Hill had previously denounced the videotaped action of the North teacher, calling it “highly insulting and marginalizing to Native Americans.” The district is Riverside County’s second-largest public school system, with about 40,000 students. She said officials are working to implement that plan. And the school board voted in September 2020 to make the course a graduation requirement at Riverside high schools, beginning with the 2024-25 school year. Riverside Unified has a “long-standing history” of offering ethnic studies classes, Meza said. “They (school officials) have an opportunity to use this and the new ethnic studies requirement to address their systemic and school problems in a meaningful way, and in concert with local Native American consultants,” he said.

This is connected to systemic racism,” he said. “How are they going to deal with behaviors that may not be as outrageous, that may not be as in your face?”įenelon said he is hopeful for change, citing California’s recent passage of a bill by Assembly Member Jose Medina, D-Riverside, to require by 2030 that California high school students pass an ethnic studies class to graduate. “What they need to do is recognize that they have a problem. James Fenelon, director of the Center for Indigenous Peoples Studies at Cal State San Bernardino and a member of the Dakota/Lakota tribe, said the district’s primary focus shouldn’t be on whether the teacher with her “unacceptably racist behaviors” should be fired.įenelon said it is easy to blame a specific person rather than deal with a type of behavior or attitude that he suggests may be common than district officials want to admit. “I’m a firm believer that in every crisis there is an opportunity,” he said, citing the 1965 fire bombing of Lowell School that prompted educators to integrate Riverside schools. “We need to look at how this could happen on a campus for as many years as it probably did,” Hunt said.Īt the same time, Hunt said he’s confident district schools will treat students of diverse cultures better going forward. 20, and blew up on the internet, the teacher appears to be sharing with students the word “SohCahToa,” a mnemonic device used to help students remember an advanced mathematics concept. In the video, which hit social media Wednesday, Oct. The video showed the teacher putting on a faux Native American headdress and dancing around a classroom, moving her arms in a chopping motion. 19 incident in a North math class came to light when a video shot by a student was posted on social media and rapidly went viral. “Although the time that the process takes may be frustrating to some, there is no way to shortcut the process.”

“Fact-finding will occur and after the fact-finding stage, decisions will be made regarding the correct process and steps to be taken,” the statement read. The district has not confirmed the employee’s identity. The district also is “convening an action team” to develop a plan for expanding diversity, equity and inclusion training, the statement said.Īs for the teacher involved, she is on paid administrative leave, district spokesperson Diana Meza said Tuesday, Nov. Those steps have included emphasizing to North High teachers “the need to immediately address insensitivity and bias,” and providing content for events such as Halloween and Thanksgiving to make sure they are observed in an accurate historical context that respects various cultures, according to a statement from the Riverside Unified School District board and Superintendent Renee Hill. Riverside educators have announced steps they have taken to confront a North High School teacher’s dressing up as a Native American and acting out a mock chant while teaching a math class.

Ca school board mocks parents video