DaytonDailyNews.com

After two weeks of controversy, objections from the NAACP, national media attention and public debate, the Lakota Local School District officials decided to allow Lakota East students to perform a play based on a 1939 Agatha Christie novel.

Superintendent Mike Taylor announced Thursday the show will go on and students will perform "And Then There Were None" on Dec. 13 and 14.

The district thanked Gary Hines, president of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for bringing to their attention the 1939 novel's original title, "Ten Little (racial slur)." It was later changed to "Ten Little Indians" when brought to the United States. It has since sparked debate in a district that allows the book for classroom study, but would not allow it in the public forum.

"We have asked for our community's help to stage this play and, at the same time, provide that vehicle for discussion about what we as a community believe," Taylor said. "We can make this a learning experience together."

Students will perform it under the title "And Then There Were None" after the drama department recently learned they had the out of date version that isn't licensed for performance.

The decision to cancel the play, and then to allow it to be performed, was not easy, Taylor said. But when the discussion shifted from race to censorship and the NAACP, Taylor said he chose to put the focus back where he felt it should be — on the students.

"I think one of the things is you listen, and you try to listen to all sides," he said.

Taylor plans to form a committee of students and community members to talk about what should be added before and after the play to honor diversity. Then, he said he will meet with school board members and residents to talk about the issues that have arisen about censorship and race. As a district, he said, Lakota will have to acknowledge sensitive issues — like sexism or racism — and help people understand the variety of viewpoints without putting students in difficult situations.

When the dust settles, Taylor said he plans to step back and reflect on what happened, and how and why it happened.

"I want to meet with our staff and our students to have those types of discussions so we can all grow from it and learn from it," he said. "I think what you do is just keep focused on what it's all about, and it's all about the students."

Taylor also acknowledged the dissension between the school board and administrators about the initial decision to cancel the play.

"We're a team and we need to be a team, for the health of the school district and continuing to move it forward to the 20th century," he said.

While students said they had collectively agreed not to discuss the matter further with the media, Principal Keith Kline said they are looking forward to performing.

"I think they're excited about having the opportunity to not only do the appropriate version of the play, but also the opportunity to try to bring the community together over issues that would normally divide us," he said. "I really think their focus has been on moving forward. I think they're as tired of what's been going on as everyone else is."

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5067 or lhilty@coxohio.com.

Letter from Keith Kline:

To say the very least, this has been an unbelievable week for our school. I certainly had hoped we would not see satellite trucks in our lot for anything other than positive events but I was wrong. This matter has gone from being about a lack of sensitivity for others to an issue of race versus censorship. It was never intended to be about race or censorship and, unfortunately, our kids got caught in the middle of the debate. For that we are all deeply sorry.

For some time now, we have been working to try to find a solution. So, we are moving forward with the play with the help of a broad group of students and residents who will work to find ways to make the play a learning experience for us all. They will also begin to shape conversations to help us become a stronger community.

As we have been researching the play, learning the history and talking about the ramifications of this theatrical piece, it was discovered (yesterday) that we are not permitted to advertise or perform the play "Ten Little Indians". In fact, the rights to the show that bears that title are no longer available in our country. This information came from the publisher Samuel French. A school may purchase the rights to the play titled "And Then There Were None" the version of the original that has been modified in title and text to remove references that may be racially offensive. In fact, the Christie family has approved this version of the original work and has worked to make "Ten Little Indians" obsolete.

As a result, Lakota East will be staging "And Then There Were None" on December 13th and 14th in the Liberty Theater. We will also be assembling a team of students, parents and community members to review the new version of the play to make recommendations on how we turn this into a teachable moment for our school and community. One of the things I have learned through all of this is that we have a long way to go around race relations and building trust in our community.

Please understand that our intent has always been to be sensitive to our students, neighbors, and colleagues. Again, I apologize for the confusion and media sensationalism around this topic and hope that our school will not have reason to experience such an event again.

Dr. Keith Kline – Principal

Lakota East High School

Press release from the district:

This morning Superintendent Mike Taylor announced that the show will go on. Citing discussions in recent days that he said moved the issue away from students and diversity to claims of censorship, he said the Lakota East theater department will perform the play on December 13 and 14, with additional materials, conversations, or other activities to honor diversity in the community.

In a new wrinkle, the school district also learned that the school was actually using an out-of-print, older version of the play. While this did not affect the decision to hold the play, it does change the title to the correct "And Then There Were None."

Taylor said that a group of students and community members would work together to determine what would be added before or after the performance to honor diversity.

A statement from Superintendent Mike Taylor:

Two weeks ago, we learned there was history around a previous title to the play "Ten Little Indians."

Learning this history caused a negative impact on some members of our community, our staff, and our students. The original decision to cancel the play was made out of respect for these valuable members of our schools and community. We believed that performing the play could damage these important relationships.

We had hoped that this choice would become a springboard for a broader discussion of inclusion and tolerance. Unfortunately the community dialogue in recent days has become focused more on distracting issues like censorship and the NAACP's role in our community. This has taken away from the direction we hoped for and our students have been caught in the middle.

Decisions that involve the emotions of people are challenging. Right now, we need to refocus on our students and return to our original goal. We need to move forward. I believe the best way forward is to allow the performance of the play to occur while using it as a learning vehicle.

We have asked for our community's help to stage this play and, at the same time, provide that vehicle for discussion about what we as a community believe. We can make this a learning experience together.

In this process, we learned that our drama department inadvertently had the wrong version of the play. Since 2004, the Agatha Christie family has released the play for performance only under the title, "And Then There Were None."

The play will be performed under the corrected title, "And Then There Were None."

We apologize to the students and families who have been affected by events of recent weeks.

We've learned a great deal already—proof that everyone can and should continue to learn and grow.

We appreciate Gary Hines, the leader of our local NAACP bringing this to our attention.

We hope that all community members will support our drama students and come to learn more about themselves and their neighbors by attending the play performance.

We hope that you will understand our good intentions, and that we continue to believe strongly that as a community, we can still learn much about and celebrate our diversity.

The Lakota East students will perform "And Then There Were None" on December 13 and 14 at Lakota East High School."