> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # School district lending an ear to Unity group - URL: https://www.smdp.com/school-district-lending-an-ear-to-unity-group/ - Published: 2005-05-07T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T06:57:01.000Z - Author: Ryan Hyatt - Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import *Officials welcome fresh ideas to curb school violence* MID CITY — School officials have agreed to meet with community members who have developed their own plan to address issues related to violence at Santa Monica High School. A newly-formed group of Santa Monica residents calling themselves the Unity Coalition insist the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District must institutionalize anti-racist practices and hold itself accountable for achieving results to ease recent tensions at Samohi. Meanwhile, SMMUSD officials laid out their own plan at Thursday’s school board meeting to address a recent series of fights at Samohi involving mostly black and Latino participants. District officials also committed to meeting with the Unity Coalition to see how their ideas might contribute to the district’s plan. The two proposals came in the wake of an April 15 brawl at Samohi resulting in a school-wide lockdown, which required assistance from three police agencies to secure the area. Although the fights involved hundreds of spectators, some of whom refused to return to class, 12 students were suspended for fighting and defying administrators. There were no serious injuries reported in the incident. Samohi officials and parents have since been grappling with the issue, trying to determine the best way to ensure a safe, comfortable learning environment. “The kids are watching how we handle our differences,” said Karen Dickerson, a Samohi Parent Teacher Student Association representative. “If we can’t set aside our personal and political agendas, how can we expect our kids to do it?” THE DISTRICT’S RESPONSE In a 12-page report, the SMMUSD outlined the steps it has taken in the weeks following the fights to address issues related to violence at Samohi. Samohi has 3,500 students, 250 staff and six full-time security guards charged with protecting the 33-acre campus. In addition, there is a police resource officer from the Santa Monica Police Department assigned to Samohi and other district schools. The 12 students suspended for their involvement in the fights returned to school on Monday, April 25, all taking part in an ongoing mediation process. A noticeable police presence on campus since the fights will continue to be phased out in coming weeks. The district has agreed to hire two additional full-time security officers, with more planned in the future. The security personnel will also receive additional training. Students must identify themselves when they enter the campus, and entry/exit points are restricted. Samohi administrators are continuing to meet with the SMPD to solidify the school’s emergency procedures should further lockdowns be deemed necessary. Since the melee, Samohi administrators and staff have held regular meetings with 20 student leaders. The student leaders have come up with ideas which might help unite groups on campus and make students feel more comfortable, including a proposed peace rally to replace Samohi’s traditional pep rally in May. District officials are considering a request by students to reinstate a peer mediation program, dropped in recent years due to inadequate funding. The Samohi Black Student Union, a group of Samohi black students, and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano(a) de Atzlan, a group of Samohi Latino students, have met twice since the fights to craft their responses. The black and Latino students directly involved in the fighting have been invited to take part in discussions with the two student groups. Samohi has a student body in which 47 percent is considered minority, and an administration and staff which is largely white. In its report, the district said it will make efforts to hire more ethnically and culturally diverse educators. Samohi principal Ilene Straus said student groups also will facilitate in the hiring process, providing the school principal, who makes the final hiring decisions, with their suggestions as to which candidates might make the best fit. In terms of curriculum, Samohi administrators are adding a cultural studies and human relations component to their freshman seminar, a required course. In addition, Samohi’s sophomore world history class will offer a component with a broad-er ethnic perspective. Curriculum development for those courses is planned for May and July, and will become available for students in the fall of 2005. A UNITED FRONT Several parents and students spoke at the school board meeting on behalf of the 10-point Unity Plan. Many of them — dressed in black, wearing green labels with the words “Unity Coalition” — said that while the district’s report on the Samohi fights was a good beginning to heal wounds they said have been in place for years, the report did not go far enough to address problems of racial inequality that continue to persist on the Samohi campus. “Violence will not be tolerated with our children,” said Ana Maria Jara, a member of the Unity Coalition. “We will not stand by the sidelines and watch. This isn’t about African Americans and Latinos fighting. This is about our children’s only chance to get an education and a job that will allow them to live. “It’s a matter of life and death.” One speaker at the meeting said he was dismayed by the district’s light stance on the fights and the approaches taken by some groups, such as the Unity Coalition, to address violence on the Samohi campus. Highlights of the Unity Coalition’s plan: ■ The SMMUSD must engage in much greater efforts to address institutionalized racism in the district. ■ Increase outreach and recruitment of faculty of color who can relate to students’ backgrounds and life experiences. ■ Develop a restorative justice approach to student discipline so there is less focus on punishment and more on transformation. ■ Increase student engagement by celebrating the culture, history and accomplishments of African American and Latino students. ■ Ensure the curriculum itself and the manner in which it is taught is culturally respectful and relevant. ■ Develop a new protocol on addressing inter-cultural conflict that includes parental and community involvement. ■ Ensure the efforts are coordinated with middle-school reform efforts. ■ Develop a “master plan” for African American and Latino student achievement. ■ Bid for outside experts to conduct residency patterns of youth who experience academic failure and assess the status of the neighborhoods in which they live. ■ Develop a model with community input to train school staff and parents on how to create an empowering learning environment for students. “It’s like trying to solve a bank robbery by insisting all of the tellers be diverse,” said Pat Cramer, a Santa Monica resident. “I have still not seen the district prove that violence will not be tolerated.” School board member Oscar de la Torre, a Unity Coalition member and organizer who helped create the plan, said he was impressed with the district’s plan for Samohi and wanted to make sure a continuum was established to ensure the momentum is carried forward. “When I hear ‘lockdown’ and ‘race riots’, I think of prisons, not schools,” de la Torre said. “The violence we are seeing is part of a larger problem, and non-violence is the solution.” De la Torre said there is a countywide problem with violence and Santa Monica has an opportunity to lead in efforts to address it. To do so, de la Torre said there needs to be a continual mechanism in place within the district to begin addressing violence in the schools. He said concepts endorsed by the Unity Coalition can help make that happen. SMMUSD superintendent John Deasy said there may be some overlap with the Unity Plan and programming already in development in the SMMUSD to help increase achievement for marginalized students at Samohi, but he was interested in seeing what ideas might be used in the district plan. “I have agreed to meet with members of the Unity Coalition, and I look forward to it,” Deasy said. Santa Monica resident John Petz, who has promoted the development of a culturally-diverse curriculum at Samohi in the past, said it’s crucial that community members continue to work toward common ground. “We can not allow racism to come between us,” Petz said. “Racism is ignorance, no matter what color you are.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 7, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050705.pdf?ref=smdp.com)