Brown County Schools Superintendent Laura Hammack looked across the room at Emily and Matt Roberts and their teenage son.

“I like to say our school corporation is a family, and this family is the best of who we are,” Hammack said.

“We are so sorry,” she said.

“I love this school community so much, but we have work to do until we are at a place where all students and all staff feel welcome, feel safe, feel included, and that just needs to be our focus.”

Matt and Emily Roberts are the parents of the high school student who was identified as “BLACK GUY” instead of his name in a group photo in the school’s 2020 yearbook.

The adviser and high school teacher the district stated was responsible for the error has resigned, the school district announced on Oct. 27.

The couple and their son agreed to a joint interview with Hammack and high school Principal Matt Stark as a show of unity with the district as it handles the fallout of the “egregious” error.

The family has been working with district leaders to figure out how to handle this and what the consequences should be.

“I think it’s important for the people to see you can work through differences or you can work together as a group,” Emily said on Oct. 22.

“Even though this is awful — it never should have happened, but it did — this is where we are, and I just think it’s important for people to see how you work through hard times.”

The wording appeared in the caption for a sports team photo. This student’s name was the only one not specifically listed.

The school district released a statement to BCS parents and staff on Oct. 19 about the error and notified the newspaper about it.

“The error in the 2020 yearbook is a clear violation of our nondiscrimination policy,” the statement read, signed by Hammack and Stark.

“We acknowledge that yearbook is the only class at this school where all assignments and homework are published for all to see. We strive for perfection and hope any errors are minor and inconsequential,” it read.

“This is not an inconsequential error.”

The story about the error went national, with media outlets like CNN and the New York Post running stories.

After the error was discovered, an investigation immediately began into how it happened. It concluded on Oct. 22.

Yearbook sponsor Greg Mosley has accepted full responsibility for the yearbook and its submission with the error. He has resigned as yearbook sponsor, but is currently still a teacher with the district, Hammack said on Oct. 22. He has been with the district for more than 20 years.

He also will be suspended without pay for two weeks, Hammack and Stark announced in a follow-up public statement on Oct. 23.

On Oct. 27, the school district announced that Mosley had resigned as a teacher with Brown County Schools.

“While the incident involving our student and the ensuing process has been extraordinarily difficult, we hope it is clear that disrespectful acts and attitudes such as these are not tolerated,” the statement from Hammack and Stark reads.

“I am extremely proud of both Brown County Schools and the larger Brown County community regarding how we have come together to affirm this is neither who we are nor who we want to be. Moving forward, let’s please all work to overcome the unprecedented challenges we are facing to make this the best possible school year.”

Mosley declined to comment for this story.

How did it happen?

Usually, students put together the yearbook pages that are then reviewed by other students, and finally the sponsor does a review before the yearbook is submitted, Stark explained.

Hammack said that the way it was explained to her is that sometimes, words or characters are used as placeholders when information isn’t yet known; then, students go back and fill it in.

Why the words “BLACK GUY” were used instead of another placeholder — such as “second from the left” or the student’s jersey number — has not been explained.

The district’s follow-up statement on Oct. 23 said that “our investigation did not identify any students (currently enrolled or graduated) who were involved in the creation of the offensive content. We believe the content was created by the faculty advisor for the yearbook; he will no longer serve in that role.”

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic caused the schools and the state itself to shut down on March 13, before the yearbook was finished.

“Some of that (review) process was interrupted by all of that, by the nature of COVID,” Stark said.

“There were kids who did still submit some things for pages, some things were not submitted for pages, so ultimately it’s still the sponsor’s responsibility to put the book together. The process of putting that book together probably fell more significantly at that point on him (Mosley) than any of us realized because of the nature of not having our normal process.”

Stark said during his time as principal — 2 1/2 years so far this time, and from 2002 to 2013 — an administrative review of the yearbook had not been done, but that moving forward, “significant different levels of review” will take place, including from administration.

The yearbook company, Herff Jones, does not do a review of any pages; it is responsible for printing only.

“Again, Mr. Mosley is stepping forward and accepting the responsibility for the yearbook, the submission, but we just don’t have any evidence to show conclusively one way or another, but Mr. Mosley has accepted the responsibility,” Hammack said.

In addition to his removal as yearbook sponsor and his suspension, he has “committed to a restorative conference (with the student’s family) where the harm that was caused is acknowledged, the individual causing the harm is held accountable, and an honest discussion about the harm caused by this inexcusable act is conducted,” the district’s second public statement read.

How it felt

Hammack and Stark were made aware of the error late in the evening on Sunday, Oct. 18 after a parent emailed them both.

Stark began research the next morning to figure out how many books had been distributed and when. The yearbooks were handed out the previous Friday.

“When we realized what had happened, we knew we needed to talk to the parents immediately,” Hammack said.

Matt is a math teacher at the high school. Emily is a preschool teacher at Sprunica Elementary.

They were not aware of the error until the administration contacted them. Matt was finishing teaching his first class on Monday morning when Stark asked him to come to his office. There, Stark and Hammack explained what had happened.

Emily was called into Sprunica Principal Shane Killinger’s office Monday morning, and he let her know what had happened.

“My first feeling was, ‘Did, I really just hear that?’ It was like, ‘Hold on, wait a minute.’ It was a little shocking,” Emily said.

“He (Killinger) said, ‘I have coverage for you the rest of the day; just head straight to the high school,’” she said. “I went and got my stuff and came down here.”

The Robertses, Hammack and Stark then told their son about what had happened. He wasn’t aware before then.

His parents asked that his name not be printed to protect his identity since he is a minor.

“I was, like, immediately wondering who would have put that in the yearbook. I was pretty angry about it,” their son said.

He said the error felt purposeful, which upset him. “That’s what I felt like when I saw it, because it was in all capital letters.”

The Robertses have three children in Brown County schools.

The racial makeup of the school district mirrors the community, with more than 94 percent of students being white.

“Our kids have experienced some racial comments before — some seemingly intentional, some seemingly unintended to do harm — but insensitive language and comments that definitely have a racial tone to them,” Matt said.

Their two oldest sons began experiencing that in school at the junior high level, he said.

“Unfortunately, it has been something we had to have family conversations about and how to deal with that and how to handle that. We worked through some situations with the administration here before with regards to that as well,” Matt said.

Starting a conversation

At the beginning of 2019, the Brown County Schools Board of Trustees ultimately voted to fire an assistant coach after he shared an old photo of himself in blackface on social media and did not choose to follow the path he’d been given to return to employment. That decision was met with pushback from some members of the community, with others supporting the school board.

Around that time, the district created a districtwide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee of staff members. Before COVID-19 hit in March, the committee had around 50 people engaged.

Now, around 30 people attend meetings. The committee actually met a week before the error was discovered in the yearbook.

“We had identified some goals for our organization to tackle even under the COVID restrictions. We had about five action items that we were working through,” Hammack said.

The district engaged a consultant who works with Butler University and is a professor at Indiana University. In December, the consultant was already scheduled to do comprehensive training in each school for staff. “The rationale is that when staff are empowered, then ultimately we are better able to navigate important conversations in the classroom,” Hammack said.

Employees also will take a course on Canvas that will teach them common language related to diversity and inclusion work.

In addition, the district will do an anonymous survey to gather insight from students and staff on how they feel about their school: “Do we feel safe? Do we feel respected? Do we feel like if we have an issue, we know where to turn? Do we feel like someone would listen?” Hammack said.

“This is all work that has been developing over these last few years. … This (error) has just become more of an indication for the ‘why’ behind the work anyways. We need to be thoughtful about an even more comprehensive strategy.”

The Roberts’ son said he has felt safe and respected in his school despite the incidents he has endured since junior high.

But the school district cannot begin to change the culture by itself. A component in the long-term plan is engaging the community. That work must first begin with staff in the schools, then with the students, followed by the community and then parents. “Then, a true community conversation can take place,” Hammack said.

The district already offers an anonymous reporting system for bullying incidents. It is set up to report harassment, intimidation and discrimination.

Hammack said last week that no discrimination reports had come in through the anonymous reporting tool, but that students and staff may not be aware that it exists. That was another action item the DEI committee had identified.

The Robertses are a part of that committee, too.

Education is key to addressing racism in the community and the schools, they both said: “The education of people and understanding the language, understanding the words and their meanings and why it’s not OK to say certain words. For example, the N-word is not a slang term for ‘dude.’ It’s just how kids use it. It’s just changing the culture and really educating people on those types of things,” Emily said.

Matt said it’s also important to empower students to speak out against incidents when they happen.

“It doesn’t have to be an isolated incident report every time. It could be a student standing with another student, ‘We don’t talk like that here. That’s not appropriate. We communicate in this building and in this community.’ There’s a lot of power in that communication,” he said.

One time when their other son had a racist statement made to him, the person who reported it was a teacher.

“(Our oldest) tends to internalize things and our other son kind of lets it roll off his back. They had to tell him, ‘No, you tell people this is not OK,’ just empowering them to say, ‘This is not OK,’” Emily said.

Matt added that those who do not speak out against discrimination happening are basically saying it’s OK. “It’s not OK to turn the other way and say, ‘Oh well. It wasn’t directed at me. I’m good,’” he said.

The Robertses do not want their community to be divided over this incident, though. They would rather use this as an opportunity to have a conversation and gain understanding.

“It can’t become confrontational. It can’t become this aggressive sort of exchange of defensiveness, which ultimately is not productive. It has to be the ability to understand perspectives,” Matt said.

Extending grace

The district will have new yearbooks printed. Any student who turns their yearbook in before Oct. 30 will receive $5 off next year’s yearbook. The new yearbooks are expected to be distributed the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break. To get a new yearbook, a student has to turn in the current yearbook.

The Robertses did not demand a new yearbook be printed, but accepted the school’s offer to do so with their son’s support.

Being unified with the district is important to the Robertses as they work together to address this error.

“We absolutely think the way Dr. Hammack has handled herself with us and Mr. Stark has been amazing. They genuinely care about our son and then the rest of our family as well,” Emily said.

The Robertses have received many messages of love and support from co-workers, family and friends inside and outside of the community.

“It’s hard to process. The love and support we got from the community, friends and family and people outside of here, that’s what’s carrying us. It almost feels like to me that God has sent those people to carry us through,” Emily said.

“We’re the ones getting the messages, but every night we sit down with our kids and we just have a conversation, ‘This is who we heard from today,’ because we want them to know what support they have.”

Their son was even able to Facetime with a professional athlete who reached out after hearing about the error. “The boy has not stopped smiling since that call,” Emily said.

When asked about his call, the quiet teenager shows off a large smile. “It made me feel really good. He was like one of my favorite receivers. I would watch YouTube clips of him. He was like one of my favorites,” he said.

He had chosen his football jersey number because it was that athlete’s number.

“He is a good kid. He’s just a good boy. This has been hard. It has been hard on him. But we’ve seen him smile for the last 24 hours,” Emily said.

The Robertses believe good will come from all of this.

“We’ve now been given this platform that we certainly did not want or ask for, but at the end of the day, we want our kids to feel safe and we want God to be glorified at the end of this because he has done nothing but extend grace to us and he loves everybody,” Emily said.

“For us, we want to extend that same grace and that same love to people. It may not be easy, but that is our goal is to extend that same love.”

Stark said the schools and the entire community are also hurting because of the “horrible” error.

“I would like to say as principal is: To our community and our student body, we understand this is terrible. This has been an awful thing and we want to double down on getting better. We’re going to get better and we’re going to do better,” Stark said.

“But the idea that we don’t understand this or that we don’t understand this is a terrible thing. … It hurts me that people find this negative situation as an opportunity to continue to pour in however they fall in the national picture, into a community that is trying to resolve and heal itself, and they just continue to try and remind us that it’s bad.”

“They just keep adding to the hate instead of being a part of the solution,” Emily added.

Stark said the group that has “every right” to be upset is the Roberts family, and “I can’t say enough about them and the grace and love and understanding they have,” he said.

“Of all of the people out in the world that have a right to be upset, they have the most right, and they are sitting at the table. They are working with us. … I am so sorry this has occurred. I really am so sorry.”

Hammack also reiterated her apology.

“We have felt your heart through this whole thing. We know that you love us. We know that you love these kids,” Emily told her.

“I am so deeply grateful for the both of you. I think you are incredible parents and you have an amazing family. None of this should have ever happened and we’re going to do better,” Hammack said.

“We believe that. From the bottom of our hearts, we 100 percent believe that,” Emily said.