NORTH SYRACUSE -- The North Syracuse School District superintendent Kim Dyce Faucette is now personally involved in the controversy surrounding the upcoming high school musical. 'The Wiz' is set to be performed next month, and this week a group of black students and parents said they would boycott the production because there are no black students cast in lead roles.
Parent Letrice Titus spoke out during a board meeting Monday night in front of students who say they auditioned for lead roles but were cast in the ensemble.
"There was no collaboration, there was no effort, there was no intention on making the cast diverse. None whatsoever," says Titus.
Titus has the support of the local Syracuse chapter of the NAACP.
Superintendent Faucette says she will now take on a fact-finding mission to determine how students feel about the casting, and how the musical was chosen in the first place.
"Without a doubt, being an African American woman I can definitely relate. Having said that, I'm not prepared at this point to pull the race card until I get all of the facts and can then make an informed decision," says Faucette.
The musical, billed as "An adaption of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African American experience," is being put on by high school students.
Everyone agrees a dialogue about these sensitive issues is positive for this community because it's clear, the controversy is not black and white.
