As of September 1, 2011, ALL 1,875 retail establishments are prohibited from providing light-weight, single-use plastic carryout bags to customers at the point of sale. MORE

By Jason Islas
Lookout Staff

September 26, 2011-- The School District drew a line in the sand against racial insensivity Thursday night, as officials spelled out new steps they're taking in response to last May's racial harrassment of an African-American wrestling student.

“Our goal here in all of this is really to minimize the chances that anything like this will happen and to make sure and to make sure it is handled appropriately and correctly if it ever happens,” said School Board President Jose Escarce.

Superintendent Sandra Lyon, who took over district leadership shortly after the incident, agreed.

“The reality is that we will have things happen, but the more we have done to lay a solid foundation, the better our response will be,” said Lyon.

“I do think we have a lot of cultural challenges. There continues to be an unacceptable level of intolerance in various levels of our school system,” added School Board Vice President Ben Allen.

Peggy Harris, the district's director of education services, curriculum and instruction, spoke to the board to report what steps the district has taken to address those challenges, specifically addressing directives handed down by the school board on the heels of the alleged harassment.

The incident, in which an African-American student on the Santa Monica High School wrestling team was allegedly tied to his locker and referred to as a slave while a wrestling dummy had a noose tied around its neck, happened in May.

It wasn't until a month later that the victim's mother found out about it – through another parent – prompting outrage from the community and rumors of a deliberate cover-up.

Amidst the controversy, there were allegations that certain members of the school's administration hadn't handled the situation properly. Those allegations are being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, but any mention of a police report was absent from Thursday's meeting.

Many of the responses to the incident involve tweaking the curriculum to make sure that “all students see themselves reflected,” Harris said.

She added that the work is meant not as a response to an isolated incident but an attempt to change the culture in which the event took place.

Harris specifically talked about adding books to students' required reading list that would show people from all backgrounds in all stations in life, with special attention to books that may stereotype groups.

“I just want to be clear that we aren't censoring any material because it has any of these problems, but we want to make sure that there's corresponding training for teachers to introduce this type of material to students,” said Board Member Oscar de la Torre.

Harris also talked about beginning peer outreach programs at the high school that will empower students of color.

De la Torre cited an example of what he called “institutionalized racism” – the fact that African-American students, who make up roughly 10% of the student population, make up about 30% of suspensions. De la Torre asked Harris to report back specifically about this statistic.

Harris said that there will be several workshops for staff and students that deal with more subtle forms of racism called “microagressions” – namely, jokes or offhand comments that may seem harmless to some but may be hurtful to others.

There is also a meeting planned between administrators and the African-American Parents Support Group.

She said that these workshops, which will be led by professionals specializing in racial diversity, may help to bring to light some of the underlying causes of what de la Torre identified as “institutionalized racism.”