Central Unified school official in Fresno resigns after making ‘insensitive’ comments

Central Unified School District Trustee Richard Atkins resigned on Tuesday night during the school board meeting, just days after making comments on social media that critics described as “racist,” “disgusting,” and “xenophobic.”

Atkins said he would give the district a written statement on Wednesday and then left the online meeting.

“I lost the faith and the trust in this community,” Atkins said. “I resign effective immediately. I wish the best for this community and district, and I am deeply, deeply, deeply sorry for any pain and sorrow I caused.”

Atkins posted to Facebook on Saturday and wrote: “If you don’t love the country you live in then go back to the country you or your ancestors came from. I’m SICK of this s***.”

Screenshots of the post were shared hundreds of times across social media. A petition calling for Atkins to resign collected more than 1,470 signatures as of Tuesday evening.

A day later, Atkins posted a second message apologizing.

“I am truly sorry for my insensitive comment that I posted on Facebook last night,” the statement read. “It was not my intent to upset my community and I feel terribly that I have hurt so many of you by my insensitive comment.”

Nearly 50 community members spoke out Tuesday night, calling for Atkins to step down.

“It (Atkins’ post) does not represent our diverse community that we live in and Mr. Atkins has no business serving on the board any longer,” one person said. “He has failed the people he elected to serve.”

A few people also spoke in support of Atkins.

Multiple board members denounced Atkins’ remarks and said they have had people tell them to go back to their countries.

“I was deeply offended and appalled by his comments … I was in fourth grade the first time that I was told by a teacher to go back to the country I came from because I engaged in a conversation with a classmate in Spanish,” Trustee Yesenia Carrillo said.

Trustee Phillip Cervantes was “of course” offended by Atkins’ comments.

“In a lot of areas, we are failing our students of color,” Cervantes continued. “When I spoke out about it a while back, I got accused of being racist, and that’s unjust, but I stuck with it.”

Trustee Terry Cox said Atkins’ comments “hurt” and “saddened” her. She also noted Atkins has made “great contributions” to Central Unified but said he made an “egregious” mistake.

Trustee Richard Solis suggested board members should participate in diversity training, while Trustee Naindeep Singh Chann said trustee should also participate in anti-racism training.

Trustee Jason R. Paul was the only trustee who did not denounce Atkins’ comments.

Superintendent Andrew Alvarado said the district received dozens of emails and calls from Central Unified community members and even from people outside of the Valley and state. The district has a lot of work to do, he said.

In January, the district kicked off a multi-year diversity training for staff, Alvarado said. Central Unified wasn’t able to continue the training in April because of COVID-19, he said, and the district is still committed to it.

Dozens of people called in during the district’s Tuesday night meeting, demanding Atkins resign, including Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria.

“As a daughter of immigrants, I was personally offended,” Soria said.

Soria noted the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of freedom of speech but said that it doesn’t shield people from being criticized for what they say.

This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 8:07 PM.