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Resident tells Clackamas County board to restore DEI office after son's schooling experiences
Summary
Kyla Hill testified the county eliminated its DEI department in 2024 and urged restoration, recounting that her Black, disabled son was placed in a segregated out-of-district behavioral program from 2016–2019, subjected to restraints and denied timely incident reports and video; she asked the board to address systemic inequities.
Kyla Hill testified during public communication at the July 9 Clackamas County Board of Commissioners meeting, urging the board to restore a dedicated diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) department that the board eliminated in 2024.
"My name is Kyla Hill. I live in Milwaukee," Hill said during her three-minute public comment. She told the board her two sons are Black and disabled and described the younger son's school experience between 2016 and 2019 with the North Clackamas School District. Hill said the district placed her son in a segregated out-of-district behavioral placement against her wishes and that during that period he "was repeatedly subjected to and or witnessed traumatic physical restraints, many of which were illegal and used solely for compliance." She said the experience resulted in her son being placed in a DD foster home and that independent neuropsychological testing showed a drop in IQ during that time.
Hill also said school administrators refused timely access to incident reports and bus video footage after an incident that resulted in injury, contrary to FERPA and district policy, and that white students had hurled racial slurs at her son and his brothers. She concluded by urging the county to recognize ongoing discrimination and to restore a dedicated DEI department "to begin addressing them." "Our county cannot claim to value fairness, equality, and opportunity while these systemic inequities continue to exist," she said.
Why it matters: the comment raised allegations about school practices and urged county-level restoration of DEI capacity; the board did not take immediate action during the meeting but public commenters asked the board to heed systemic equity concerns.
