Charges of racial imbalance prompt action
After years of mounting criticism of racial imbalance at its elementary schools, the Healdsburg Unified School District came under fire this summer, as parents, fed up with what they said was a slow response from the district, went public with their concerns.
“From the day I began looking into registering my first child in school, I have experienced and witnessed some questionable actions, specifically within our elementary school, which I cannot understand and hope to see changed,” parent Laura Flores said, at a school board meeting in June.
HUSD Superintendent Chris Vanden Heuvel admitted at the time that there was a perceived difference between Healdsburg Elementary School, where the enrollment is mostly Latino, and the Healdsburg Charter School, where the enrollment is mostly white.
“The charter has become perceived — and kids are using this term — as the ‘American school’,” said Vanden Heuvel at the time.
This month, the district previewed the actions it intends to take to address the imbalance. Vanden Heuvel told the school board last week that he intends to move forward with his promise to create an “equity task force” made up of parents, educators and community members, who will meet to develop a plan to address real and perceived imbalances.
Meanwhile, as Vanden Heuvel researched how to address equity in schools, he came across the National Equity Project (NEP), headquartered in Oakland, that works on issues of this type.
“When I talked to them, I went through my plan of what I wanted to do and they told me to stop,” Vanden Heuvel told the school board last week. “They proposed a different process.”
After talking with the NEP experts, Vanden Heuvel became convinced that its “listening session” program would yield greater results if combined with his task force idea. “They told me that we need to listen and let the issues emerge,” Vanden Heuvel said.
The school board approved a $40,000 contract with NEP last week to assist the district with its equity efforts.
Flores, who spoke in June, was also at last week’s meeting. She told the school board that the “Equity Initiative Healdsburg,” a group of concerned parents, has formed to work on the equity issue as well (see commentary, page 5).
The equity task force steering committee will be made up of: Dennis Agnos (parent/Healdsburg Education Foundation president); Joana Angel Rincon (HHS student); Dr. Carlos Ayala (Dean of Education, Sonoma State University); Lynne Brett (community member/PSST mentor/licensed school psychologist); Tony Crabb (community member/CTE Foundation of Sonoma County founder); Alejandro Dominguez (HHS student); Andy Esquivel (community member/HCS governance council member); Laura Flores (parent/HES governance council member); Lili Fonseca (HJH teacher); Eva Hernandez (HHS student); Norma Hernández (parent/HES governance council member); Elena Halvorsen (HCS/HES parent); Annette Kluse (parent/former HCS governance council member); Adelyn Lyon (HCS fourth grade teacher); Erika McGuire (FMC principal); Lizbeth Pérez (parent/DELAC president); and Ari Rosen (community member/Corazón Healdsburg).
The task force will have its first meeting in early September and will report to the school board on Sept. 19.
