I WANT TO EXPLAIN MY COMMENTS ABOUT ASIAN STUDENTS

I’ve been the superintendent for the San Dieguito Union High School District since Nov. 1, and I’ve been on administrative leave since April 21 for comments I made 10 days earlier that have been misconstrued by many.

On April 11, at a district diversity, equity and inclusion workshop, board member Michael Allman asked, “Do we know why Asians do so well in school?”

I responded, “I can tell you part of that reason. So here in San Dieguito, we have an influx of Asians from China and the people who are able to make that journey are wealthy. You cannot come to America and buy a house for $2 million unless you have money. You cannot send kids and send them with a guardian unless you have money.”

Board member Maureen Muir then shared that when she talked to the SAT coaches at Canyon Crest Academy in the school district, they told her that Asian students live with both parents and grandparents and do well because they’re in “a positive environment” and “more familyfocused.”

With that reference to SAT coaches, she confirmed my point that family finances play a role in student success.

SAT programs can run from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Anyone in education understands that socioeconomic status plays a role in student challenges and outcomes. That in no way minimizes hard work, positive family dynamics or the admirable family and student sacrifices that contribute to the outcomes we see from our students, nor was I attempting to minimize the hard work, tenacity, dedication and the values of our Asian students.

I believe Allman used my comments to create a media blitz to annihilate my reputation and pressure other board members to fire me because of a formal complaint I filed against him in March.

Here’s a brief overview of what has happened.

When I started, I was asked by board member Muir to fire the deputy superintendent. I told her I could not do that because I did not know of and had no reason to fire him.

In November, Muir told me to fire a recently hired classified employee substitute. She was concerned that as an employee this person could spread negative information about board members to parents and staff. This classified employee had signed a recall petition against board member Allman. I refused to unlawfully fire this employee.

Then, in a February board meeting, board member Allman tried to publicly admonish a teacher for her classroom mask policy. He told me that if I did not “order” her to change her policy, that he would take care of it himself. In private conversations with me, he threatened disciplinary action against the teacher and her principal. This was followed by a similar incident involving a different teacher, where board member Allman texted me, “You simply ORDER the teacher to correct it and to stop it. If you can’t do it Cheryl, with all due respect, I will!”

When I refused to fire people who could not be lawfully fired, transfer people who could not be lawfully transferred or relinquish authority to Allman, he attempted to renegotiate my responsibilities and threatened that he would get the board to give him as an individual board member some of my responsibilities.

I also insisted that the board adhere to the letter and intent of the law in adopting a voting map in the census redistricting process. At another February board meeting, Allman attempted to stop me from sharing a letter from the San Diego County Office of Education clarifying the intent of the law related to redistricting and consequences for not following that intent. In fact, the San Diego County Office of Education eventually did take over the voter map redistricting process.

Nearly every time I tried to protect the district from Allman, he requested that the board evaluate me, which I believe was a code word for “fire.”

In the last 14 months, the San Dieguito Union High School District has had two superintendents (me and Robert Hailey) and two interim superintendents (Lucille Lynch and Tina Douglas), and two board members, Kristen Gibson and Melisse Mossy, have resigned. The district is now being sued over the board’s map redistricting decision. Allman and the teachers union have been at odds since teachers requested protective measures against COVID-19 in January 2021. Allman has also engaged in disrespectful and bullying tactics against other board members, students, staff and parents. In May, a San Dieguito Academy student, Landon Block, raised concerns about Allman in a commentary in the school paper.

Asian culture is important to me. Both my children speak Mandarin, and my daughter is headed to a university in China. The San Dieguito Union High School District is one of the most desired districts in the state of California. My goal is to ensure that it remains so.

I’ve been on administrative leave since April 21 for comments that have been misconstrued by many.