Portales superintendent: Teacher was not fired, book was approved

PORTALES - Following through on a plan announced in social media earlier in the week, Portales High School students supporting a former teacher staged a peaceful protest at the school Friday.

"We let them do it at the high school," said Johnnie Cain, superintendent of Portales Municipal Schools. "They've got the right to do it."

Widespread social media posts alleged high school English teacher Kelly Cradock was fired Tuesday for teaching from a controversial book.

But Cain said Wednesday that Cradock resigned without pressure from the school and the book in question was approved by the district and the state.

"We saw all the social media blowup this (Wednesday) morning," Cain said. "She resigned on the 18th (Friday). She gave us a resignation letter and she gave us 30 days notice. We were able to fill the position sooner, so we did."

As for the book, "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas, Cain said it's been in Portales school libraries for several years. "It's got some controversial issues in it, but it's probably stuff kids need to see. The book created no issues for (school administrators)."

Following Friday's show of support for Cradock, Cain said, "We thought it was best to let them have their peaceful protest and move forward."

Cain said a number of students returned to class. But about three dozen made their way to the Roosevelt County Courthouse to continue their protest on the town square. One held a sign that read, "Mrs. Cradock deserved better."

Cradock, reached at her home, declined to comment. She said she needs time to "process" all that's happened in the past few days.

Cain declined to discuss reasons Cradock gave for her resignation. "I can't get into that," he said, but added, "We didn't expect her to resign. We weren't pushing for any kind of resignation."

"I think some agitation was going on in that classroom and it kind of got out of hand," he said, when pressed. He said he believes the "agitation" was based on misinformation but declined to elaborate.

After the Friday protest Cain reiterated what he said earlier in the week, "It is a personnel matter. It is what it is."

A slideshow posted anonymously to Facebook claims students in Cradock's freshman English classes debated topics discussed in the book. That "sparked some controversy within the school which then led to parental complaints," the slideshow alleges.

"The Hate U Give examines the way society uses stereotypes of black people to justify violence and racism against them," according to the slideshow.

Cain said he was not aware of any complaints parents had made about the book. He said this was Cradock's second year teaching in Portales schools.