WEST CHESTER TWP. — The leader of Lakota Schools says discussions on how to respond to an NAACP letter critical of the district's racial climate are best done in private.

        Lakota Superintendent Kathleen Klink said the wide-ranging letter, given to her this month by Gary Hines, a Lakota parent and president of the Hamilton-Fairfield-West Chester and Liberty townships chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has brought renewed attention to the district's diversity efforts.

        “The community in general has been asking a lot of questions” since the letter, she said. It listed more than a dozen requests regarding alleged racial issues in Ohio's eighth-largest school system.

        Ms. Klink declined to address the letter's requests publicly.

        “I don't believe the media is the right venue for this discussion,” she said.

        Instead, she said, a meeting with Mr. Hines will occur soon and will likely be followed by solicitations for bids to conduct a “diversity audit” of the racial makeup and climate of the 15,466-student Butler County school system. Its African-American enrollment is about 5 percent, or 744 students.

        Mr. Hines said he looks forward to meeting privately with the superintendent.

        “I was hoping the letter would make an opportunity for dialogue,” said Mr. Hines. “I'm still very hopeful that will happen.”

        The letter's requests included hiring two black principals and assistant principals and 15 black teachers by the fall; requiring Lakota's 2,100 employees to take cultural sensitivity training; creating a director of multicultural affairs position, and recruiting minorities to serve on the district's curricula council.

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