The new principal at Portland’s Jefferson High School was accused of discrimination by a parent who said she made inappropriate racial comments.

Cynthia Harris took over the principal’s job at Jefferson last June. She spoke at a meeting for the Oregon Assembly for Black Affairs last weekend, and that’s when the parents said the incident occurred.

Lynn Schore, a member of Jefferson’s Parent Teacher and Student Association, posted an open letter on the Web, outlining her complaint.

More: Read parent's letter outlining complaint

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She said Harris refused to answer a question she posed during the Oregon Assembly meeting because Schore is not African American and not a part of the Jefferson community.

Schore would not talk to KGW on camera, but this is what she said in her online letter, in reference to that particular question, “I asked you [Principal Harris] when the community would have a final answer to the issue of the open campus policy for Jefferson seniors. I noted the inequities faced by Jefferson and Roosevelt students in regard to the open campus policy (majority white high school campuses are already open for juniors and seniors). You stated that you would need to have "additional conversations with students" at Jefferson, and that you would answer the students' questions, but not mine.”

She went on to argue that Harris’ refusal to answer her question “on the basis of my race is discriminatory. Your statement that ‘black kids are different’ is also improper under Portland Public Schools’ non-discrimination policy.”

Principal Harris did agree to talk to KGW and said it was all a misunderstanding over the language she used during her speech and the Q&A session that followed.

“I'm not accustomed to people where I work being accusatory of language, and I'll be careful in Portland, for the rest of my stay here, of how I use language,” she said.

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Harris was named interim principal at Jefferson after Leon Dudley went on medical leave midway through his first year at the school. Then, he eventually resigned over the summer and Harris got the official title in late June.