Weeks after being booed by adults, Clovis student returns to school board to speak out again

Speaking before the Clovis Unified School Board on Wednesday, student Rami Zwebti was shaking and nervous.

Last month, the Buchanan High School senior who prefers “they/them” pronouns was booed and heckled by adults for advocating for mask mandates and other coronavirus safety precautions on Clovis school campuses.

“The last time, I left the room crying,” Zwebti told the Education Lab on Wednesday.

The incident triggered anger from some in the community, with Superintendent Eimear O’Brien calling it “disturbing and utterly unacceptable.” School Board President Steven Fogg promised “change” and said he would do more to ensure speakers feel safe when addressing the trustees.

And while the board has yet to announce any specific changes, Wednesday’s meeting played out much differently than the Oct. 20 gathering that ended with the Clovis student in tears. For his part, Fogg directly warned members of the audience about bullying speakers.

“It’s inappropriate for you to be speaking while someone else is speaking, be it a member on the dais or a person giving public comments,” Fogg said. “In the unlikely event that there is a disruption, we do have officers that will escort you out. But I’m asking you not to do that. Let’s hear each other, and we can come to an understanding.”

And, as they continued to advocate for measures to protect immunocompromised persons, Zwebti also received a much different reaction from the crowd on Wednesday: applause.

Despite the warmer reception, many in the audience disagreed with Zwebti. Like schools across the nation, Clovis has scrambled to implement government-mandated precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19, with many parents protesting masking and vaccination mandates.

COVID vaccine mandate coming for California students

Some speakers urged the board to prepare for the looming immunization requirement for students, which is expected sometime next year, once vaccines receive full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Parent James Renwick said he wasn’t advocating for or against vaccines but said the district needs to be ready for the mandate.

“If you have not already, please, I implore you, start planning for the mandate. Consult teachers, nurses; have a clear, indisputable plan in place and, if the mandate comes to pass, you are ready; and, if not, there is no skin off your back you made a plan,” Renwick said before the CUSD board.

Other parents pushed the board to seek exemptions and otherwise resist the mandate from Sacramento.

Trustees questioned whether the district should prepare for exemption requests. Ultimately, the board decided to survey parents about their support for vaccine exemptions.

Clovis students criticize school dress code

The district’s COVID response wasn’t the only long-standing issue that emerged before the school board Wednesday.

Nearly a dozen students and adults gathered at the board room to once again discuss the district’s controversial dress code, which critics have said unfairly targets female students for discipline.

Many of the students who spoke were also nervous about speaking before the board because of the reaction their classmate Zwebti received last month.

Emi Fair, a senior at Clovis North High School, said she had previously spoken before the board and was also jeered.

“The last time I spoke before the board, a lot of people came up after me and said that there was something wrong with us,” Fair said.

Fair said she was forced to retake her senior photo because staff told her the picture violated the district’s dress code.

Fair’s mother, Rosalinda Mendez, showed the board a large, blown-up photo of Fair’s rejected senior picture.

“I got a call that my daughter’s picture was not going to be in the yearbook because she was not in dress code, “ Mendez said during public comment. “Let me know who I got to talk to to get my money back — this was $600 for a $100 yearbook.”

Students who spoke presented multiple examples of how they said the dress code enforcement has interfered with their education.

A dress code study session is set for next week, and the board expects to have a revamped dress code policy soon.

“We are in the process of considering everything,” Trustee Tiffany Stoker-Madsen said. “We are really taking information from all of our stakeholders. We are taking information from everybody and compiling it.”

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 here.

This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 8:49 AM.