SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CRITICIZED FOR LINKING REOPENING TO RACIAL INEQUITY

Recall threatened after La Mesa-Spring Valley meeting comments

A school board member’s recent comments comparing school reopening efforts with racism has ignited a political firestorm in San Diego County and highlighted racial tensions underlying the school reopening debate.

La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board Vice President Chardá BellFontenot, the only Black member of the five-person board, said during a recent meeting that forcing staff to come back to school before the district could ensure they would be vaccinated is akin to White supremacy and slavery.

Since then she has become the subject of harassment and racist death threats, said her attorney, Cory Briggs. He said BellFontenot has filed a claim with the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District alleging that someone at the district leaked some of her confidential information, which is being used to harass her.

The district said in a statement it is reviewing her claim “but has no knowledge of any such legal violations at this time.”

Meanwhile, Reform California, a political group backing a recall effort targeting Gov. Gavin Newsom, also is behind an effort to recall Bell-Fontenot because she has opposed setting a date for reopening schools in her district and because of her comments.

Carl DeMaio, founder of Reform California, held a press conference Thursday announcing the group is filing paperwork next week to begin the recall effort. “School board member BellFontenot

not only voted to continue to inflict harm on our children by keeping La Mesa-Spring Valley schools closed, but her use of false, reckless and racially divisive smears to attack parents and other community members that support school reopening has created a hostile work environment in the district,” DeMaio said.

About 20 people attended the recall press conference, held in front of the school district headquarters. Prior to that more than 4,400 people had signed a petition calling for Bell-Fontenot’s resignation.

The La Mesa-Spring Valley district serves more than 11,000 students, three out of five of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. About half of its students are Hispanic or Latino, while a little more than a quarter are White and about 9 percent are African American.

The district has been closed to regular in-person instruction since the pandemic began. Some of those opposing Bell-Fontenot have said the school closures are harming children.

Bell-Fontenot and her supporters suggested reopening too soon or in an unsafe way would harm families of color, because minorities are getting sick and dying of COVID-19 at disproportionately higher rates than Whites.

In San Diego County, Latinos make up 33 percent of the population but 48 percent of COVID-19 cases, 43 percent of COVID-19 deaths and 17 percent of those who have been vaccinated. Black San Diegans make up 5 percent of the population, 3 percent of COVID-19 cases, 4 percent of COVID-19 deaths and 2 percent of those who have been vaccinated.

Bell-Fontenot made her controversial comments in a board meeting on Feb. 23, during which the board voted 4-1 to reopen schools for hybrid instruction on April 19. The date was a compromise between board members who wanted to reopen as soon as March 15 and others who wanted to wait until late April.

Bell-Fontenot was the lone “no” vote.

Board members said that, because many children are suffering psychologically and academically from school closures, the board owes their families a reopening date. They said they believe it’s safe to reopen because millions of other students and staff are attending open schools all over the country.

A board member also noted that at least 70 percent of La Mesa-Spring Valley parents who answered a survey said they want their kids back in school.

Bell-Fontenot asked for the demographics of the families who reported they want to return to school, but her question went unanswered.

Bell-Fontenot said in the meeting that she objects to setting an opening date because nobody could guarantee that school staff would be vaccinated in time due to persistent supply issues. She said opening too soon, without a vaccinated staff, would be unsafe.

“That seems like a very White supremacist ideology to force people to comply with and conform without thinking about all of their intersecting factors and barriers that exist for all families,” Bell-Fontenot said during the meeting.

“You’re thinking about

one type of family when you’re speaking right now. Just letting you know. Privilege. Check it, you guys.”

Later in the meeting she said: “I don’t want to be a part of forcing anybody to do anything they don’t want to do. That’s what slavery is.”

The Feb. 23 meeting happened before San Diego County prioritized vaccinations for school staff on Feb. 27. The county recently said it is dedicating 20 percent of its vaccine supply to education staff.

Nationally, Black and Latino Americans are more likely than White Americans to prefer full-time online learning rather than returning to school in person, according to a national Pew Research Center survey.

Briggs said BellFontenot wants to see students return to school, but she is concerned that the board’s plan would not ensure that every student is fully protected and supported if they were to return.

“There is overwhelming, undeniable data that — for decades before this pandemic — our communities of color have had to endure disproportionate economic, social, educational, and health-care burdens due to bad government policies,” Briggs said in a statement.

“She objected to her colleagues’ plan, not because it went too far, but because it did not go far enough to ensure that students return to a learning environment that is equally safe and supportive for every single one of them.”

Bell-Fontenot’s comments drew criticism from other board members and from Superintendent David Feliciano, which led to heated disputes during the meeting.

At one point BellFontenot said to the board members, “none of you guys even know what we’re talking about right now.”

Feliciano said he was offended by that statement.

“I don’t believe that to be the case at all,” Feliciano said.

“You don’t need to speak for them, David,” BellFontenot said.

Feliciano replied, “I can speak for them if I choose to.”

Bell-Fontenot responded, “It’s disrespectful. Like, this is the second time you’ve disrespected me, David.”

The next day, Feliciano told parents on the district’s website that the district is “disappointed” and “offended” by Bell-Fontenot’s behavior.

“As you may have heard, at Tuesday’s board meeting, Trustee Charda BellFontenot, behaved in a manner the Board does not condone,

nor did her behavior represent our values and our commitments to our students, community, and to each other,” Feliciano said.

School Board President Rebecca McRae said in a statement after the board meeting that the school district believes race and equity are “extremely important” and that the board needs to work together to ensure it is meeting the needs of all students and combating systemic racism.

But, McRae said, she and other board members perceived Bell-Fontenot’s comments as demeaning them.

“As the board president, my concern was not with the issues raised, but rather with the tenor of the discussion, which was inconsistent with the board’s adopted norms and commitment to mutual respect,” McRae said in a statement.

While McRae and Feliciano disagreed with BellFontenot’s comments, they both condemned the harassment that Bell-Fontenot has received.

“Although I don’t feel it would be appropriate for me to comment on calls for the resignation or recall of any board member, I can say without hesitation that the district unequivocally rejects and condemns racist, hateful, or threatening comments aimed at the vice president or anyone else in our community,” McRae said.

More than a thousand people have signed an online petition started last week to oppose efforts to push BellFontenot off the school board.

Several of her supporters said they believe BellFontenot has been unfairly criticized for trying to speak up for families of color who have safety concerns about reopening schools too quickly.

Among her supporters is Marco Amaral, a teacher and trustee of the South Bay Union School Board, who personally knows BellFontenot and takes issue with the backlash against her.

“What Charda was trying to say ... from what I understood ... was that we are actually not paying attention to the voices that need the most help,” Amaral said.

Amaral added that it’s common for school board members of color, like himself and Bell-Fontenot, to be criticized after trying to bring up issues of race and social justice, because many people don’t like to talk about it.

“What she did was ... engaging her fellow trustees, her fellow school board members, on a very important

conversation that elected officials hate to have,” Amaral said.

The La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board’s next meeting is on March 16.