West Contra Costa Unified School District
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Updated – August 16, 2024
West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) announced its intentions to “fight racism” after several alleged bullying incidents occurred on campus.
On August 9, 2024, Bay Area News said, “A year after parents complained about their children’s [sic] experiencing anti-black racism in [WCCUSD], the school board has adopted a new district policy calling for accountability for racist behavior … Students and staff say they have been experiencing racism on WCCUSD campuses for years.”
After listening to several speakers — including an anti-racism activist named Dr. Rachelle Rogers-Ard — the district determined that minority students needed additional representation and protection on school grounds.
“District leaders asked Rogers-Ard to assist with its anti-racism work more than a year ago after parents of black students came forward with concerns about the lack of resources available to their children and black high school students experiencing racism on campuses,” Bay Area News said.
In 2023, WCCUSD community members circulated a petition accusing the district of alleged mistreatment of the “Black Student Union,” “Black History Month,” and “Disproportionately Displacing Students.” Other incriminating categories were listed with demands for “change” in the district. Information in the petition was echoed by a Leftist news organization that wrote:
“School board member Jamela Smith-Folds said this [anti-racism] work is crucial tin [sic] efforts to reduce the number of black students and teachers who leave the district every year.”
In February 2023, NBC Bay Area reported, “For the first time ever, the pan African flag is flying over the headquarters for the [WCCUSD]. It’s being done to mark this month’s celebration of [b]lack heritage. It also comes just weeks after a black substitute teacher was fired for fighting a student, who called him a racial slur.”
The article went on to state that the teacher was allegedly called the N-word and may face charges for the physical altercation that ensued. WCCUSD Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Hurst said that flying the flag was important for the public to “take notice that we’re really serious about addressing racism.” Students also reportedly staged a walk-out in protest of the N-word being “used too frequently” on campus.
According to the East Bay Times:
“An administration-supported survey she conducted of more than 800 students during the 2020-21 school year found that 168 students reported experiencing explicit acts of racism including one in three black students.”
The source continued:
“A total of 215 [students] said they experienced racially biased and harmful comments that were not necessarily explicitly racist, and nearly half of all students surveyed said they’d witnessed acts of explicit racism. More than 80 percent said pursuing racial justice should be a top priority at the school.”
In cases like this, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is typically contacted when a student’s or district employee’s rights are violated. Despite the record of sexual harassment, faculty and facilities complaints made to the OCR, the School Board Watchlist did not find any racial discrimination grievances that have officially been filed against WCCUSD.
A history of alleged sex crimes perpetrated by district employees includes:
- A former WCCUSD special education specialist met an undercover cop posing as a 13-year-old for sex.
- A lawsuit alleged that the district ignored sexual abuse complaints made by students.
- A former English and science teacher — who allegedly abused students at his previous job — was hired by WCCUSD.
- A former Spanish-English teacher was arrested for sexual misconduct involving a middle school student.
A general search of the district’s virtual library also gives students access to LGBT-themed reading materials. The following is not an exhaustive list:
- “Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag” by Rob Sanders
- “Love is Love” by Michael Genhart
- “My Two Dads and Me” by Michael Joosten
- “Gay & Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights, with 21 Activities” by Jerome Pohlen
- “Marriage Rights and Gay Rights: Interpreting the Constitution” by Barbara Gottfried Hollander
- “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson
Please send tips, updates, and information on West Contra Costa Unified School District to [email protected].
Updated — November 17, 2022
A drag queen whose stage name is Nicole Jizzington performed before a group of middle-schoolers in June of 2022, according to NBC 15 News. The performance took place at Aspire Richmond California College Preparatory Academy in Richmond, California, which is affiliated with WCCSD.
An alleged tweet from Jizzington provided by Libs of Tik Tok shows that the drag queen felt her performance had students “losing it” (see image of tweet below):
According to NBC 15 News, “Richmond Cal Prep serves grades 6 – 12, and is a public charter school authorized by the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD).”
WCCSD responded to the drag performance with the following statement:
“West Contra Costa Unified School District has authorized Aspire Richmond California College Preparatory Academy as a charter school. The school must operate within its charter as authorized by the district. Whether this performance is consistent with the charter as authorized, we defer to charter school leadership.”
Published – July 5, 2022
The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD), located in California, closed all of their schools earlier this year due to an outbreak of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Starting at 8 a.m. January 7, people began showing up to Ohlone Elementary School in Hercules to get tested for COVID. Under current protocols issued by the district, eligible students are required to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. A parent stated:
“We’ve been doing it pretty regularly as school’s been going on. And now, because of the omicron, we want to keep it going.”
Administrators for WCCUSD said the Omicron variant caused a significant number of teacher absences. At the start of January, the district’s website showed 320 students and 44 teachers were COVID positive.
In a statement, the school district said:
“The safety of our students and staff is our top priority, closing school to prevent further outbreaks is an action we take very seriously and will only do when it is absolutely necessary.”
However, many public health experts disagree with the district’s course of action. Dr. Karl Minges, Interim Dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of New Haven, stated:
“At the end of the day, this is not 2020, or 2021. Vaccines are widely available. And as long as schools are adhering to the standard precautions, like mask-wearing, washing of hands, and providing protective measures, we should be in a place where all schools can remain open and stay open, regardless of this being in the omicron phases of the virus.”
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West Contra Costa Unified School District contains 54 schools and serves over 32,000 students.
