Dear GUSD Board members and Superintendent,

We are a group of current students, alumni, parents and community members from Gilroy Community Action on Policing (GCAP), Community Agency for Resources, Advocacy, and Services (CARAS) South County, and other community groups in Santa Clara County, writing in light of the recent nationwide movement to reconsider our communities’ approach to policing, discipline, and punishment.

We have concerns regarding several of GUSD’s current attitudes and practices in the realm of policing and discipline on our local public school campuses. These include the continued existence of zero tolerance policies, the broad use of expulsion and suspension as disciplinary measures, and the presence of School Resource Officers (SROs).

Zero tolerance policies were put into place around the same time and with the same underlying intention as the War on Drugs and Broken Windows policing theory. As with these other two policies, it has racially and economically disparate outcomes and discriminatory effects on students of color. This effect is especially visible in GUSD’s suspension rates, where Latino students face suspension at a rate ten times that of white students, according to data provided by CARAS South County.^[1]

Some might compare this and other discrepancies to that of other school districts in the county, or to chalk up the differences in Gilroy’s disciplinary practices to its unique demographics. But the fact is that current policies affect discipline for white and Latinx students unequally. Author Ibram X. Kendi, a leading scholar on race, defines racist policy as any policy that yields a racially unequal result, regardless of original intent.^[2] By that definition, GUSD’s current approaches to discipline are undeniably racist.

Expulsion sends a message to students that we have given up on them, and that we either cannot or will not support them. GUSD should not abandon children who often need the most resources. Expulsion is an administrative fix that does not attempt to remedy or solve the underlying problems that a child is experiencing. As opposed to implementing a restorative justice approach and addressing a child’s needs, what expulsion does is it gives a high needs child to another district to “deal with.” Our students should not be viewed as problems or as criminals, but as children who deserve access to resources.

Expulsion facilitates the school-to-prison pipeline by treating high needs students as deviants. According to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education, “Studies have suggested a correlation between exclusionary discipline policies and practices and an array of serious educational, economic, and social problems, including school avoidance and diminished educational engagement; decreased academic achievement; increased behavior problems; increased likelihood of dropping out; substance abuse; and involvement with juvenile justice systems.”^[3] How can we expect students to be better and do better if we set them up to fail?

If the purpose of schooling is to best prepare each student for high personal and economic achievement after graduation, then an expulsion reflects a school’s fundamental failure to fulfill that. GUSD’s high expulsion rate reflects its own inability or unwillingness to appropriately educate and prepare all of its students.

The presence of SROs on our school campuses also poses a threat to the academic achievement of our students. The presence of armed officers on campus not only creates a hostile school environment for Black, Latino, Indigenous, and students of color, but also fails to provide students with resources that are desperately needed. Currently, the SROs lack public job descriptions. This implies that either their functions on our campuses are nondescript enough to be unnecessary, or that their role is unregulated and allows them to act with impunity.

The Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) recognizes the disparities of student arrests in their 2015-2017 study on school policing. According to a 2017 report on school policing by SCCOE, data from NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit tells us “children with disabilities make up 23% of arrests across larger Bay Area schools, but only 10% of the student population. Similarly, African American students account for 24% of arrests yet only 9% of the student population.”^[4] Because SROs have responsibilities connected to law enforcement such as having “the ability to make arrests, respond to calls for service, and document incidents that occur within their jurisdiction,”^[5] SROs cannot simply serve as informal school counselors. Nor can this problem be fixed by giving SROs additional training. They are not trained professionals in working with children, children facing adversity, and children with disabilities. As opposed to implementing restorative justice practices, SROs perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline by bringing students directly into the criminal justice system.

The $500,000 being spent per year to employ SRO’s could be used to provide things that are sorely needed and would have a more constructive and proactive impact on our students. Those funds could instead be used to strengthen existing after-school programs, assist children facing adversity, and create mental health services with trained psychologists for children in need of additional support. Although SROs have been given the responsibility to “counsel” or “mentor” our children, these duties would be better left in the hands of trained professionals.

We call on GUSD to reconsider its disciplinary practices by eliminating zero tolerance policies such as suspension and expulsion as well as cutting its spending on SROs. To provide our students with the best educational environment, we urge GUSD to divest from traditional forms of punishment and invest in resources for our neediest students. We ask you to call a special meeting as soon as possible to consider these issues, and to invite public comment from across the community.

Signed,

Eric Heiser (GHS ‘17), Dalila Gonzalez (CHS ‘16), Jacob Yoder-Schrock (CHS ‘17), Jasmine Cruz (CHS ‘16), Alejandro Diaz (CHS ‘17), Stephanie Jennings (CHS ‘16), Ashley De Alba (GHS ‘17), Micki Scagliotti (GUSD parent)

Gilroy Community Action on Policing

Reymundo Armendariz, Leanna Rivera (GHS ‘21), Alondra Garcia (MMHS ‘18)

Community Agency for Resources, Advocacy, and Services

Susie M. Rivera, JD, MS, CPCC

Vice President of Youth Voice and Executive Director of Santa Clara County

Fresh Lifelines for Youth

Diane Ortiz, CEO

Youth Alliance

Rev. Jethroe Moore II

NAACP San Jose/Silicon Valley

Dana Bunnett, Director

Kids in Common, a program of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte

Holly Cadena, Mary Celestin, Chanel Sulc, Jeffie Khalsa, Amanda Henry, and Evelyn Cervantes San José Unified Equity Coalition

Zero Tolerance Policy

 In order to protect all students, no school in Gilroy Unified School District will tolerate a student causing physical injury to another person, bringing a weapon to school, selling drugs, committing a sexual assault or sexual battery or committing a hate crime. Any of these actions may result in the student being expelled from the school district. Teachers and administrators work hard to inform students about these rules so that they can avoid violating them.

Suspensions/ Expulsions

Suspension will be imposed only when other means of correcting a student’s conduct fail. The following outlines the types of suspensions a student may receive. For further information, contact the student’s school Attendance Office. Teacher Suspension A student may be suspended from class for the rest of the day and the next day by the teacher who will report the suspension to the principal and send the student to the principal or designee for appropriate action. As soon as possible, the teacher will telephone or write to the parent/guardian requesting a parent/teacher conference. A school counselor or psychologist may attend, and the parent/guardian or the teacher may request that an administrator attend the conference. During the suspension, the student may not return to the teacher’s class without the consent of the teacher and the principal. If the student has other classes during the day, the suspension only applies to other classes at the same time as the suspended class. If the student has violated Education Code 48900 (i) or (k), the teacher may require the parent/ guardian to attend a portion of the school day in the student’s classroom. Principal Suspension The principal may suspend a student from 1-5 days per event, up to 20 days per school year, if the principal determines the student has committed any of the acts in Section 48900 (a) – (p) or the student’s presence causes a danger to persons or property or threatens to disrupt the instructional process. The student may be suspended if the act is related to a school activity or school attendance occurring within a school under the jurisdiction of the principal or superintendent within any other school district(s), including but not limited to: • While on school grounds • While going to or coming from school • During the lunch period whether on or of the school campus • During, or going to, or coming from a school-sponsored or school-related activity. An informal conference will be held by the principal or designee with the student and, whenever practical, the person who referred the student for suspension. The purpose of the conference is to inform the student of the reason for the suspension and the evidence against him/her and to give the student an opportunity to present his/her version and evidence. Unless the student waives his right to the conference or is physically unable to attend, the conference will be held within 2 school days. The conference may be omitted if it is determined that there is a clear and present danger to the lives, safety or health of students or school personnel. At the time of suspension a school employee will make a reasonable effort to contact the parent/ guardian in person or by telephone. A notice in the primary language of the parent/guardian (if it is practicable) will be mailed requesting that the parent/guardian attend the conference and listing the rights of the student and parent/guardian. The suspension and the cause will be reported to the Superintendent. Law enforcement authorities will be notified if there was assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily harm. The school will refer a recommendation for expulsion to the Expulsion Coordinator who will notify the parent. Summary of Grounds for Suspension or Expulsion (Summary §48900)

As per Education Code 48900, parents, guardian and students are hereby notified that in schools of the Gilroy Unified School District a student may be suspended, receive a disciplinary transfer or be recommended for expulsion from school if the principal or designee determines that the student, while on school grounds, or during a school-related activity off grounds, or while walking to or from school, has committed any of the following offenses:

A. Caused or attempted to cause, or threatened to cause physical injury to another person; or willfully used force or violence upon the person, except in self defense.

B. Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished any firearm, knife, explosive, or other dangerous object unless, in the case of possession of any object of this type, the student had obtained written permission to possess the item from a certificated school employee, which is concurred by the principal or the principal’s designee.

C. Unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished or under the influence of any controlled substance, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind.

D. Unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell any controlled substance, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, and then either sold, delivered, or otherwise furnished to any person another liquid, substance or material and represented the liquid, substance, or material as a controlled substance, alcoholic beverage or intoxicant.

E. Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion.

F. Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property or private property.

G. Stole or attempted to steal school property or private property.

H. Possessed or used tobacco, or any products containing tobacco or nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew packets, and betel. However, this section does not prohibit use or possession by a pupil of his/her own prescription products.

I. Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity or vulgarity. Unlawfully possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged or negotiated to sell any drug paraphernalia.

J. Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties.

K. Knowingly received stolen school property or private property.

L. Possessed an imitation firearm, meaning a replica of a firearm as substantially similar in physical properties to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person to conclude that the replica is a firearm.

M. Committed or attempted to commit specified acts of sexual assault or committed sexual battery.

N. Harassed, threatened or intimidated a pupil who is a complaining witness or witness in a school disciplinary proceeding for the purpose of either preventing that pupil from being a witness or retaliating against that pupil for being a witness, or both.

O. Unlawfully offered, arranged to sell, negotiated to sell, or sold the prescription drug Soma.

P. Engaged or attempted to engage in hazing.

Q. bullying and cyber-bullying For more information on the suspension and expulsion process for students, contact the Expulsion Coordinator or visit the GUSD website.

Additional Grounds for Suspension or Expulsion Education Code 48900.2 (Grades 4 -12) Committed sexual harassment such as gestures, verbiage, or unsolicited, inappropriate touching as defined in Section 212.5 Education Code 48900.3 (Grades 4 – 12) Caused or attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 233. Education Code 48900.4 (Grades 4 – 12) Intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting class work, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school district personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. Education Code 48900.7 (Grades K – 12) Making terrorist threats against school officials or school property or both; “terrorist threat” shall include any statement, written or oral, by a person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death, great bodily injury to another person, or property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1000), with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out. The district is required to expel from school for a period of not less than one year a student who is determined to have possessed a firearm, brandished a knife at another person, committed sexual assault or battery, or sold a controlled substance while at school. In addition, any student who commits one of the aforementioned violations will be referred to the criminal justice or juvenile delinquency system. (Summary §48900.1) The governing board of each school district shall adopt a policy authorizing teachers to provide that the parent or guardian of a pupil who has been suspended by a teacher for reasons specified in subdivision (i) or (k) of Section 48900, attend a portion of a school day in his or her child’s or ward’s classroom. The policy shall take into account reasonable factors that may prevent compliance with a notice to attend. The attendance of the parent or guardian shall be limited to the class from which the pupil was suspended. According to Labor Code Section 230.7, no employer shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against an employee who is the parent or guardian of a pupil for taking time off to appear in the school of a pupil pursuant to request made under Section 48900.1 of the Education Code. Labor Code section 230.8 further states that no employer, who employs 25 or more employees working at the same location, shall discharge or in any way discriminate against an employee who is a parent or guardian of any child in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive for taking off four hours each school year, per child, to visit the school of the child, if the employee, prior to taking the time off, gives reasonable notice to the employer of the planned absence of the employee. An employee shall utilize existing vacation, personal leave, or compensatory time off for purposes of this planned absence, unless otherwise provided by a collective bargaining agreement. Suspension/Expulsion of Special Education Students As student identified as an individual with disabilities pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is subject to the same grounds for suspension and expulsion which apply to students without disabilities. Students with disabilities may be suspended or removed from school for violation of the student code of conduct so long as the removal does not constitute a change in placement A student who has not been officially identified as a student with disabilities pursuant to IDEA and who has violated the district’s code of student conduct may assert the procedural safeguards granted under the administrative regulation only if the district had knowledge that the student is disabled before the behavior that precipitated the disciplinary action occurred.