'Not being heard': NKSD parents protest over response to racial discrimination claims
NORTH KITSAP — Nearly six months after some Latino parents and students shared their experience of facing racism and discrimination with North Kitsap High School administration, on Thursday over 150 people turned out to protest what they perceive as a lack of follow through by the North Kitsap School District.
Although the district this week confirmed that a third-party investigator was retained in late February after complaints were reported under the district's nondiscrimination policy, Thursday's organizers and participants said a series of racist incidents against Latino students have still not been addressed. They demanded the school district solve the issues and bring justice to "eliminate racial violence."
Comments to school board follow rally to district office
About 150 people marched from North Point Church to the North Kitsap School District office on Thursday and attended NKSD's school board meeting, where a few provided public comments regarding racial discrimination.
More: Latino parents, students say they face racism, discrimination at North Kitsap High
As protesters gathered at the parking lot of the church. Erica Mendez, a NKSD parent, distributed black and purple T-shirts bearing phrases like "No Room For Hate", "Racism has No Place Here" and "#NKSD Does Not Care."
Mendez made the T-shirts to support her community and get the message out, she said. Her daughter, Karla, 15, a sophomore at NKHS, joined the protest as one of the students that has experienced racism at school.
Riding a bus home from school on March 2, Karla said she was told by another students that "the only thing you build is a ladder to jump over the wall," and other students laughed after the comment. Karla reported what happened on the bus to a school staff member, she said. The school subsequently told her the issue has been taken care of, Karla said, but didn't disclose to her what punishment was given to the students due to student privacy.
Erica explained the timeline of Karla's report.
"She (Karla) submitted her statement on March 6. All I got was one email and one phone call on March 10, saying that they will take care of the situation. I did not hear back from them until March 25, because I emailed the superintendent and the principal," Erica Mendez said. "Throughout those 15 days, nobody called me. Nobody emailed me. And they're supposed to follow up with parents."
Erica and Karla Mendez were among more than 40 people who attended the November meeting at NKHS, where Latino families shared experiences of being discriminated against or bullied at school and on buses with NKHS Principal Megan Sawicki.
Angela Natalia Perez, one of the organizers of the protest, said that Latino families were scared to report the issues or feeling not being heard when they did so.
"They (parents) just don't speak up because nothing is done. And when they do speak up, nothing is done," Perez said.
Those who hesitated to share their experiences publicly were afraid of retaliation, said another organizer, Giovanna Larios. Some students were "iffy" and "scared" because they were afraid that their white peers would make fun of them. Some were worried that teachers may view them differently. Some had concerns about the risks of a mass shooting targeting Latino communities at the scene of the protest, Larios said.
Community members besides Latino parents, students and alumni were in the crowd as well. Some wore red T-shirts representing the North Kitsap Education Association.
Lauren Lesser, who identified herself as Jewish and white, pushed her three-year-old son Ari Bogren in his stroller from the church up to the district's office. Lesser said the majority of the Jewish community in Kitsap is concerned and wanted to stand with the BIPOC community in Kitsap County. She followed the news and social media posts to understand the issues Latino families were facing in North Kitsap.
As parents, Lesser and her husband Max Bogren wondered, "Why would we send our kid here with this happening?" The concern that their son could possibly face racial discrimination was a reason why they joined the march to show support, they said.
District's investigator hired after written complaints
In February, Danielle Castillejo, a parent whose children attend North Kitsap schools, filed a written complaint to the district and requested that the complaints be investigated under the district's Policy 3210 (Discrimination).
The complaint included dozens of incidents that documented Latino families' experiences either mentioned at the November meeting or offered subsequently, which included two categories: racism and harassment, and a lack of equal access to English-language learning, Castillejo said.
NKSD notified legal counsel about the complaints in late February and the district retained an independent third-party investigator, Greg Jackson.
Without naming who submitted the civil rights complaints, the school district confirmed that the district received written complaints from a single individual in February.
"The individual was informed in writing that due to the volume of their complaints, the investigation would take longer than 30 days. This investigation is ongoing and therefore we cannot provide additional information so as to protect the integrity of the investigation," the district said in an email responded to Kitsap Sun on Wednesday.
According to the district's Procedure 3210P, "The superintendent or designee will respond to the complainant with a written decision as expeditiously as possible, but in no event later than 30 calendar days following receipt of the written complaint, unless otherwise agreed to by the complainant or if exceptional circumstances related to the complaint require an extension of the time limit."
"In the event an extension is needed, the district will notify the complainant in writing of the reason for the extension and the anticipated response date at the time the district responds to the complainant, the district must send a copy of the response to the office of the superintendent of public instruction," the district's procedure said.
Castillejo told the Kitsap Sun she had a meeting with the third-party investigator on May 5. In the meeting, the investigator told her he hadn't received the complaints submitted to the district. Castillejo emailed the investigator asking to confirm which complaints he had received but hasn't heard back from him, Castillejo told Kitsap Sun on Thursday.
After not receiving an investigation result from the district, Castillejo filed a complaint with the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) last week.
OSPI confirmed that the office has received a complaint regarding North Kitsap School District’s response to numerous discrimination complaints, said Katy Payne, OSPI's Executive Director of Communications in an email response to the Kitsap Sun on Wednesday.
"At this stage, we are still receiving and reviewing information about the complaint, so we have not yet determined next steps," Payne said in the email.
More: Parents plan to continue discussing discrimination, lack of resources at North Kitsap schools
Current experiences are nothing new, say North Kitsap alumni
Angela Natalia Perez and Giovannia Larios, both NKHS alumni, shared experiences with discrimination due to their race as students.
Perez, 33, graduated from North Kitsap High School in 2008. Her parents are immigrants from Mexico. Perez attended Vinland Elementary and Poulsbo Middle School and spent most of her life in North Kitsap, she said.
In high school, a teacher told Perez not to speak Spanish because she would never get a job that would pay more than minimum wage. Perez and her father reported the incident to the school district. She received an apology, she said Thursday, but nothing changed.
As Perez began hearing from community members that incidents like what she experienced are still happening at North Kitsap schools, she joined in organizing the protest to put pressure on the district and hold the administration accountable, she said.
"It's not going to be the same now as in the past. They will be accountable and we're going to make a plan to make sure of that," Perez said.
Larios, 26, was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S. when she was in second grade. She attended schools in NKSD and graduated from North Kitsap High School in 2016, she said.
Larios recalled an experience in middle school, when she and about 11 other students of color had lunch together at a table in the school's cafeteria. They were told by the school principal that they should be split into five students per table because their gathering was making other kids scared.
Larios said she didn't realize that was racism until she grew up.
"These were examples that we're like, oh, she's so mean, I don't know why she hates us. But now growing up and really looking into this, we're like, that was racism. That was very much racial profiling us and treating us way different just because we were the brown students in that school," Larios said.
In high school, Larios said at a "white out" game, where spectators dressed in white clothing for a North Kitsap football game, both white students and Latino students wore bandanas at the game. Larios and several other Latino students were told by a school principal that they have to leave the game or take the bandanas off because the bandanas were gang-related, while white students were allowed to wear them and stay.
Examples of what change may look like
Larios now works in the Kent School District as support staff to help students with housing, food, basic needs, languages and life skills. She assists students with low incomes and non-native English speakers.
After seeing another school district in Washington State providing resources specifically for students with multicultural backgrounds and having staff speaking different languages to support non-native English speakers, she hopes that NKSD can provide similar programs, Larios said.
Larios heard of the series of complaints from the town hall event hosted at Vibe Coworks in Poulsbo in February and was involved to organize the protest after that, she said.
"We're ready for this. It's time for a change," Larios said.
Perez formerly worked for Kitsap Mental Health Services as an inclusive community care coordinator. In her previous position, she worked exclusively with Spanish-speaking students and often found herself advocating for Latino students to make sure they were getting the educational support that they needed, she said.
"I went into schools and advocated for them because they were not being heard, or they were being punished at a harsher rate, so it goes far beyond just the school system and impacts their mental health," Perez said.
More: Latino parent group presents steps toward safety, inclusion in schools
District asking students, parents to report incidents
In a statement the district continued to ask that any individuals who are the victim of any harassment, intimidation, or bullying, including racial discrimination, to report the incident to their principal, a trusted adult at school, or to a district administrator as quickly and with as much detail as possible, so that the district may investigate and provide support
"Ensuring a safe and welcoming learning environment for each and every student is our highest priority," the district said.
The district said the current investigation is separate from the family meeting held in November. At the meeting, some families and students shared personal stories dating back to 2015. Principal Sawicki listened to the families’ concerns and invited students and families to report any current, specific complaints/issues to her or any NKSD school principal so that those issues could be promptly investigated, the school district said.
"We are unaware of any complaints filed in the days and weeks after the meeting that were not addressed by a building principal. As we shared in November, we are grateful that our students and families feel safe in talking about their concerns with us; we realize that has not always been the case," the district said.
A form for filing any discrimination, harassment, bullying complaint is available on NKSD's website, the district said. The form is also available at any school office. If needed, school staff can work with families to help fill the form out.
Families and students who need help in their home language may contact the district's English Learner Coordinators or school office to set up interpreter or translation services. Translated copies of the form can be provided to families in the language needed, the district said.
A link to the school district's website regarding Harassment Intimidation and Bullying: https://www.nkschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=419589&pageId=553663
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Hundreds in Poulsbo protest at NKSD over racial discrimination concerns
