Race/Discipline Task Force Makes Report

Covers work to date, work to be done

Hannah Heineman
Mirror staff writer

   The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) Race and Discipline Task Force delivered a status report to the Board of Education last Thursday that outlined tasks accomplished and tasks still to be done.
   The District formed the 25-member group in July to investigate allegations made by Mothers for Justice, an organization of Latino and African American parents, that District officials routinely discipline Latino and African-American youths more harshly than Anglo students.
   Comprised of District and police officials, teachers, parents, clergy and community representatives, the Task Force has also investigated “institutionalized racism” in the District, lower educational expectations and outcomes for students of color and the “criminalizing” of youth of color.
   Assistant Superintendent of Education Peggy Harris stated that the primary goals of the Task Force are to “ensure equity in disciplinary procedures” and to “close the achievement gap” so that all students can reach academic excellence.
   Laurel Schmidt, assistant superintendent of student services, reported that the Task Force has reviewed District’s disciplinary policies; suggested changes in disciplinary protocols and procedures, and developed a new Police On Campus Reporting Form, which the Board has approved, and a uniform procedure that all school administrators will follow in order to safeguard students’ rights when they are questioned by police as either a suspect or a witness.
   The District Staff is being given instruction in cross-cultural communication, issues of adolescents of color, biases, and contemporary street culture through training from the National Conference for Community and Justice, the Anti-Defamation League and the Los Angeles County Office of Education.
   A Pupil Services Handbook has been developed for District staff, and includes sections on discipline policies and confidentiality of student records.
   A draft of a second handbook, “Parent Guide to Student Success and Discipline,” includes data on how students learn and how parents can help with their children’s education.
   The Task Force will continue to work on closing the District’s achievement gap and meeting the goals set by the District’s Strategic Plan action group on Equity and Equality of Education.
   Task Force co-chair Oscar de la Torre outlined the goals: developing a survey of recent District high school graduates, creating a master plan for equity and equality of District education that will highlight initiatives geared toward closing the achievement gap, and holding an annual community summit on equity and equality in education, which would include an annual report from the District Superintendent “on the state of affairs of students of color.”
   The Board responded positively to the Task Force’s report. Board member Pam Brady stated how grateful she was, “to be a mom and grandmother in a community that is willing to take on a collaborative relationship over a hard issue and be totally focused on solutions.”
   Board member Brenda Gottfried complimented the group for “addressing the unmentionables.”
   According to Superintendent John Deasy, the Task Force will deliver another report in six months and the Board will receive quarterly information on police interactions at school sites. He also said that he plans to talk to the police about fingerprinting all students and including the fingerprints in their records, along with such data as immunizations.
   In other business, the Board discussed a $25,000 grant to the District from the State of California’s Model School Nutrition and Physical Education Policy Grant Program to partially underwrite a nutrition and physical activity pilot program at John Muir Elementary, Webster Elementary and Lincoln Middle School this year.