Two simultaneous drug awareness presentations held in February at San Benito High School have created a divide of perceptions, with one district trustee in attendance that night calling it a display of racism and questioning why English and Spanish programs conveyed different messages.
San Benito High School Trustee Raymond Rodriguez has lashed out at the district regarding the “Drug Awareness Night” event in February on campus and sponsored by SBHS, the county probation department and the behavioral health department. He recently spoke out during a board of trustees meeting, taking to the podium usually reserved for routine public speakers because, he said, he thought there would be better attendance at the start of the meeting as opposed to the trustee reports segment at the end.
Rodriguez said he attended the February drug awareness presentation on campus, but that visitors to the Drug Awareness Night event were told at the outset they could watch the same presentation in Spanish in the cafeteria. It turns out the school’s Migrant Parent Advisory Committee had requested permission about a year ago for a presentation on drugs and gangs, and it was being held the same night as the district-sponsored event.
Superintendent Stan Rose said the two presentations “coincidentally happened to occur” the same night. He acknowledged that visitors to Drug Awareness Night were told they could see a “similar” presentation in Spanish in the separate area of the school. Rodriguez contended the English presentation was more about the physiology of certain drugs and what they do to a person’s body, while the Spanish one centered on “drugs and gangs and how to tell your kid is involved in gangs.” He said it conveyed a “hidden message” – if people are white, they merely need to know how drugs affect them.
“If you’re a Spanish speaker,” he went on, regarding his belief about the racial perception it created, “then your kids are the ones bringing the gangs and drugs to the community.”
Rodriguez didn’t merely criticize his own district. He also laid blame on the San Benito County Probation Department, specifically Chief Probation Officer Brent Cardall, who was at Drug Awareness Night.
“He knows there’s a guy giving it in Spanish over here and a guy giving it in English over there,” Rodriguez said.
Cardall, when told of Rodriguez’s complaint, affirmed one presentation was in English and the other was in Spanish.
“One was gang and one was drug,” he said. “We do this as a service. We’re trying to educate and help and team up with the schools and actually help parents with troubled youths.”
As for the trustee’s claim about racism, Cardall responded, “I don’t really have a response to that.”
“He can condemn us for that, I guess,” Cardall said. “It’s absolutely not racial. We have Hispanics that work for us.”
Rodriguez argued that the contrasting presentations reflect a larger problem in San Benito County.
“One of the things that needs to be done is expectations need to be changed,” he said. “We honestly need our socioeconomically disadvantaged and all our races to achieve at the same level.”
If every employee does not believe in that cause, he said, “then it will continue to rear its head every once in a while.”
Rodriguez underscored that among the district’s 13 expulsions this year, all of the students were Latinos.
Rose, with whom Rodriguez recently spoke in following up on the recent board meeting, said the trustee’s claim about expulsions is accurate.
“Those kinds of factoids come up,” the superintendent said. “You have to look at each situation and case on its own merits. Also, he’s right – that number looks disproportionate. Then you also have to look at what are the facts surrounding each case.”
Rose said racism is an issue that society and the school community have to address continually. He said it requires “constant vigilance” and “constant training and support.”
“We recognize that as an issue, and we do what we can with policies and professional development to mitigate those effects for students so that all students have access to the best education possible.”
