School District Officials Promise Changes Following Alleged Racial Incident

It was an emotional night at the Board of Education meeting Thursday as members of the community and those from outside the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District boundaries reacted to the alleged incident of racial harassment that has become a national story.

The Board of Education members also commented on the situation, and promised changes.

The board gave a series of recommendations to the district staff that are aimed at increasing cultural sensitivity and awareness and a sense of community at Santa Monica High School. This includes doing a "climate assessment" of the campus. District staff will come back to the board with methods on how to implement these recommendations within 60 days.

"We as a community are going to come together, and we will respond to this," Board member Maria Leon-Vazquez said.

Board member Nimish Patel added, "We're going to solve this and we're not going to hide from this."

Oscar de la Torre, a board member and Samohi alumnus, 

The incident allegedly involved two white members of the school's wrestling team who were accused of harassing a black member of the team. Several former Samohi wrestlers came to the meeting to speak in support of the team, which they said is culturally diverse and friendly. They also asked for people to wait for the Santa Monica Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's departments' investigations to finish before reaching conclusions. Board member Laurie Lieberman echoed this.

"As horrific as some accounts have sounded to all of us, I feel it is critical that we not be guided by rumor," she said. "And in that respect, like everywhere here, I look forward to looking at the police and the sheriff’s reports and results."

Many public speakers who addressed the board concluded a hate crime had been committed. They also blasted SMMUSD Superintendent Tim Cuneo, who was attending his final meeting, and others on the district and Samohi staff for not informing the mother of the alleged victim. She learned about the situation from other parents.

Many offered advice on how to prevent something like this from happening again.

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