North Bay school rallies against district cutting contracts for Black student program leaders
MILL VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) -- Teachers, students, and the community came out in big numbers Thursday to a North Bay school, voicing concerns over a controversial school board decision.
That decision cut the contract for the "Black Student Success Support Team" at Tamalpais High School.
On Tuesday, the Tamalpais Union High School District school board voted to restructure the program and remove the two contractors who run it.
Thursday morning, supporters of the program rallied out front of the school.
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The program was run by Paul Austin and Tenisha Tate, leaders beloved by the high school community.
"It's pretty much overwhelming, to be honest, because it's not necessarily about Paul and Tanisha," Austin said in reaction to the support. "It's about this work that we started this year specifically to serve our Black students, our most vulnerable students."
The Tamalpais Union High School District voted Tuesday night, 3 to 2 to restructure the program, cutting Austin and Tate's positions as contractors to the district.
"(We were) Devastated. The children we see, the children every day, the children are connected to us. They were devastated," Tate said.
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The board members said in the heated Tuesday night meeting that they couldn't justify the $250,000 the program costs.
"I know nobody likes to hear this, but it's $250,000 and we have multiple schools and we have financial constraints," board member Jennifer Holden said at the meeting.
The "Black Student Success Support Team" has only been around for a year but data presented to the board the night of the vote showed that test scores and attendance had improved among the students who were part of the program.
"Why are we willing to pay that for, let's say, lawyer's fees, but we're not willing to pay that for excellent Black educators to come and be really successful helping our Black kids," said Preston Picus, a teacher and vice president of the Tam Federation of Teachers.
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The Board did say that it wants to continue the program but with school staff instead of outside staff.
Austin and Tate said they knew they weren't going to be with the program forever, but are still hopeful to have at least three years to create and solidify a model they hope could be used at schools throughout the district.
"This is year one that the Black Student Success Team is just now getting started," Austin said. "There's so much more that we want to do, because it's not just about the Black students, it's about all the students."
Staff and other community members who support the program plan to draft a letter and gather signatures for it to send to the Board.
They plan to speak out again at June 17th's Board meeting.
