Clovis schools are changing. But are they changing fast enough?

District leaders are making efforts to hire teachers from more diverse backgrounds. Recently, elected officials have acknowledged the community’s history of racist and insensitive incidents and pledged to be part of the solution.

“It wasn’t long ago as a newly elected board member that there was an outcry about deep racism in Clovis Unified,” Trustee Steven Fogg said.

Shortly after his election in 2016, Fogg said he attended a meeting with community members addressing the issue but said, “unfortunately, I don’t recall another meeting after that one.”

As school officials recruit diverse teachers and develop “cultural proficiency” plans, many Clovis parents and former students worry the efforts won’t address what they say are longstanding issues with strong and troubling roots.

And, at least for some, recent efforts are too little, too late.

In June, Chris Milton sent a letter to school leaders demanding all seven trustees put themselves up for re-election this year. He also wants them to change the rules to allow for district elections instead of at-large elections that have put a majority-white school board in place for decades.

If the board doesn’t meet his demands, Milton says he might sue the district.

How are Clovis schools changing?

In the city’s schools, change is coming within the ranks of teachers.

“Less than 10 years ago, Clovis Unified was a very white district. We used to be called the rich white district. Now that couldn’t be furthest from the truth,” Clovis Superintendent Eimear O’Farrell told The Bee.

Latinx students now make up the majority of the district’s roughly 43,000 student population, followed closely by white students.

O’Farrell said Clovis Unified initiated a system 30 years ago to make sure they “were addressing all aspects of cultural proficiency,” including hiring practices, human relations, and parent engagement.

But, O’Farrell said, a disturbing incident in 2017 prompted the district to escalate efforts. That year, multiple Clovis students faced heavy criticism after a group text message emerged that showed students repeatedly using racist slurs.

A key aspect of the district’s effort is hiring a staff that reflects the student population so young people can be “surrounded by people who look like themselves,” O’Farrell said.

O’Farrell said hiring teachers — let alone diverse teachers — is a “challenge” because of the current teacher shortage.

The district has begun “strategically” recruiting and mentoring students of color to become local teachers.

“We decided we have got to be more innovative and creative. We’ve created our own job fair. We are not waiting for people to knock on our door,” O’Farrell said. “We’re partnering with universities to have them send candidates to our job fair.”

Additionally, Clovis teachers participate in training to meet all Clovis students’ cultural and linguistic needs.

“It’s this systematic effort that we have been engaged in over time,” district spokesperson Kelly Avants said. “You hear in other districts a lot of work around equity, and it’s kind of our version of equity, being able to meet the needs of all of our kids.”

NAACP survey describes racism, harassment

But some critics say that while beefing up diverse hiring practices is an essential step, they also say those actions won’t heal lingering wounds or ensure school officials listen to communities of color in the future.

The Fresno State NAACP released a community survey asking current and former students to share any experiences of racism or harassment from their time at Clovis schools. More than 4,000 people responded.

The results were disturbing, Fresno State NAACP officials said.

Denise Rogers-Heydt, a Fresno State NAACP member, said survey participants described “unchecked” racial discrimination and harassment in Clovis schools dating back many years.

Fresno State NAACP President D’Aungillique Jackson said she was most surprised by respondents’ reports of sexual abuse against children of color and LGBTQ students.

About 60% of survey respondents described witnessing some form of sexual harassment “often” or “very often” and “they never reported it.” Students of color and LGBTQ students said they experienced verbal, physical or sexual abuse, including rape, according to Rogers-Heydt.

“I think for me one thing that I didn’t expect to see and that broke my heart were the sexual assault numbers and harassment numbers, especially concerning current faculty and staff members,” Jackson said.

She said many respondents said when they did report incidents to teachers or other school staff, they felt nothing was done.

“We’re talking about our babies, and this district has just been sweeping everything under the rug,” Jackson said.

Rogers-Heydt said many students fear that reporting such incidents could harm victims academically or in extracurricular pursuits such as sports.

“The number of stories of rape and assault, it’s overwhelming. It’s like, how can you sit here and tell us that you don’t have a problem, and we have these stories,” Rogers-Heydt said. “It’s infuriating.”

Avants said school officials were taking the survey seriously.

“As a result, we are taking the NAACP’s online survey of anyone who at any time in our 60-year history may have attended our schools, and looking for ways to use it to inform the work we are doing today.”

She said Clovis schools are “always looking for ways to improve the work we are doing today and in the future for our kids.”

“If even a single comment they received was related to a current student’s experience in our district, it’s one too many,” Avants said.

Clovis not alone in recent ugly episodes

The survey results come on the heels of a string of racist incidents in recent years, including one in June involving a Buchanan High School student. The student posted on social media a series of racist slurs, including repeated use of the n-word, and ended by suggesting white people should protest violence by “hunting and killing” Black people.

While community members organized a petition calling for his expulsion from school, it was unclear what — if anything — the district could do if the student’s actions were not tied to the school in any way.

In 2016 a substitute teacher who had worked in the district for 15 years was disciplined for wearing a Black Lives Matter button and banned from ever working in Clovis schools. In 2018, a student was called the n-word at a soccer game.

Parents have come together during online forums asking for Clovis to put into place zero-tolerance rules when it comes to hate speech and racism.

Clovis is far from alone among central San Joaquin Valley school districts in confronting ugly and racist incidents. In June alone, more than half a dozen race-related controversies have ignited across Valley schools.

Last week, two elected school officials — one from Madera County and another from the Central Unified School District in Fresno —abruptly resigned their offices after controversial messages appeared on their personal social media accounts.

A week earlier, Fresno Unified Trustee Terry Slatic faced criticism in a formal complaint from a local pastor who accused Slatic of telling the pastor to “go back to the barrio.” Slatic, however, denied making the statement and said the pastor was bearing “false witness.”

Also in Fresno, a Kings Canyon Middle School teacher faced criticism for describing educators who supported protests over the death of George Floyd as “ghetto.” That same week, Fresno Unified officials announced they were investigating a “racially insensitive incident” that happened during a Hoover High School staff end-of-year celebration.

Clovis parent threatens lawsuit

Recent events have renewed discussion over race and racism in public schools, including Clovis.

“Our Black students cannot succeed where they don’t feel safe,” Fogg said. “We must address these racial issues directly and aggressively.”

During the June 10 board meeting, Fogg said recent protests for racial justice following the death of George Floyd have renewed energy for change within the district but said he worries that momentum might have a short shelf life.

“This will take a full and consistent genuine commitment if we are going to have change,” Fogg said. “Please don’t let action fade out again this time.”

He also said “it needs to be clear” that Clovis schools won’t tolerate hate speech and said “any hateful actions should be dealt with swiftly and with the full power of Clovis Unified discipline.”

But at least one Clovis parent said he’s out of patience and wants to see dramatic changes in a matter of weeks.

In an open letter to the district, the parent, Milton, gave the board 45 days from June 9 to establish a new special election for all trustees and move to a district-election system, so trustees are only “receiving the specific votes for the specific areas” they serve.

Milton’s children attended Buchanan High School, where they were standout athletes. Kalonn Milton played football at Fresno State and Kendall Milton graduated in June and has signed to play football at the University of Georgia.

He said Clovis’ current at-large voting system places too much power in the hands of a powerful majority at the expense of less-represented parts of the community.

If trustees don’t meet those demands, Milton said he might file a lawsuit.

In a video posted to social media, Milton said Clovis schools have “failed” to hold up their “end of the deal.”

“You have not created a safe learning environment,” he said. “You have not created a learning environment that is consistently welcome to all but rather a divisive environment that is fueled through hypocrisy, nepotism and hierarchy.”

Fogg said the district has been “in the process of evaluating our election system and started that some time ago,” and the process has been delayed because of the pandemic.

“I believe all board members are supportive in doing what is best for our district and our community,” Fogg said.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.

This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 9:50 AM.