Dear San Marino Unified Students, Families, Staff, and Community,
As the Superintendent of the San Marino Unified School District, I believe I speak for the District when I strongly condemn the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Derek Chauvin and other Minneapolis police officers on May 25, 2020, as well as the many other Black persons killed during our country's history. I do not condone but condemn the actions of any current and former San Marino Unified students who attack and demean other human beings, especially those from underrepresented and marginalized ethnic, cultural, religious, gender and LGBTQIA+ groups.
On Tuesday, June 2, 2020, I sent an email to community members who subscribe to SMUSD communications, including parents, employees, and students, about the protests and discussions that were unfolding around racism, stereotypes, injustice and inequality. I called on the San Marino community to stand in support of all students and each other and to take action to affirm our intolerance for discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, gender identity and national origin. My full message can be found at
www.smusd.us
in both English and Chinese.
I also encouraged the San Marino community to guide our students to appropriate ways to vocalize their intolerance for racist behavior and inequitable treatment of others. On Wednesday, June 3, 2020, the Board of Education and I started receiving emails from alumni, students, and community members condemning racism. They acknowledged their own privilege and demanded that the District address issues of justice, equity and privilege in its curriculum through the incorporation of diversity education, discussion related to social issues, and implicit bias education.
As of Monday, June 8, 2020, Board President C. Joseph Chang and I have responded to over 90 emails received to date, thanking the authors for speaking out and acknowledging that there is much more work that can be done by us all to address racism and implicit bias. In our email response, we provided links to current proposed legislation that will help address these issues in K-12 schools, stating that while the District "pulls together an articulated `action plan,' we encourage you to take action where it is most effective - at the legislative level."
Unfortunately, the District has also received disturbing allegations that several current and former SMUSD students may have engaged in inappropriate and possibly illegal behavior on their social media, ranging from racist, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic posts and memes to threats of violence. The District has informed the San Marino Police Department, which is currently investigating the alleged acts.
We clearly must do more to educate our students about the adverse effects of racism, discrimination and threats to justice. Our current and former SMUSD students are demanding that future students be educated about systemic racism, privilege and implicit bias so that they will not "perpetuate harm towards marginalized and oppressed groups," and I couldn't agree more.
The San Marino Unified School District Board of Education's policy demands that "all programs and activities shall be free from discrimination, including harassment, with respect to the actual or perceived ethnic group, religion, gender, color, race, ancestry, national origin, and physical or mental disability, age, socioeconomic status, or sexual orientation." (
BP 5145.3
). We have a great deal of hard work ahead of us to live-up to this ideal.
Although there is not yet a state-approved curriculum to address all of these issues, at our June 9, 2020, School Board meeting, I will suggest that the Board schedule a special meeting to address how the District will move forward to incorporate education on social issues, diversity and implicit bias. Together, we can listen and learn, use our collective efforts to denounce hate, and work to eliminate injustice.
We congratulate and thank the citizens and friends of San Marino who came out to peacefully protest the unjust killing of George Floyd and many others at the hands of rogue police officers on Saturday, June 6, 2020. We especially thank the current San Marino High School students who organized the well attended and peaceful march down Huntington Drive and our own San Marino Police and Fire Departments, who supported the march so that it would remain peaceful and safe for the participants, bystanders and commuters.
