By Sikivu Hutchinson
On Tuesday, the LAUSD School Board will vote
on a resolution to end the random search policy at all district schools and a resolution to strengthen protections for LGBTQI and nonbinary students. The random search resolution is the product
of years student and community activism by the Students
Not Suspects and Students
Deserve coalition against racist over-policing in the second largest district in the nation. It would sunset random searches by July 2020, prohibit
the re-institution of non-individualized searches, and prohibit an increase in
police presence at LAUSD campuses. Since
it was implemented twenty-six years ago, this insidious policy has wreaked
havoc on student morale and trust. It
has disproportionately targeted Black, Latinx, and Muslim students, further
criminalized them, and siphoned off valuable class time in schools that are
already over-policed and under-resourced. Instead of yielding weapons or “dangerous
objects”, random searches gave overzealous adults license to harass students
and confiscate personal items such as feminine hygiene products, sharpies, and
other benign miscellany. To counter this climate, the resolution directs the
district to promote Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support initiatives based on
restorative justice methodology.
That said, the majority of the district’s high schools do not have restorative
justice counselors. And the overall LAUSD budget for restorative justice was
around $10.8 million in 2016. By
contrast, the district has allocated millions more to school police, weaponry
and surveillance systems. In 2016, the school board approved a 14% increase in
funding for police, bringing its pot to over $67 million. It is currently the fifth
largest police department in L.A. According to the L.A. School Report, the
increases were due to “salary, healthcare benefits and pension payments”.
Nonetheless, the district claims to be dedicated to a full rollout of restorative
justice programming by the 2019-2020 school year.
Ending
random searches is a monumental shift toward improving the mental health, wellbeing,
and self-determination of LAUSD students. Nationwide, queer, nonbinary, and
trans students of color are also disproportionately targeted by these harsh
discipline policies.
Another resolution
before the board (authored by board members Kelly Gonez, Monica Garcia and Nick
Melvoin) would boost resources and support for LGBQI students. One key provision
ensures that all-gender restrooms would be available on every LAUSD campus (as
opposed to just high school campuses) to accommodate nonbinary and transgender
students and preempt transphobic harassment. The resolution would also provide
professional development training for faculty, staff, and administrators on LGBTQI
youth empowerment and support. Despite the significant increase in youth
between the ages of 8 and 18 who identify as nonbinary, most LAUSD K-8 schools lack
curricula, support resources, and targeted outreach for queer students. A GLSEN
survey my students and I conducted at one LAUSD South L.A. school found
that a majority of youth had not seen positive images of LGBTQI figures in their
textbooks (despite California’s forerunning efforts to embed LGBTQI social
history into school curricula), were not familiar with adult allies who were
supportive of LGBTQI youth on campus, and were unaware of student groups like
the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA). Moreover, according to a Human Rights
Campaign survey,
77% of African American queer youth heard negative statements about their
identities from family, while only 19% said they could be themselves at home, and
only 26% had an “ally” family member. In an era where LGBTQI families are increasingly
under fire by the Trump administration’s repeal of Obama-era non-discrimination
protections on health care, gender identification, and transgender military
enlistment, actively pro-LGBTQI school-based policies and resolutions are critical,
but they’re merely the first step toward visibility and agency. Tuesday’s resolution proposes the creation of
Anti-Bullying Awareness Program pilots with a specific emphasis on culturally
responsive support resources for queer, transgender, and nonbinary youth. To
urge school board members to vote for the pending resolutions or to get
involved with the pilot program contact the LAUSD School Board @ https://boe.lausd.net/contacts
