Top boss: 17 racist charges unproven
Superintendent says ‘majority’ of Valley View’s allegations from football game ‘unsubstantiated’
A “majority” of accusations of racism against Temecula Valley High School students at recent football games are “unsubstantiated,” the Temecula Valley schools chief said.
Superintendent Jodi McClay’s comments came Tuesday night during an update for the Temecula Valley Unified School District board. The district has been looking into allegations that, at Temecula Valley football games on Aug. 19 and 20, racial slurs were hurled by Temecula Valley High students and players at football players
and cheerleaders from Valley View High School, the visiting team from Moreno Valley.
On Aug. 27, Valley View filed a complaint with the California Interscholastic Federation, citing multiple incidents of “hostile, unsafe, discriminatory, unsportsmanlike” behavior by Temecula Valley High students. Students are accused of making monkey noises at Valley View cheerleaders and calling that school’s football players racial epithets.
At Tuesday’s meeting, McClay said the district’s investigation included “over 100” student and staff interviews and is complete. Now
a CIF Souther Section review remains.
“While the majority of accusations have been found to be unsubstantiated — that’s actually 17 out of the 21 accusations — four of them were found to be partially substantiated,” she said.
McClay was not available Wednesday to discuss her report, Sue O’Connell, executive assistant to the superintendent, said in an email.
Tuesday, McClay said there are still “frustrations with the lack of access to students and staff from the other school.”
“We weren’t allowed to speak with their coaches and also many of the students’ statements that we received from that school were from students who weren’t in attendance at the (games) in question.”
McClay acknowledged the public criticism her district has received for how long it took to complete its investigation, yet “another district took similar criticism for reacting too quickly to almost identical allegations,” she said.
It was unclear Wednesday to which district she was referring.
When asked to respond to details of McClay’s report, the Moreno Valley Unified School District issued a statement Wednesday from Superintendent Martinrex Kedziora saying he and McClay have communicated and the districts are “working together” on the issue.
CIF-SS spokesperson Thom Simmons said by email that his office would not comment because its investigation is not over.
Temecula Valley High has since revised procedures at football games to “ensure these things don’t happen in the future.”
McClay said the changes at all Temecula Valley High athletics events, particularly football games, include:
• The home and visiting team must now sign a document called “We Commit” before games. It says that any allegations will be reported immediately and play will stop. Allegations will be “investigated and addressed immediately.”
• The guest school will have an administrator present at all games to help “ensure proper supervision.”
• Increasing supervision and monitoring of students’ behavior.
• Restructuring fencing around the stadium so the
home and visiting teams and fans have separate entrances and exits.
• Building new portable restrooms and snack bars for both sides of the football field.
• Publicly reading aloud a new CIF-SS statement on fan expectations before, during and after games.
• Athletic directors will check with referees and school administrators before and during games “to discuss any potential issues”
M.cClay also said her district is working with Moreno Valley school officials to “explore opportunities to bring groups of students from both schools together for some activities.”
Details on such an event were unknown Wednesday.
Temecula Valley school board President Barbara
Brosch and the four other board members did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Temecula Valley school board member Adam Skumawitz said at Tuesday’s meeting that much time and effort has gone into verifying accusations and making sure there are swift consequences. But the bar needs to be set higher for zero-tolerance behavior, he told McClay.
“When you say there are students feeling the way it was shared they felt, then that’s unacceptable,” Skumawitz said. “If this was an isolated incident in Temecula, it’d be one thing, like if it was the first time this has ever happened. But we all know that it isn’t. It’s something that we can’t ignore or hope just goes away.”