Plan Devised to Ease Racial Tensions at 2 South Bay Schools

A group of 27 community leaders, law enforcement officials and educators emerged from a hastily called, four-hour meeting Friday with a plan to ease racial tensions at two South Bay high schools.

The 10-point plan, which includes provisions for community-wide race relations training and for an ombudsman to handle complaints, came at the end of a school week that began with two days of noisy student demonstrations.

The protests exposed long-simmering hostilities and racial disharmony in the 6,000-student Centinela Valley Union High School District that teachers, students, parents and administrators say have haunted the district for years.

On Monday, students marched out of Leuzinger High School in Lawndale and went to nearby Hawthorne High. At one point about 2,000 students joined the demonstration, which alleged that racism was behind the resignation of a popular black principal. Student grievances quickly grew to include other racially charged incidents in the past two years. Demonstrations were smaller Tuesday, and by Wednesday ended after a brief sit-in at Leuzinger.

Referring to the 40 alleged incidents of racial harassment involving administrators, teachers and students in the last two years, state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) said after the meeting, “The school district people have been aware of the problems since ’87 but had not taken action to address them.”

Others at the session included Lawndale Mayor Sarann Kruse, Hawthorne Mayor Betty J. Ainsworth--who said she turned to Watson for help Thursday--and Hawthorne Principal Ken Crowe, whose resignation in the face of a board-ordered reassignment sparked the demonstrations.

Watson, who organized Friday’s meeting, added: “I don’t think it was resistance, I think it was naivete, holding onto what was (once a predominantly white district). People wanted to protect the status quo . . . and it was going to erupt if nothing was done.”

The district has a minority enrollment of about 80%, a predominantly Latino school board and a mostly white faculty.

Participants, interviewed after the session ended about noon, said they believed the meeting produced some positive results.

“We talked about a healing process that is going to have to take place among all elements of the community and the district, and, of course, we see this as the first step in the healing process,” said Capt. Walter Lanier of the Lennox sheriff’s station, which patrols Lawndale.

“There were lots of things aired today. Everybody got their grievances out,” said Sherry McHenry, a field deputy for Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson) who was a Leuzinger student. “We had heard there were problems, but I had no idea things were that bad. Now we’ve pinpointed 10 solutions that hopefully will make things better.”

Some of the steps called for in the plan are:

* Investigations and assessments of tensions in the district by local law enforcement agencies, the state Education Department and the federal Office of Civil Rights.

* A letter to the public, to be sent home with students, laying out the problems and outlining what steps are being taken to solve them.

* Ongoing meetings between students and board members, as well as a procedure for staff and parents to meet with school board members.

* Development of school and community training programs aimed at heightening understanding among various ethnic groups.

* Appointment of an ombudsman to address incidents as soon as they arise.

* Creation of an intergroup relations council for the district.

* Immediate removal of any racially offensive graffiti, literature or paraphernalia.

* Better dissemination of facts about demonstrations or other incidents.

The status of Principal Crowe, who said during the demonstrations that he wanted to rescind his resignation, will be thoroughly reviewed before a decision is made, the group agreed.

Watson said the group’s review of the week’s demonstrations indicated many students joined in without understanding what had motivated the protest.

“We only identified a handful (of demonstrators) who knew what it was about. The rest took advantage of the opportunity to join the crowd,” said Watson, adding that threats of violence by gang members and other problems underscored the need to address racial tensions before they lead to more dangerous situations.

The protests, which included some fighting and reports of vandalism, led to the suspension of four students.

Others at the meeting included a team from the state Department of Education’s Intergroup Relations Office, Rep. Mervyn Dymally (D-Los Angeles), Hawthorne Police Chief Steve Port, school board members and district teachers and administrators.

Times education writer Sandy Banks contributed to this story.