The superintendent of Paducah Public Schools has been suspended following backlash resulting from a photo of the superintendent wearing blackface surfaced on social media.
On Friday, the Paducah Public Schools school board suspended Donald Shively for 40 days without pay.
The photo surfaced in a social media post on October 20. At that time, school officials said the photo was offensive and its impact needed to be addressed, according to media reports. The board considered its options and decided to allow Shively to remain superintendent.
Additionally, school officials asked for public input and discussed the matter with community leaders, which led the board to suspend Shively.
“The Paducah-McCracken County chapter of the NAACP has been calling for Shively’s resignation since the photo emerged in late October,” the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. “Officials from the group met with Shively within a week after the photo was posted, and they didn’t change their minds,”
A Louisville-based group associated with All of Us or None, erected a billboard in western Kentucky calling for Shively’s termination, according to Murray State University’s NPR station, WKMS.
The photo was taken in 2002 at a Halloween party, and Shively, who self-reported the photo to the school board in February 2019, has apologized for the picture and said he is embracing the situation as an opportunity to learn and improve.
“I accept full responsibility for how my horrible and racially insensitive decision to wear blackface has impacted the community at-large, especially the students of Paducah Public Schools. I apologize specifically to the African-American community for the hurt that was caused by my insensitivity,” Shively said.
According to Shively’s LinkedIn profile, he has served as superintendent of Paducah Public Schools since July 2014.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
