San Mateo Union High School District adopts new racial equity policy

Amid both strong support and sharp criticism from students, parents and faculty, San Mateo Union High School District officials backed a racial equity policy aimed at creating and maintaining an inclusive culture for students of color.

“The policy is probably not perfect. Like so many things we do, we work hard at it, we try to get close,” Trustee Robert Griffin said. “I think it’s a significant step in the right direction and I don’t want to stop it, start monkeying with it, send it back and never get total agreement.”

During a meeting last week, the board gave final unanimous approval for its racial equity policy and administrative regulations that place a greater emphasis on reducing disparities between students of color and their white counterparts.

Eight key measures, outlined in the policy, largely call on the district to use an equity lens when considering the effects of past and future policies and to invest in mental and educational supports for Black, Indigenous and other students of color and their families.

The policy also calls for the district to prioritize the adapting of anti-racism education curriculum for the district community but does not call for additional curriculum changes, Dr. Julia Kempkey, superintendent of curriculum and instruction, noted.

“It does commit us to creating a more equitable system. It does not speak to us changing any of our content standards, our instructional frameworks. Our teachers as we know are utmost professionals and all of that I’m not at all worried about,” Kempkey said. “The policy is around us aligning our equity mission and vision to the work we want to do as a district.”

The policy, drafted in collaboration between students, faculty and parents under the guidance of the district’s Equity Advisory Committee, has been met with pushback both online and during Thursday’s meeting with some public commenters arguing the policy would teach children to think of themselves and others first by the color of their skin rather than their character.

Board Vice President Linda Lees Dwyer said she also had concerns about the policy’s focus on skin color and the nuances of who would feel left out of the Black, Indigenous, person of color category. But she ultimately voted to approve the policy she called “a very solid beginning,” with hopes the language in the document would soon become dated.

Speaking on her own high school experience, Trustee Ligia Andrade Zúñiga stressed the importance of representation, been the only student of color in her advacement placement English classes which often taught about literature and experiences based largely on white people.

“Students need to see themselves in us. They need to see themselves in their leaders in their communities and their leaders in our world and the stories that we can bring to them,” Andrade Zúñiga said.

Echoing Andrade Zúñiga, Griffin noted the district is interested in matching staff demographics to those of students, a move the county’s civil grand jury called for in its report titled “Building a Racially & Ethnically Diverse Teaching Workforce: A Challenge for Our Schools.”

According to data for the 2018-19 school year from the county Office of Education, more than 73% of teachers at SMUHSD identify as white while only about 25% of students do as well. A similar trend can be seen across public schools in the county, according to the report.

Griffin also pushed back on unspecified online criticisms of the policy which he said lacked context, noting turnout to the multiple discussions held on the issue has been low up until a decision was nearing despite district efforts to draw attention to the matter.

“What we’re doing is part of a much broader conversion and a much bigger project,” Griffin said.

During public comment on the issue, Natalie Delahunt, a member of the Equity Advisory Committee, and other members of the EAC argued that by uplifting students historically known to receive the least amount of resources, all students would benefit.

Rather than take criticism personally, Delahunt said she has chosen to look at it as a sign that the district is making the necessary changes to create a more equitable environment for all students.

“The fact that that is happening is letting me know that we have done the right thing with this policy, that we have done exactly what we actually set out to do so we’re on the right track,” Delahunt said.

“This policy is going to make all of our students feel seen, heard, validated which is why this policy is so important and is so necessary for everyone.”

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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