The Santa Barbara Unified School District is looking to change its policies on responding to and disciplining racist incidents.  

Tuesday night’s Board of Education discussion comes after public outcry over a blackface incident involving San Marcos High School students, who posted a social media picture of themselves with artificially darkened skin to recreate an image of four Black children in matching school uniforms. The photo was taken during a class.

The district will develop a response protocol, update discipline policies, and hold ongoing sessions for leadership staff on how to prevent, interrupt, and repair racial harm, said Steve Venz chief operations officer. 

The draft response protocol and discipline matrix have already been sent to Dos Pueblos High School to pilot and implement, Venz said.

“We know that we live in a society where there is always anti-Black actions or bias, but the point is to educate our staff, educate our students to bring in a more inclusive environment, so it reduces that and makes it so we have allies in the schools to support our fellow students of color,” Venz said.

The drafts of the response and discipline policies have been shared with various groups and people to review. They were revised just before the school board meeting based on input from the Committee Addressing Black Achievement, Wellness, and Excellence.

The discipline matrix outlines administrative actions and consequences for specific racist actions. It previously hadn’t been updated since 2019 or 2020, according to Venz.

The matrix provides examples of anti-Black incidents and discriminatory actions and outlines what responses should look like in terms of reporting the incident, providing care to the harmed students, and consequences such as suspension. 

The new racial incident response protocol breaks down the timeline for response from the initial hours to the days and weeks after, and ensures that more than one person is responsible for handling response. 

The protocol also includes connecting with families and all the students involved in the days and weeks afterward, not just right after something happens. 

Teachers and staff also have to be notified about harmful incidents that happened in their classroom.

This is a direct response to the incident at San Marcos High School, where the photo depicting San Marcos students in Blackface was reportedly taken in a History of Africans in America class, taught by Abel Gonzalez, who was not at school the day it was taken. He didn’t even learn about the incident until administrators showed up to his class to talk to students, he previously told the school board.

School board member Gabe Escobedo, whose term ends this year, said the district can’t keep doing reactionary work, but should focus on deep system changes. 

He also asked that the district consider hiring new positions to focus on coordinating the district initiatives, unpacking bias and helping teachers create safe classrooms. 

“This can’t just be one of many duties that someone has,” Escobedo said. “This can’t be an afterthought and I feel like in so many ways, this is an afterthought.”

Community members say more needs to be done, including expanding ethnic studies offerings and budgeting for resources for Black students.

During public comment, multiple members of Healing Justice Santa Barbara asked for additional funding to provide more support to students.

Jazmyn Jackson asked for more funding to hold weekly office hours for students to access consistent support. 

“Our time this year has increased as we’ve had to advocate for Black students, including those at San Marcos, and then beg the district after the fact to pay us to correct the harm that you guys caused,” said Jackson. “There is a better way to show that you actually care.”

Healing Justice Santa Barbara staff currently visit the high schools at least once a week and hosts events for students and families. 

Numerous ethnic studies teachers and supporters, like Goleta Valley Junior High teacher Jessie Herdrich, said expanding the classes is crucial to addressing racism and building empathy.

“It’s time for us to take anti-racist, critically hopeful, and culturally responsive curriculum seriously,” Herdrich said. “It’s time for us to integrate culturally responsive learning down to the babies and across all the subjects to make sure we become leaders in anti-racist education rather than making headlines with our failures to address racism.”

Nahsia Darcus, the Black Student Union president at San Marcos High School, called for the district to expand ethnic studies and Black studies, and hire and retain Black teachers and staff. Darcus also asked the district to implement meaningful training for teachers and staff, and have consequences for those who fail to properly report acts of violence or anti-Black racism.

“These demands are more than a cry for help,” Darcus said. “They are a result of years of neglect faced by our students in this very racist system that you proudly represent. So please do your part and prioritize and budget Black students into your life.”