. This is not a Black or white issue, this is simply wrong. @kidsrkidscorporate I’ll be waiting [for] feedback from your corporate office on this,” he added.
Another parent also spoke out on the incident.
“They were skipping all of the black kids it seemed like," father Adryan McCauley, whose son is in the photo, told KCTV5.
“All the white kids got their lunch, and all the black kids had to wait,” McCauley continued. “From the videos and pictures that we saw today, we are just completely disturbed.”
David Vinson, the president and chief executive officer of Kids ‘R’ Kids International, Inc., issued a statement apologizing to Marquis and the community for the narrative expressed in the image. He wrote that the incident was a “random and isolated” occurrence that doesn’t represent their inclusive environment.
“The interactions captured on video by one of our families, yesterday, is disturbing and not in accordance with the inclusive culture that we promote at Kids ‘R’ Kids amongst our families, their children or our staff,” the statement read.
In an update to his original statement, Vinson later revealed that upon further evaluation, Kids ‘R' Kids decided to end its contract with the preschool where the incident occurred.
“After further review and much consideration of the photo/video in question, our company has decided to terminate that franchisee’s Kids ‘R’ Kids contract and branding, effective immediately, leaving them to operate independently,” Vinson wrote.
“We apologize to the family, the community and all of those impacted by this situation and will use this as a learning tool to remind our Kids ‘R’ Kids staff on the importance of diversity and inclusivity,” he added.
Vinson ended the message pledging that the corporate office will help displaced families seeking preschool options but did not go into specifics about said assistance.
As summer approaches, youth programs are preparing to open up around the country with special precautions due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Osprey Observer in Florida, the Kids ‘R' Kids academy in Valrico will be offering camps from June 1 through Aug. 6.
“During the pandemic, we went virtual. Now we are focusing on our kids having a safe and fun summer. We know a lot of our kids had cabin fever over the last few months and now we want them to get outside and enjoy their summer,” Owner Ben Fernandes said.
