Sweetwater trustees hear report on Black Student Union growth, RISE conference and efforts to reduce suspensions

Sweetwater Union High School District trustees on June 23 heard a presentation from district staff and community partners reporting expanded Black Student Union (BSU) activity across the district, events that reached hundreds of students and early indicators of improved academic and behavioral outcomes for African American students.

The presenters said the district has grown active BSUs from five sites to 16 as of April 2025, hosted a RISE conference attended by about 400 students at Southwestern College, and is pursuing a “Black Education Community Collaborative” with Southwestern College and Chula Vista Elementary to coordinate supports from early grades through college. “This work is a work of love,” said the presenter who introduced the team. The group said they view sustained adult–student relationships as central to the improvements reflected in district data.

District staff and BSU advisers described a calendar of events and supports. Jessica Nascimento, a science teacher at Hilltop High School and one of the BSU elders, said advisor training, student officer meetings, social events and targeted interventions allow schools with as few as seven Black students to connect those students with peers districtwide. “By hosting it on a school day, we were able to get buses and every single school—almost every school—represented,” Nascimento said of the RISE conference.

Presenters listed recurring events and interventions: advisor-only trainings in the fall, a RISE conference with 25 student-focused sessions and community partners (including Southwestern College and San Diego State University), a rites-of-passage ceremony for graduating seniors that includes kente stoles and pins, targeted site interventions by a teacher-on-special-assignment (TOSA) who co-advised campus BSUs, and trips to historically Black colleges for students.

The team highlighted several data points to show progress. Presenters said African American students make up about 7.4% of district enrollment, that pass rates for African American students in AP courses have increased where they take AP classes, and that suspension and chronic absenteeism rates have declined from previously disproportionate levels. The presenters noted district indicators for African American students sit mostly in the California Dashboard’s yellow (mid) range while comparable state figures remain lower; graduation rates for African American students in the district were reported in the green range. Presenters emphasized the need to increase AP enrollment alongside the higher pass rates.

Trustees and staff asked about sustainability and next steps. The presenters said they plan to develop policies to institutionalize BSU supports so they persist through leadership changes, build a BSU student advisory council representing leaders across sites, and launch a district website to share resources. Don Dumas, identified as principal of Palomar High School and a BSU elder, outlined the proposed Black Education Community Collaborative with Southwestern College and Chula Vista Elementary to address early math preparation and strengthen the K–14 pipeline.

Superintendent Morcea Aguirre and several trustees commended the team’s work and emphasized partnerships with Southwestern College and county programs that provide math supports. The presenters thanked district departments—transportation and nutrition services—for logistical support that enabled offsite events and feeding 400 students at RISE.

The presentation closed with a request for continued board support to scale the program and make the work sustainable across future administrations.