Principal Says He’ll Ask Resignation Be Rescinded

Unrest continued Tuesday at two South Bay high schools as students staged a second day of protests against alleged racism and the resignation of a popular black principal.

At Hawthorne High School, Principal Ken Crowe told about 40 students attempting to leave campus that he would ask the Centinela Valley Union High School District Board of Trustees to rescind his resignation. “I have no intention of going anywhere,” he said.

With the help of about 100 police officers, Hawthorne High officials managed to keep all but about 50 students from leaving campus, officials said.

At Leuzinger High School in nearby Lawndale, where a large protest began Monday, more than 500 students walked out of a special assembly on the issue Tuesday morning and took to the street, where they were met by about a dozen officers from several police agencies. School officials persuaded the students to go to the football field, where they stayed about an hour before dispersing for lunch.

Hawthorne police said five youths and two adults carrying bricks and bottles were arrested near the Hawthorne campus. One youth was arrested for trespassing on campus and an adult was arrested after allegedly brandishing a pistol near the school. Officials at Leuzinger said two students were detained for fighting.

Tuesday’s protests followed a demonstration Monday involving about 2,000 students from the two high schools, police said. That demonstration, which turned violent when students began fighting and vandalizing property, erupted after students from Leuzinger converged on the Hawthorne campus to protest Crowe’s resignation.

On Tuesday, board member Pam Sturgeon shrugged off Crowe’s announcement that he intended to remain at his post. “He can try to get rescinded all he wants,” she said without elaborating.

Board President Ruth Morales and Trustees Michael Escalante, Jacqueline Carrera and Amparo Font could not be reached.

Crowe announced last week that he would resign at the end of the school year. He later said he made his decision after the board informed him he would be reassigned to another, unnamed position. He has also accused the board of not supporting his bid to rid Hawthorne High of racial harassment.

Although board members have said they support Crowe’s efforts, many protesting students said they believe he is being forced out because of racism.

“Racism is happening all over the world,” said Miguel Cortez, a 16-year-old Leuzinger student. “What can we do? Mr. Crowe got fired for being black. We just have to take it.”

The district has been troubled by a spate of racial incidents over the last five months, ranging from anonymous notes and offensive cartoons targeting minority administrators to the confiscation at Hawthorne High of a mannequin depicting a dead black man.

District Supt. McKinley Nash has asserted that the incidents stem from resistance to reform in the fast-changing district, which has seen its share of nonwhite students soar from 45% only 10 years ago to 80% today.

Student representatives said they were angered Tuesday afternoon when Morales canceled a press conference organized by Nash to answer media questions about the demonstrations.

District spokesman Dan Finnegan said he had not been told why Morales canceled the conference. Nash could not be reached.

Malcolm Ratliff, a 17-year-old Leuzinger student who said he and three other students had been planning the demonstrations for several months, said Morales’ decision indicates that the board is unwilling to address the students’ concerns. Ratliff said he will urge students to continue demonstrating until their questions are answered.

“We’re not just fighting for the rights of black people,” he said. “We want everyone treated fairly. This time it’s blacks. Next time it could be others.”

Sturgeon later said the board would welcome talks with students. “We do want to hear what the kids have to say,” she said.

Times staff writer Hector Tobar contributed to this story.