Students and community members protest cuts to wellness programs

Last Updated on March 7, 2024 by BVN

Breanna Reeves

On March 5, Perris Union High School District Board of Trustees voted 4-1 to eliminate 23 positions and dismiss employees from eight positions across the district including social workers, behavior specialists, substance abuse interventionists and the director of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department. Trustee Elizabeth Vallejo was the only member who voted no.

Dozens of community members, students, educators and stakeholders crowded inside the board meeting, with dozens of others waiting outside because the board meeting room was out of space.

Fifteen-year-old Rocco Nelms addressed the board during the March 5 meeting and detailed how 190 students and teachers from Perris High School signed a petition to express concern for their mental health and wellbeing.

“I wanted to speak out and raise my voice about what was going on within our school district and how it’s kind of oppressive, to not only minority students like me, but students who struggled with their mental health,” Nelms said in an interview with Black Voice News.

The staff cuts come just a few weeks after the board voted in favor of eliminating five program specialists and the District Coordinator of Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports during a regular board meeting on February 21, 2024.

During the special meeting, the board of trustees voted to eliminate the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department, which consists of Dr. Casaundra McNair and secretary Helen Stimach. Dr. McNair is the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the Perris Union High School District.

“If they get rid of this program, and if they get rid of this division, there’s not going to be proper teachings to the students and their families, and administration staff and faculty, including teachers, to understand how to work with students of color and work with students who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community,” Nelms said.

Dr. McNair officially began her role last January and works directly for the superintendent of schools. She works within every aspect of the organization, from human resources to budgetary decisions to educational services.

“My role is to ensure that the educators are thinking about the full student body, and not just the ones that they are used to catering to. Additionally, students learn best when they have someone in their classroom that looks like them, or on their campus that they’re able to identify with,” McNair explained.

“The other major part of my role is making sure that our staff is diverse, so that our students can relate and have hope that there is something for them on the other side of high school.”

Ahead of the special board meeting held on March 9, Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson released a statement urging school districts to consider community input when making budget cuts to educators and programs offered throughout the district. Jackson acknowledged the challenges of making financial decisions, but noted that the Perris Union High School District special board meeting “serves as a cautionary example of moving too hastily without allowing the community sufficient time to respond to potential cuts.”

“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs have proven value add to school districts and communities,” Jackson stated in the press release.

The proposal also included the elimination of the District Equity Team (36 staff members made up of certificated, classified employees and managers), student Listening Sessions and other programs and trainings conducted by McNair.

“It’s going to have a tremendous impact. I can tell you that almost all of the positions that are up for elimination (tonight), over 70% of those employees are people of color number one,” McNair said. “So, it’s going to have a tremendous impact on the relatability of staff to students.”

During the 2022 fiscal year, Perris Union High District was identified as a “significantly disproportionate” local education agency (LEA) by the California Department of Education due to the large number of Hispanic students who missed more than 10 days of school. 

According to the department, LEAs identified as significantly disproportionate undergo trainings that provide schools with knowledge and technical skills to understand the problems and concerns in their schools, and identify actions to address disproportionality.

Perris Union High School District developed a plan to address the disparities in suspensions among Hispanic students and implemented alternative suspension programs that allowed students to stay on campus and access services instead of being sent home. Intervention services and substance abuse services were also offered at school campuses across the district to support student needs. 

“By removing these services to students — just thinking about the behaviorists and the substance abuse specialists — we’re going to see an increase of the fights on campus, altercations, as well as the violations of finding students with controlled substances,” McNair said.

Nelms, who identifies as Black and part of the LGBTQIA+ community, shared that the loss of wellness programs and support staff on campus will have a huge impact on vulnerable students.

“If they get rid of the wellness centers, the social workers will not be able to help these children who are in foster care who are on our campus, which is a smaller percentage, but we still matter and we still count,” Nelms said.

Although the board has ruled on eliminating dozens of positions, this isn’t the end, according to Nelms who shared that students and educators are going to continue to petition and reach out to different organizations to find grants.

According to McNair, all of the cuts to these positions were related to direct student services, which will have a big impact on students across the district. 

“If there was something I could say to the board, I’d tell them that they were elected officials, and they made a promise when they became board members, and they have not been following through with that promise,” Nelms said. “We’ve seen it time and time again, and it’s just very disappointing.