From Staff Reports

The Asheville-based citizens group Western North Carolina Citizens for Equality filed a formal complaint on Aug. 2 against PEAK Academy, an Asheville charter school, over what it alleges are racist admissions of students and racist hiring practices of faculty and staff.

In its filing with the U.S. Department of Education, the group is contending that it is not looking for harm, but accountability.

“As a watchdog group, it’s our job to raise our hand and say, ‘This is not OK,’” WNCCE President Dr. Carl Mumpower told Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) in an Aug. 2 interview. “This is one of those times.”

When the Asheville PEAK Academy was created in 2020, leaders stated their goal was to give opportunities to all students,” News 13 stated. (“PEAK” is an acronym for “Prepare and Empower to Achieve through Knowledge.)

Meanwhile, the TV station noted that PEAK board member Gene Bell told News 13 in 2020 that “it’s needed because we see that our achievement gap is second and third, depending on what information you read about it, so it’s needed for us to help our (black) kids to achieve higher standards,” 

Further, the station pointed out that “when the school first opened in 2021, staff members (that) News 13 talked to were on board with the school’s mission.”

Seeking comments from the defendant in the complaint, the Daily Planet left phone messages seeking an interview with Dr. Dwight Mullen, who is a PEAK Academy board member and chair of the Asheville-Buncombe County Reparations Commission on Aug 11 and 12, but never received a response by this edition’s early Aug. 14 print deadline.

Also, the Daily Planet contacted John Miall, vice president of WNCCE, who agreed to share his group’s viewpoint on its formal complaint against PEAK Academy.

(WNCE bills itself as “a citizen watchdog organization that promotes racial equality and defends the civil rights of persons living in Western North Carolina.”)

As for what triggered the group’s formal complaint, Miall said the following in an Aug. 12 interview:

“Dr. Mullen had spoken to at least two public groups recently and he was explaining what they were doing at PEAK Academy... And our understanding was that they were seeking to close the disparity gap (among races), which, we think, is honorable...

“But he also explained how they were doing it, which was by racial quotas. Since the 1964 Civil Rights Act (was enacted), it’s been blatantly illegal to use race as the basis to distribute public funds.”

Further, Miall said, “Charter schools are technically chartered by the state of North Carolina. Some of the state money is then spent on the charter school system.”

So what does Miall’s group hope to achieve from its formal complaint? the Daily Planet asked.

“By the law that governs this (charter schools), the state would be obligated to enforce this law,” Miall answered.

He also noted that “we did a public information request,” seeking statistics from PEAK Academy, and “the data we got” often contradicted other information disseminated about the school by public figures like Mullen.

“They said one thing and the data showed something else,” Miall emphasized.

So is Miall aware of other similar formal complaints of racism being lodged against a charter school? the Daily Planet asked.

“This is the first time we’ve encountered this issue locally,” Miall replied.

However, he added, “We know of two cases, involving Harvard University and UNC Chapel Hill,” both of which are universities instead of state-supported charter schools, that have had similar complaints lodged against them for racism in admission.

As far as hearing any response to the complaint in the Asheville community, Miall said there was not any — “not to my knowledge, there has been no response, beyond “a couple of social media posts that were questioning what we were doing and why.”

So what do you expect out of this? the Daily Planet asked.

“Going back through my career, all of us spent our lives fighting hard to fight discrimination, And it just seems like now” that idea has gone by the wayside, Miall replied. 

Miall then quoted his group’s president, Dr. Carl Mumpower, as saying, “The best way to stop discrimination is to stop discriminating. Just don’t do it.”

Miall added, “I applaud PEAK Academy’s mission in closing that gap in test scores. 

“But we can’t stand back and allow race to be the basis for who gets help and who doesn’t.

“There are students who are white, black, Native American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander and others,” who also deserve a quality education, Miall said as the interview with the Daily Planet concluded.

In its complaint filing, the WNCCE contended the following:

“PEAK’s self-described mission is to eliminate the achievement gap between black and white students. While this goal is noble, PEAK’s leadership has stated it seeks to achieve its goal through impermissible racially discriminatory means.

“In its application to the N.C. Dept. of Public Instruction, PEAK explains that it will ‘market to and recruit students from predominately minority neighborhoods and will recruit and retain staff and board members that are reflective of the student population. While we anticipate PEAK Academy’s demographic composition will be different from that of Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools’ majority white population, it is essential that we enroll higher numbers of ... students of color, because those are students that need PEAK Academy the most.’ (Emphasis added.)

“Although PEAK goes on to claim in their application to the NCDPI that they will not discriminate based on race, their leadership has repeatedly stated that they do otherwise. PEAK describes its goal of enrolling mostly minority students as ‘essential’ to their mission. Further, PEAK’s leadership has repeatedly stated that PEAK actively restricts white student enrollment and faculty-staff employment.

“Dr. Dwight Mullen has served on the board of directors for PEAK since its inception. He is a founding member of the school. As such, he helps set the policy of the school and is familiar with its admissions and hiring policies and practices.

“In a speech in December 2021, Dr. Mullin described the founding of PEAK, its goals of eliminating disparities and how PEAK would achieve those goals.

“‘We will do so clearly addressing it through 50 percent of the staff and faculty, 50 percent of our student body will be children of color or people of color. There’s no mistake about why we are here and what we intend to do.’

“In a speech on Feb. 2, 2023, Dr. Mullen spoke again regarding Peak’s use of race in hiring and in admission of students:

“‘Two years ago, the state allowed and granted the charter for the PEAK Academy. And the PEAK Academy is located on Haywood Avenue and we’re in our second year and what we’re designed to do is address educational disparities. We are chartered to be at least 50 percent children of color, 50 percent staff and faculty of color. We actually exceed that at 75 percent.

“On May 15, 2023, in discussions as part of a community reparations board, Dr. Mullen again reiterated that PEAK used racial quotas in hiring.

“‘I’m on the board there. The charter for the PEAK Academy was approved by the Department of Public Instruction and we require 50 percent of our faculty and staff to be people of color. And it was approved by them and it’s stood for two years without challenge.’

“Thomas Priester, a volunteer at PEAK, has also stated that PEAK favors black teachers over other races in hiring and that PEAK goes so far as to seek hires from other countries to meet its racial preferences.

“‘We even spoke with the Black Teacher and Recruitment (program) at PEAK Academy. I’m not sure if it’s... I know they hired some staff and they have a few staff that are Jamaican, so we were just saying follow that pilot, and I think they started last year. I’m a volunteer there, and they had like maybe two, but I think maybe now they’re up to maybe five staff members. So even going that far as like reaching out to some of the educators like of the Jamaican countries and even outreach to HBCUs is a good way to start.

“A review of the racial composition of PEAK’s staff/faculty and student body suggests that PEAK may be discriminating against applicants, just as Dr. Mullen and Mr. Priester describe. Out of 22 employees/faculty, six are white, two are Hispanic and the remaining 16 are black. Of the student body of 81, PEAK has enrolled only eight white students. The population of Buncombe County, as a whole, is 89.4 percent white....”

The complaint concludes the following:

“In light of well-established Supreme Court precedent as well as the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in ‘Students for Fair Admissions,’ PEAK’s actions (should their leadership be believed) in limiting student and faculty enrollment by racial percentages and/or other preferences for students and staff, based on skin color, is clearly illegal.”

Meanwhile, in its Aug. 2 story, News 13 quoted Mumpower as saying, “As a watchdog group, it’s our job to raise our hand and say, ‘this is not OK. This is one of those times.”

The TV station added, “When the Asheville PEAK Academy, a public charter school, was created in 2020, leaders stated their goal was to give opportunities to all students.”

News 13 also quoted Mumpower as saying, “I don’t think people in our culture today are accustomed to being held accountable anymore,

“In my view, we’re hardly enforcing laws at any level. Surprising? No. Disappointed in people who should know better? Yes.”

Elsewhere, the website Skyline News stated on Aug. 1 that “the school’s enrollment seems to confirm that the school is excluding students and teachers based on race. Although Asheville’s surrounding area is 89.4 percent white, only 8 out of 81 students are white, and only 6 out of 22 employees are white.”

Skyline News quoted Ruth Smith, attorney for WNCCE, as saying, “The use of racial quotas to make up a school’s student body is patently unconstitutional.

“Going back over 45 years to the 1978 Bakke decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently held this type of racial preferencing will not survive a constitutional challenge. It’s not like this is new law. Since Bakke, racial quotas in schools have been deemed illegal every time and in every case.”

The website quoted Mumpower’s explanation for the WNCCE filed its complaint as follows: “We hope that PEAK’s board of directors is simply mistaken about what PEAK is doing in selecting its teachers and students. We hope that PEAK is following the law. But when you have a prominent member of their organization repeatedly stating that they are engaging in illegal discrimination, we have to ask for an investigation.”

Further, Skyline News quoted Miall as saying, “A school is a place for children to learn. If you are teaching children that they can be excluded, solely based on the color of their skin, what are you teaching those children?”

Skyline News’ story ended with a quote by Mumpower in which he elaborated on WNCCE’s position: 

“You don’t fix society’s problems of racism, discrimination and segregation by engaging in more racism, discrimination and segregation. You fix them by ending them.”

Concurrently, the website Reddit included a plethora of critical comments about the official complaint that accuses PEAK Academy of racial discrimination, including the following:

• “Some real ‘where’s White History Month’ type (expletive deleted).”

• “Not all charter schools are bad at diversity. Francine Delay (Delany) New School for Children in AVL is 44 percent POC while also being one of the best rated public schools in the state. It’s also one of the oldest charter schools in WNC:

“White - 56%, Black - 24%, Hispanic - 10%, Two or more races - 6%, Asian or Pacific Islander - 3%, Native American - 1%.”

 â€¢ “I was pleasmpower going after a school for discrimination, but then when I go to the part about ‘too many black students and teachers’ I snapped back to reality.”

• “Jesus F-----g Christ. How about going after all the other charter schools in Asheville that cater to mostly white people? This school is actually trying to close the widest achievement gap in all of North Carolina. The other charter schools just act as a way for white families to flee public schools without feeling guilty.”

• “Is this ‘Dr. Mumpower’s account? Just curious who else has transphobic banners and wanks off to crime stats and all anti-affirmative action content.

“That said, the school will have to change their scholarship admission policy to be worded only towards poverty and end up with the exact same demographic.”