AAPAC Support of Lowell High School’s Black Student Union

January 22, 2021

As shared by members of the Lowell High School’s Black student community, “On January 20th, during an Anti-Racism lesson facilitated by Lowell, students were asked to share their thoughts and ideas via a public platform called Padlet. Rather than follow instructions to share positive, constructive ideas, students posted pornographic images, slurs, and other hateful comments…These actions were not committed in ignorance; they sought to perpetuate racism, anti-Blackness, and white supremacy.”

As the governing body of the SFUSD’s African American Parent Advisory Council (AAPAC) we write in solidarity with the Lowell High School Black Student Union in response to the abhorrent acts of racism and hate speech that occured on January 20, 2021. We denounce the perpetual behavior and unsatisfactory responsiveness that has plagued this campus and this district for far too long.  We support the demands made by our students for the San Francisco Unified School District and Lowell High Administration to:

• Recognize these heinous acts.
• Admit that the actions that have been taken to address this violence are not enough and create an action plan.
• Take immediate action not only to find this student(s) *with necessary disciplinary actions
• Cease censoring students who speak up about racism at Lowell.
• Address the ongoing racist history and culture at Lowell
• Begin honoring the demands that were set during the Lowell Black Student Union Walkout in 2016.

• Diversifying the staff/more African American educators and staff/BSU representative present  at all times during the hiring process
• Change in the school curriculum/education on other cultures/mandatory ethnic  classes/mandatory just like European History
• All teachers required to take cultural sensitivity training/if not --> disciplinary action
• Full - time African American recruitment officer/person that can be trusted/designated # of  hours
• African American Community Center at Lowell HS/safe space
• Zero - Tolerance policy for educators/administrators
• Ethnic Heritage Month

These demands must be met per SFUSD Board Policy 5145.9 on Hate Motivated Behavior, CA Ed code 200-262.4.

Additionally, we ask that in your response you not only condemn the perpetrators of these harmful acts, and implement the demands of those harmed, but also address the pain of the harmed. Our children are hurting and as their parents and champions, we are hurting along with them. As we work together, we need a proactive response. What is SFUSD doing to help our students heal and transition through this incident? These types of acts are damaging the represention of the non-discrimination policy presented by SFUSD.

Lastly, we call on the San Francisco Unified School District to actualize it’s commitment to being an anti-racist school district by ensuring these demands are made not just for Lowell, but for all of our district sites. This is not an isolated event. We have been here before and will be here again until Anti-Blackness in SFUSD, the City of San Francisco, and in our nation is met with ACTIVE resistance and reform. Our students deserve to be safe in school while pursuing a high quality public education without the fear of racial harassment and racial discrimination.

We recognize and appreciate the swift response of the Board of Education, Superintendent, Dr. Vincent Matthews, Principal Dacotah Swett, now we ask for action! In addition to a complete overhaul, SFUSD must ensure that continous anti-racism professional development and regular evaluation of each school’s anti-racist implementation occurs. And when we find staff that are unwilling to uphold those practices, there must be swift action to remove them from our sites. Enough is enough.

Across the country they are tearing down monuments of hate, it is time to do the same to Lowell.

In solidarity,

African American Parent Advisory Council

AAPAC Leadership Team