As your West Sonoma County Union High School District Board of Education and Superintendent, we stand firmly and in solidarity with our Black, Latinx, Native American, Asian and LGBTQ communities.
We are outraged and grief stricken over the senseless deaths of our brothers and sisters of color at the hands of law enforcement. We say their names as we dedicate ourselves and stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. We dedicate ourselves and district to transformation.
We honor our responsibility and our power to implement critical changes in our own systems and we will rely on data and evidence to guide our actions towards equity and transformation.
We call upon our elected officials to pledge to:
- review your police and the sheriff’s use of force policies;
- engage your communities by including a diverse range of input and experience in your review;
- report findings of your review to your community and seek feedback;
- reform your community’s police and the sheriff’s use of force policies.
We promise to ground our work in education with a deeper understanding of students’ identities, as well as historical and cultural perspectives moving forward. We pledge to remove all barriers and create structures that provide opportunities to further personal and academic success for all students.
Please join us in supporting and celebrating our Ethnic Studies curriculum that creates understanding and respect among our diverse student body and our community so as to embrace our identities. As we navigate diverse, complex and constantly changing environments and as our district moves forward with our ‘Portrait of a Graduate’, our plan will seek to develop new capacities to: inquire, investigate, collaborate, communicate, problem-solve, think critically, be resilient, find balance, practice empathy and participate civically as we all shift our cultural consciousness.
We harness our collective compassion to work earnestly with you, our community, our students, and our staff, to prioritize equity and access. Together, by naming and responding to injustices that create alienation and separation, we contribute to our community health and create solutions that reflect upon all of us. We invite all of you to come together in the world in which we want to live, where we all are safe, free to express ourselves, have the strength to speak up and act to further justice and equity.
Whether you are a student, a parent, a staff member or a member of our community at large, participate in our meetings, observe us, and hold us accountable to our pledge. Join us to take action and contribute to a greater community of compassion, equity and justice for all.
With sincere respect,
Your West Sonoma County Union High School Board,
Jeanne Fernandes, President
Kellie Noe, Vice President
Ted Walker, Clerk
Diane Landry, Trustees
Lori Bruhner, Trustee
Toni Beal, Superintendent