Specter of Racism Shadows Highly Touted Poway Schools : * Education: Minority hiring record, coupled with incidents involving teachers and students, trigger criticism of district.

A seemingly routine hiring decision at a Rancho Bernardo middle school has thrown an entire school district into a quandary over race.

The Poway Unified School District, recipient of national acclaim and the repeated winner of state excellence awards, has been stung by criticism from within, including charges of discrimination and insensitivity toward students, parents and teachers of color.

A group of reformists in the high-powered, 24-school district is insisting that the superintendent fill a vacated assistant principal position with a member of a minority. Supt. Robert Reeves says qualified minority candidates are welcome, albeit hard to come by.

That response has been viewed by reformists as patent denial by an administration that, after 17 years under Reeves, has balked at bringing the district to racial parity, said school board member Ed Carboneau.

“Poway’s way has been long due for a change,” said Carboneau, a supporter of reform.

The emotional level of the debate was stepped up earlier this month, after an inflammatory note was passed among teachers at Bernardo Heights Middle School. The scribbled missive was meant simply to be a gag, explained the authors, a group of white teachers who share the lunch hour together.

They poked fun at affirmative action goals by creating a composite candidate for an assistant principal position at Bernardo Heights. The letter suggested the position be filled by a “One arm (sic) , black woman, naturalized American citizen, who speaks Filipino and can sign with one hand.”

However, the joke, which some teachers found humorous, proved offensive to others. Contrary to design, the letter touched off staff arguments; parent meetings with the principal; school board hearings and a district investigation.

“It was unacceptable and in poor taste,” Poway Assistant Supt. Tom Robinson said. “The concerns about racial matters that were already out there were more sharply illustrated by this insensitive behavior. It dramatically illustrates the fact that our people are not aware enough of the concerns of others.”

Robinson and several district officials later emphasized that a small group of teachers acting on their own accord were responsible for the letter.

“The district and the board have made it very clear, we don’t condone racism in any form,” said Ned Kohler, president of the five-member Poway school board. “The content of that note was absolute trash.”

Reaction to the letter and its underlying sentiment has spurred the most concerted effort to date to bring Poway Unified into the racial reality of the times, reformists say. Twenty-one percent of the students in the district are nonwhite, while 97% of all teachers and certificated administrators are white, district records state.

Both sides agree that disparity between students of color and their classroom role models exists throughout the state. Critics contend, however, that the Poway district’s indifference to minority recruitment is exceptional.

Reformists claim that the district’s sterling reputation among educators has preempted efforts to change with the demography. Administrators point to the kudos heaped annually upon Poway Unified and imply that minority hiring pressure may tamper with success.

“We all agree on one thing,” said Assistant Supt. Robinson. “We want the best for the children--teachers who are knowledgeable, can convey material to the students, someone who is sensitive to their needs. A candidate’s ethnic background is not the only basis for hiring. . . . As demographics change, we have tried to keep up without sacrificing quality. Parents as well as administrators have been frustrated that we are not able to secure multicultural candidates.”

But, as the population of the Poway district changes, the skills teachers need to do their job also change, said Philip Dulin, a Filipino parent who has four children in district schools.

“Of course, as parents we demand competent teachers,” Dulin said. “But we also want to see role models for our children. We want people in authority, who our children can emulate, who let them know they can compete and that they are as good as anyone else. This kind of message doesn’t come through when the only school employees of your own race hold non-teaching positions. Our kids see many more minority janitors or food service workers, than teachers.”

Administrators have often cited the dearth of highly qualified minority teachers as the cause of the district’s low numbers, said Louise Dunbar, a former principal at Black Mountain Middle School.

“I am tired of the district’s slant on qualifications,” said Dunbar, who is black and was Poway’s highest-ranking administrator of color before quitting in 1990. She went on to become a professor at United States International University, where she coordinates training programs for minority teachers and administrators.

“When it comes to people of color, it’s the first thing that comes up--it’s always a matter of not having qualifications,” Dunbar said. “Then you hear about how the district can’t find any people of color with qualifications. Now, from what I’ve witnessed, all you need to do is keep repeating that long enough and it becomes true.”

During her tenure in the district, which started as dean of students at Meadowbrook Middle School in 1978 and ended shortly after she was reassigned to an elementary school from Black Mountain Middle School, Dunbar started programs to develop students’ awareness of different cultures, and she recruited a nonwhite faculty to round out her staff at Black Mountain.

When she arrived at Black Mountain in 1985, the administrative staff was all white, and there were two Filipina teachers, Dunbar said. By 1990, the credentialed minority faculty members had increased to eight.

“I got into my car and went out and looked for qualified people of color,” Dunbar said. “Teachers accused me of being racist, because I only hired people of color. But they were what was needed.”

That Dunbar’s preference could be perceived as racism is symptomatic of the racial myopia of whites in the district, said Dulin, who is a member of a Filipino parent support group.

“We totally agree race should not be a factor in deciding who works in our schools,” Dulin said. “So how come almost every teacher who gets hired is white?”

Poway Unified School District, with 26,157 students, is the third largest of 43 public school districts in the county, said Doug Langdon, spokesman for the San Diego County Office of Education. Poway’s 16 elementary schools, four middle and four high schools have accounted for more than two dozen national and state education awards since 1985, according to Poway officials.

The district is centered around the wealthiest of the county’s 18 cities. In Poway the median family income was $53,286 in January 1990, said Eunice Panjuaquio, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Assn. of Governments. In the city of San Diego, median income in 1990 was $32,493, Panjuaquio said.

The strength of the district’s academic reputation has lured families of all ethnicity to the area. Despite the relatively high cost of homes, they come, said Young Sook Kim, a Rancho Bernardo resident whose sons went through the school system from kindergarten through the 12th grade.

“The schools are worth it,” Kim said.

At its most diverse, the district has schools where students speak 20 languages. Since 1989, the number of nonwhite students increased districtwide by 1,045, nearly 40% of the 2,755 new students, records show. During the same three-year period, 199 of the 212 incoming teachers were white, according to district records.

“Those are quite some horrible figures, aren’t they?” said board member Carboneau, who last August requested the district’s figures on minority recruitment. He reiterated the request in September and was told by the superintendent’s office that compiling the information would take time. Not until parent support groups were granted a similar request did Carboneau receive the information--almost nine months later.

“The reason we don’t have minority teachers is because we just don’t hire them. It’s our own fault,” Carboneau concluded. “Other districts have workable affirmative action programs, Poway just doesn’t have the commitment.”

Six district recruiters recently attended a convention for bilingual educators in the San Francisco Bay Area, where they met 12 strong minority teacher candidates, said Bill Chiment, director of human resources development at Poway Unified. Interviews are being scheduled, Chiment said.

The district regularly seeks minority candidates from training programs at eight colleges, including University of San Diego, UC San Diego and Cal State San Marcos, Chiment said. The number of minority recruits varies each year, he added.

The district also sponsors workshops in which recruiters discuss their own cultural biases. The training is designed to alert them to areas of misunderstanding that may hamper communication with a minority interviewee, Chiment said.

Still, the numbers are low.

“Given our best efforts at recruitment, we are not going to get results that meet everybody’s hopes,” Assistant Supt. Robinson said. “It’s not bias. It’s reality. The minority candidates simply aren’t there.”

Investment in recruiting programs has had moderate payoffs for the largest school district in the county, said Sharon Whitehurst, San Diego Unified School District’s affirmative action administrator. More than 123,600 students are enrolled in the district.

Whitehurst said minority teacher interns and administrator trainees sponsored by universities have gone on to become district faculty members. But the racial disparity gap is still wide, Whitehurst said.

Sixty-five percent of San Diego Unified’s students are nonwhite, while 34% of its teachers and certificated staff members are nonwhite. Twenty-three percent of the 6,550 actual teachers are nonwhite, she said.

What has attracted more people of color to work for city schools is the support network developed by teachers and parents of ethnic groups, Whitehurst said.

“The perception in state and city schools is that, if you are a teacher of color and you go to an outlying district, you are going to be out there by yourself,” Whitehurst said. “This may sound snobbish, but teachers of color come to city schools because they know they can get support. I’ve seen many examples of teachers leaving outlying districts for the city because they are tired of facing a school full of people looking to chop them down.

“I have probably heard more complaints about Poway in this regard than other districts.” Whitehurst said the growing pain Poway is experiencing is indicative of population changes across the state. The difference may be that, in Poway, parents and some teachers are just now speaking out.

“Probably other districts have as many problems, but no one is calling attention to them,” Whitehurst said. “Most districts don’t have anyone picking up the banner and carrying the message.”

After reports of racial incidents, African-American and Filipino parent groups formed this year with the encouragement of the district. In the past, the groups met informally, particularly after reports of gang activity at Mt. Carmel High School two years ago, said Assistant Supt. Romeo Camozzi.

Two other groups, Latino and Asian, are being organized with the help of the district, Camozzi said. The district also recently established a human relations committee, made up of staff members and parents, to address racial issues, he said.

Parent groups have discussed recent and longstanding issues. Some were brought to the attention of district trustees at a meeting earlier this month.

Over the past year, Simerjot K. Jassal, 17, and her parents met with district officials and provided them with pages of documentation--transcripts, letters to and from Supt. Reeves, and district memos--to back their contention that Simerjot was unfairly deprived of valedictorian honors at Mt. Carmel High in 1991.

Last June, Simerjot, whose parents are from India, had been told that her 4.391 grade point average was highest in her class, only to find out two hours before her graduation ceremony that valedictory honors went to another student, according to letters presented to the district.

Simerjot argued that her grade point average suffered because she was forced to repeat a course taken in another district. Marks from the two classes were used in her GPA. She received A’s in both. But, ironically, an A in a regular credit class lowered Simerjot’s average. The grading scale at Mt. Carmel factors in marks from Advanced Placement courses, which allows for GPAs beyond 4.0.

Administrators explained, by letter, the method used to calculate Simerjot’s No. 2 rank. In other letters, the district offered to name the girl co-valedictorian if she would accept her ranking as second in the class.

Puzzled by the district’s handling of the matter, Simerjot’s parents consulted two friends, a teacher in another district and a university professor. After reviewing the material, and listening to the Jassals’ account of their exchanges with the district, both friends concluded that Simerjot was facing discrimination.

On April 6, Simerjot’s mother, Balbir K. Jassal, asked board members whether their daughter’s sex and ethnicity kept her from gaining the top honor.

Jassal said the board refused to hear her query.

Board President Kohler said he does not remember clearly if the issue of race came up.

“She kept interrupting people while they were talking,” Kohler said. “She could have said that, and I just don’t recall it. Possibly because it is so ludicrous.

“Unequivocally, ranking and GPA has nothing to do, absolutely nothing, to do with racial bias. There has been nothing that has even hinted racial prejudice. . . . I think what they are looking for is her to be ranked No. 1, for the district to make a public apology, and for her picture to appear in all the news publications. Well, that’s not the way it works.”

Simerjot, now a freshman on full-scholarship at Stanford, continues to write to Supt. Reeves, assailing a lack of policy governing class rank.

Simerjot’s mother said the experience has left her family embittered. Simerjot’s record is still ambiguous, and they say the pained communication with the district has left them stigmatized in the community.

Like other parents interviewed in the district last week, Jassal now speaks about race with some trepidation.

“We have always tried to handle this matter the right way; we did not want to assume discrimination,” Jassal said. “I have another daughter at the same school. I must worry about her, too. (Navroop, 16, is in the 11th grade at Mt. Carmel.) She tells me, ‘Mother, you are making things very hard for me.’ ”

Simerjot’s father, Raghbir S. Jassal, director of libraries at USIU, remains outspoken: “At least we have stirred things up. If the district doesn’t already know it, they should understand that minorities live here in California, we pay taxes, and we need to be treated equally. We are still very concerned, and it seems as if they have decided to just stop listening.”

There have been other incidents: at Bernardo Heights Middle School, an immigrant girl with a heavy Japanese accent was pushed into a closet by students and told she wouldn’t be released until she could speak English. The incident happened in October but did not come to the attention of the school until March when the mother of the eighth-grade girl spoke to a counselor.

Bernardo Heights Principal Richard Helbling is looking into the matter, said Assistant Supt. Camozzi.

“I know he has plans to follow up with the staff,” Camozzi said. “Unless kids are called on that kind of behavior, it persists. I know he will follow up thoroughly.”

In February during African-American History Month, a vituperative critique of Malcolm X’s accomplishments was written and distributed by a teacher at Bernardo Heights.

Angry students and parents denounced the attack on Malcolm X, and eventually the teacher apologized, Camozzi said.

“He said he regretted he had done that without authorization, and said he felt it was not in good taste,” Camozzi said.

Principal Helbling spoke with the staff and parents, Camozzi said. “We’re still discussing what would be appropriate follow-up,” Camozzi said.

And then, the letter mocking affirmative action.

“We have some ideas on who to hire for new A.P. This will make everyone happy,” begins the letter, which was addressed to Principal Helbling.

“One arm ( sic ), black woman, naturalized American citizen, who speaks Filipino, and can sign with one hand.

“The person should have attended both RSP (special education classes) and GATE (gifted) classes while in school, and should be a veteran of WWII, Korea, Viet Nam and Desert Storm. This person should have ties to the Gay community and Jerry Faldwell’s (sic) silent majority. This person must ride a bike so she will not take up a parking space and is a 7-foot-tall volleyball player.

“Please fill this immediately for all to be happy.”

And many were further offended by a follow-up to the first letter: “A joke gone sour proves how far we have come from being able to laugh at ourselves. . . . No harm was meant toward anyone, nor any particular ‘group of people.’ Had we known our conversation would have added stress to our principal’s life, it never would have been said.

“It is so sad to realize that humor to lighten an unbelievable burden would be taken so seriously by a group of adults.”

Madonna Ostrey, a white who teaches English as a second language at Bernardo Heights Middle School, said: “Good American humor--that’s their whole attitude. They still don’t get it.”

Assistant Supt. Robinson said the district has been interviewing the teachers responsible for the letters.

“I think the embarrassment that has been created for the district and the school (has been) pretty punitive on the individuals,” Robinson said. “I know undoubtedly, they would like to recall their behavior. We’ll be studying it. It’s not a closed issue.”

A decision on disciplinary measures will be made after school resumes this week, Camozzi said.

County Supt. of Education Harry Weinberg, who was recognized by state educators this year for promoting programs that train minority educators to go into administration, said he hopes the district comes out stronger after having gone through the debate on race.

“Poway, whenever faced with a problem like this, has risen to the occasion,” Weinberg said. “I have every confidence they will address this forthright. . . . I think the first step is to get over the denial.”

Poway’s Specter of Racism

School year ‘90--’91 Students

American Indian: 0.12%

African-American: 2.25%

Asian: 6.42%

Latino: 4.62%

Filipino: 6.73%

White: 80%

Teachers

American Indian: 0.08%

African-American: 0.64

Asian: 0.72%

Latino: 0.56%

Filipino: 0.80%

White: 97%