900 sign petition for Richland schools to fight racism and remove police officers

More than 900 people have signed a petition calling on the Richland School District to stop using school resource officers from local police departments within its schools.

The online petition labeled as “Richland School District Alumni Statement” also calls for an overhaul of the code of conduct to put more emphasis on not tolerating racism and encouraging more diversity among staff and administration and in teaching materials.

The petition was posted Friday evening by a group of eight college students who graduated from Hanford and Richland high schools, mostly in the last three to six years, said Naveena Bontha, a 2017 Hanford High grad now studying at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

It has been signed by alumni, many of them graduates of the school in the last decade, plus current students, parents and other community members. It’s posted at bit.ly/RSDpetition.

The petition was started after the school district posted a statement Thursday following the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, saying it has been horrified about the senseless deaths of black Americans and that the district rejects all forms of racism.

Some alumni criticized it as too vague.

“We were shocked to find it lacked any concrete actionable items that the district would be taking to make the spaces more safe for black, indigenous and nonblack people of color,” Bontha said.

The group of recent graduates decided to step in with some suggestions based on their own experiences at Richland schools and from researching what other school districts are doing to be more inclusive, she said.

All love the school district and the years they spent there, but want it to be the best it can be, Bontha said.

They believe that the Black Lives Matter movement calls on everyone to do more than not be racist, she said. Everyone has a responsibility to be as inclusive as possible, she said.

“It is our responsibility as community members, and your responsibility as educators, to ensure that students are constantly being pushed to critically think about racist and anti-black systems present in our society today,” the petition said.

“These conversations are not comfortable, but the combination of institutional change and personal improvement has the ability to ensure that no student receives a subpar education because of the color of their skin,” it said.

The Richland School District has not received the petition yet, but is aware of it, said spokesman Ty Beaver.

The board has not had a chance to discuss it yet, so the district could not comment immediately, he said.

Here are the actions the petition is calling for in the upcoming school year:

▪ Remove police school resource officers from the district’s schools.

The district now partners with the Richland and West Richland school districts to have a West Richland officer assigned to the middle schools in West Richland and two Richland officers assigned to Hanford High and Richland High. The Richland officers also serve the middle schools in the city of Richland.

The petition cites the Justice Policy Institute statistics that black students are three times more likely to be disciplined or expelled compared to white students.

When law enforcement carries out punishment of the students, students often are pushed into the juvenile justice system for minor infractions, the petition said.

Money spent on school resources officers could be better spent on hiring more mental health workers and on mental health programs.

“Instead of waiting for a potential worst-case scenario to happen, we can fund and equip all educators to help students at the root of the problem,” the petition said.

▪ Offer classes and coursework that are not Euro-centric, particularly literature and history classes.

“Students must engage with course materials that encourage discussion about racism, privilege and their own lived-experiences in these topics,” the petition said.

▪ Hire diverse administration and teaching staff.

Many of the group that started the petition had only one teacher of color during 13 years of schooling in the district.

Nearly a third of students in the district are people of color, but 92% of teachers are white, the petition said.

Teachers of color can better understand the situations their students of color face and can help close the achievement gap with improved test scores, improved graduation rates and more students with a goal of attending college.

▪ Require annual staff and administration diversity training.

Training would help district employees understand how actions can alienate students and how to identify and handle racially charged harassment students often face from other students, the petition said.

▪ Create an online form for students to report incidents anonymously.

Students need to be able to report incidents of aggression, profiling and misconduct by students and staff without fear of retaliation or intimidation, the petition said.

The incidents should then be addressed respectfully and without the students being told they are being overly sensitive.

▪ Overhaul the code of conduct.

The code needs more emphasis on not tolerating racism and strict enforcement among staff and students, the petition said.

It also calls for the code to include clear guidelines on teachers and staff sharing their personal political opinions.

“While it is important that teachers address real world events, multiple students have shared that the political beliefs of their educator have made them feel attacked/unwelcome in the classroom,” the petition said.

▪ Provide academic accommodations for students.

The impact of protests and police violence affects the mental health of students and their ability to attend class, complete assignments and take tests, the petition said.

Teachers should considered increasing time given for assessments or even making final course assessment optional, it said.

This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 2:58 PM.