Principal on Maui
put on leave
for her article

By Gary T. Kubota
Star-Bulletin

WAILUKU -- The principal of Iao Intermediate School has been put on "department-directed leave" for 10 days with pay, following criticisms about a Maui newspaper opinion piece she wrote saying parents should take responsibility for racist behavior of their children.

Elizabeth Ayson was given the leave to clarify her remarks in the article and develop a plan for how her school would deal with racial intolerance, said Interim Maui District School Superintendent Paul Brown.

Brown said the leave was not punishment for any action.

The American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of African-American student Philliep Knox filed a complaint last month with the federal Department of Education's civil rights office, alleging racial harassment at Iao Intermediate.

On behalf of the school, Ayson has publicly apologized to Knox, an eighth grader, and condemned the behavior.

Knox said he was punched, shoved and verbally harassed by students.

Brown and Ayson are scheduled to meet with Iao's parents, teachers and students tomorrow night at the school at 6:30 p.m.