Kennedy High students, teachers and union members plead with West Contra Costa board to preserve ethnic studies amid staffing cuts

Kennedy High students, teachers and union advocates urged the West Contra Costa Unified School District board on April 29 to halt cuts that would eliminate a standalone ninth-grade ethnic studies course and reduce career-technical and bilingual offerings.

Students from Kennedy repeatedly told the board the proposed move from an eight-period to a six-period day and associated staffing reductions would sharply limit elective access. “The schedule change from an eighth period schedule to a sixth period schedule is going to make a big difference in our school and is going to limit the amount of opportunities that the students have when it comes to electives,” said Immani Andere, a Kennedy freshman who said she would lose classes such as film, literature and welding.

Teachers and school staff presented a petition signed by hundreds and requested direct action from the board. “We are over asking for a 2.4 FTE for all our programs. For ethnic studies, it is 1.0 FTE that we need allocated to defend it and keep it,” said Jackie Aendano, a fifth-year ethnic-studies teacher at Kennedy, asking the board to add Kennedy to a future agenda and allocate the teacher position to maintain program stability.

Kennedy’s social-studies department said the district’s plan to eliminate the standalone ethnic-studies course and instead embed its content into world-history would amount to a dilution of the discipline. “The decision to eliminate a standalone ethnic studies course and instead embed it in a world history course is not just a scheduling change. It is dilution,” said Francisco Cortis, speaking on behalf of the United Teachers of Richmond and urging the district to invest in staff rather than contractors.

Multiple teachers and community members emphasized the academic and equity rationale for the course. “Ethnic studies has a place in my heart from now to forever,” said student speaker Melanie Hernandez. Teachers noted research linking ninth-grade ethnic-studies coursework to higher engagement and graduation rates and cited the district’s prior resolutions supporting ethnic studies.

Board members did not vote on program changes at the meeting; the petitions and public testimony were filed during the public-comment period and several speakers asked the board to schedule a formal agenda item on Kennedy so the board could consider an allocation of FTE and other funding decisions.

What’s next: petitioners said they will continue to press the board for a clear, scheduled discussion and for the district to assign the requested 1.0 FTE to Kennedy before the transfer/assignment deadlines later in spring. Several speakers asked the board to place Kennedy on the next agenda and to publicly commit to protecting ethnic studies and related programs.