Few Black Parents on Anti-Bias Committee

On September 12, Santa Barbara Unified School District announced the names of the oversight committee for addressing anti-bias and anti-blackness. The process of creating this committee lacked transparency. The community was told after the fact what process was used and that a rubric was created for the selection committee. No information was given on the selection committee members or the process.

Our concern continues to be the lack of openness. This committee, which is not official, should have included twice as many parents of Black students. It should have included more members of the previous anti-blackness working group. The committee also includes district employees whose livelihood is connected to the district – we question how forthcoming they can be. The actual committee make-up is more non-Black parents and staff than Black/African-American parents.

We do not doubt the sincerity of those willing to serve, but you cannot create anti-Blackness on the way to addressing anti-Blackness. After nearly two years, this pattern from SBUSD makes it difficult to believe we will see any progress.

Our call for change has remained the same, including protocols and training for teachers and staff to deal with racial incidents. We continue to call for a district-wide position to respond to the needs of the parents of Black students and the students. We continue to call for clear consequences and options for restorative practices for racist behavior and incidents.