Principal, LULAC have different perceptions of events
Southside School’s principal attributed a recent
misunderstanding with a migrant family – which prompted two sisters
to face an unnecessary, forced transfer – to a
”
language barrier.
”
Two middle school students had been told they must transfer when
their family left the homeless shelter at winter’s end because
officials thought theie father intended to pay rent for a home
outside the district.
Principal, LULAC have different perceptions of events
Southside School’s principal attributed a recent misunderstanding with a migrant family – which prompted two sisters to face an unnecessary, forced transfer – to a “language barrier.”
Two middle school students had been told they must transfer when their family left the homeless shelter at winter’s end because officials thought theie father intended to pay rent for a home outside the district.
Under the law, students classified as homeless have the option when their families move to stay within the district – to keep consistency in their education – or transfer to the new one, Southside Principal Eric Johnson said.
The situation spurred interest from the League of United Latin American Citizens and Sen. Gloria Romero, D-East Los Angeles, before school officials realized quickly there had been a miscommunication between the parents and district, Johnson said.
School leaders from initial communication with the parents thought the family members’ new living status disqualified them from the homeless designation, but learned later they were living with the father’s sister – in another district – and still were considered “in transition,” Johnson said. In the end, the students did not miss any school time at Southside, he noted.
Romero in a statement released April 2 referred to it as “alleged illegal harassment of students and the students’ family.”
Mickie Luna, president of the local LULAC chapter, told The Pinnacle the group still planned to go before the district’s school board in the coming weeks to discuss the matter.
Now largely quelled, however, it started when Southside School requested new residence information from homeless residents leaving the shelter, which was routine, as the camp began transitioning for the migrant farmer season starting April 1, Johnson said. The migrant camp – used as a homeless shelter in the winter – is within Southside School District boundaries.
Johnson noted that the father had reported back that the family would be moving into a home outside the district and paying rent there. He said the district received a notarized letter from the family with the new address.
That pointed to a residency change, Johnson said, prompting the school to inform family members that the two sisters would be moved to the Hollister School District, while maintaining eligibility for inter-district transfers like others.
“As far as we were concerned, we were under the understanding they moved and established residency in a new district,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the district “didn’t find out until after” it had sent information to the parents that it was a “different situation than he had told us,” referring to the father.
When school officials had the opportunity to sit down with the parents at the end of March – Johnson noted it was the Monday after the parents had met with LULAC’s Luna over the weekend – they learned the family was staying at the home of the father’s sister and he was offering to pay her money to stay there.
Johnson said he wanted to “underscore a lot of this is a language barrier.”
“They [the parents] thought they were putting their daughters in jeopardy by telling us things,” Johnson said. “We were working with incomplete information.”
Romero’s office in the April 2 statement, however, portrayed it as a “serious allegation of illegal misconduct” and noted: “Allegedly the students were escorted from class today in front of other students and forced by a teacher to give up their textbooks.”
Johnson noted how Romero’s press release indicated the kids were harassed, told to leave their books and escorted off the grounds. He also said a memo from the senator noted how one of the two students was a boy. Romero in the press statement, meanwhile, says she was “alerted to the alleged incident” that afternoon by a “concerned school official.”
“We don’t even have a boy here (in this case),” Johnson said, adding how school officials originally met with the parents the week prior to the parents informing LULAC of the matter.
Referring to the day those students were set to leave Southside, Johnson remarked how he said “goodbye” to the girls and observed that “it didn’t seem they were upset.”
It was resolved from the school’s standpoint the following Monday, when Johnson said the school “hashed out what we did, why we did it” with the parents.
“The girls were more than willing to stay,” he said. “They’ve been at Southside the whole time.”
LULAC, however, might have more to say.
“We don’t think it’s OK, of course not,” Luna said. “They were removed from the classroom. They’re homeless kids. We will be going before the Southside school board.”
Romero in her press release also mentioned the involvement and concern of county Superintendent Mike Sanchez.
“I applaud Supt. Sanchez for investigating and I am glad to hear that the affected students will be back in class tomorrow morning,” the early April statement reads.
Sanchez pointed out how the students were restored at Southside the “same day the senator made the call” and he said Romero called his office about the situation.
Sanchez said he then called Johnson to ask about it.
“He said, ‘We do have two students – today was their last day,'” Sanchez said. “No one was escorted off the campus.
“He said, ‘Let me look into it,’ and he did. He restored the students.”
Sanchez said he also talked with the family afterward.
“They were very pleased that the students were back in school,” he said. “The bottom line, for me, is to make sure the kids are OK, and they were very pleased they were restored.”
