The Coronado School District, which has battled racial controversies the past few years, on Wednesday issued a two-page press release justifying an $11,500 expense for staff to attend an equity conference.
The move came a day before the school board’s 4 p.m. Thursday meeting, and it followed criticism from a small group of critics and a new school board member over the issue.
District spokeswoman Maria Simon declined requests for comment on why the district issued the statement.
But Superintendent Karl Mueller in the press release said he believes that topics presented at the Equity Conference directly align with district initiatives.
Mueller emphasized that participating CUSD attendees were strategically considered since their roles impact the entire school community, which allow for the flow of new ideas and information with their peers.
The statement also shared that speakers at the Equity Conference focused on the goal of fostering “safe spaces for all students, staff members, and families, where they feel honored and valued” across school campuses.
Coronado, like many communities across the country, has become embroiled in controversies over social issues, and they were debated during campaigns for last fall’s school board races. The district made national news in 2021, when its high school boys basketball team was stripped of its championship after tortillas were thrown after a game against a largely Hispanic team.
Now, the fight is over an equity conference in a district that’s seen its Hispanic population rise to one in every four students.
During the first school board meeting in January, a few residents said there was a lack of transparency about the spending and purpose for 25 district employees to attend the San Diego County Office of Education’s annual Equity Conference on Jan. 19-21.
Youngblood lone ‘no’ vote
All trustees, except Vice President Scot Youngblood, agreed to spend the money at January’s board meeting.
Youngblood, who was elected to the board last year and took office in December, has said that there is valid criticism in the process and was unaware about the complete process of approval.
“Although I’m not intimately familiar with how this was approved, we should be having this discussion in public comment and engagement back in September or October,” he said. “I would love to see us spending this type of money on something for academic excellence first and foremost, not something that I think in many cases in the details can be so controversial.”
Prior to the vote, a few residents shared their disagreement with the way that the decision process unfolded for the Equity Conference.
One person during the January meeting said the district should be transparent about the spending, while another said the school board should promote and spend money on programs that provide equal opportunity and better outcomes.
District responds with press release
On Wednesday, the district issued a press release titled: “CUSD Staff Share Best Practices From Equity Conference.”
According to the statement, some CUSD attendees included English Language Arts/English Language Development teacher on special assignment Julia Braga, Education Specialist at Village Elementary Jillian Arnold, and CUSD Special Education Coordinator Ryan Keller.
The Equity Conference website also listed Coronado High School French, Spanish teacher and Induction Mentor Maylén Rafuls Rosa as another CUSD attendee.
At the January board meeting, Trustee Whitney Antrim defended having staff attend the conference, noting that one of the four goals in the Coronado USD Long Range Plan is to have “safe and supportive schools.”
“A child can’t learn unless and until they feel safe,” she said. “Equity and excellence cannot exist on a binary, they must exist together.”
Trustee Alexia Palacios-Peter and President Renee Cavanaugh also shared their support for the Equity Conference during the January meeting.
