Entered district headquarters building during public comments, police had to be called, pounded on doors; damaged building; almost knocked down oldest member of the board; board president injured – a felony against an elected official

Meeting postponed to Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.

By Allen Payton

The Antioch School Board special meeting to vote on funding up to six school resource officers placing sworn Antioch Police officers on Antioch middle and high school campuses in the district, was interrupted twice by protesters. First, about 48 minutes into the meeting they were pounding on the walls and doors, then again, a short while later. (See meeting video on YouTube.) (See video of protest)

The protesters oppose the placing of police officers on Antioch school campuses and wrote in chalk on the sidewalk in front of the district office building “No SRO’s” and “Counselors”. The deadline for the City of Antioch to accept and receive the $750,000 three-year grant is this Sunday, August 9. (See related article) NOTE: None of the protesters were still on site when this reporter arrived.

Before the meeting, Trustee Mary Rocha said she was almost pushed to the ground as she walked into the building through the employee entrance on 6th Street, through the lunchroom. But someone grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. Board President Diane Gibson-Gray injured her arm on the door because the protesters wouldn’t let her in and she was moving quickly past a protester and district employee.

According to AUSD staff, the protesters held on to the door and wouldn’t allow it to be closed. An AUSD employee tried the close the door but some of the 30 to 40 protesters (according to district staff and police estimates) were holding it and forced their way in.

“They damaged the building,” Superintendent Stephanie Anello said. “They dumped everything out of the fridge” including all the trays full of ice cubes and district employees’ food.

The employee then had to sit in a chair in front of the door from the lunchroom into the lobby to block the protesters from entering the rest of the building and the board room where Gibson-Gray, Rocha, Anello and Trustee Gary Hack held the meeting.

Trustees Crystal Sawyer-White and Ellie Householder participated in the meeting from their homes.

“One of these kids almost knocked me down,” Rocha said after the meeting. “I’m 81 years old. I was trying to get into the meeting. There were piles. Shagoofa (Khan) was right there. We had to shove and shove. This little, short, chunky girl was in front of me. They surrounded us.”

Shagoofa Khan ran unsuccessfully for Antioch School Board in 2018 in a team effort with Householder and the backing of Antioch Councilman Lamar Thorpe. Khan has been participating in several of the protests in Antioch, in the past few months, including the one at City Hall and during the Juneteenth Celebration.

“They came in, they were inside,” Rocha continued after the meeting. “They’re vandalizing the building. They’re right outside the door. I can’t even go home. The police are outside.”

“I’ve been through messes before with teacher strikes, but this is ridiculous,” she exclaimed.

“They blocked my car and after waiting and waiting, officers were trying to persuade the main person,” Board President Diane Gibson-Gray said. “But that wasn’t working. I asked an officer to give me a ride home and I had to go back later to get my car.”

“I didn’t feel threatened, but they weren’t going to let me leave and go home,” she added. “I will be filing a report, tomorrow because I injured my arm when trying to get past them and out the door, which they were blocking. I  hit my arm on the door jam because three or four protesters were blocking the door. When I went through one of the protesters started yelling at an employee, so I looked back. That’s when I banged my arm on the door jam because there was another protester blocking the entry. I was trying to not touch him and get in the door at the same time. Once I got past him, because of the momentum, I hit my arm on the door. There’s a pretty big bruise. It’s their insurance, not mine. There’s always caution when someone is hurt.”

“It is a felony to assault an elected official,” Gibson-Gray added. “

At least seven Antioch Police officers arrived on the scene in six police cars.

But Antioch Police Chief T Brooks, who was participating in the online meeting from home said, “We’re not going to get into a violent confrontation with people over noise at a public meeting. I wish the building was more secure.”

“We don’t want to give them a chance to say we’re harassing them (the protesters),” Rocha said. “We don’t want to touch them. That’s why the police are out there but not doing anything.”

However, officers did have to escort Rocha to her car so she could drive home, in addition to driving Gibson-Gray home.

Meeting Begins

At the beginning of the meeting Superintendent Stephanie Anello presented the agenda item. Then before public comments Trustee Ellie Householder said, “Stephanie referenced a table and I wanted to be clear what she referenced.”

Board President Diane Gibson-Gray responded by reading the details from the staff report about the School Resource Officers in neighboring school districts.

Public Comments

The comments by members of the public, which included current students, school staff, parents were split on whether the school board approve the funding of the COPS grant for the SRO’s. Anello read the submitted comments.

Victoria Adams, President of East County Branch of the NAACP wrote, “The responsibilities of SRO’s are the same as regular police officers. The racial/demographic make-up of the Antioch Police Department does not match the racial/demographic make-up of the students in the Antioch Unified School District. Many of our young people don’t identify with members of the Antioch Police Department.”

She supported police officers at school sporting events and dances, but not on campuses.

Amber McKayla, a senior at Antioch High School wrote, “I’m part Hispanic and partially white, so I haven’t experienced discrimination. The only time police should be on Antioch campuses is in case of emergencies.”

Kyle Montgomery, who has worked for the school district for 13 years opposed police on campus who would be “negatively disproportionately affecting POC (people of color).”

Michelle Pareia, a resident of Antioch for 20 years and former student of AUSD schools opposed police officers on campus.

Kimberly Soriano, a counselor also opposed having the SRO’s on campus.

“Studies have shown the presence of SRO’s actually harms students…leads to declines in graduation rates,” wrote another member of the public.

Nick Culcasi wrote supporting the approval of accepting the grant.

Brandon Risoto wrote, “Will you listen to your community of students or Mayor Sean Wright and Lori Ogorchock who spoke non-stop of their privileged experience from decades ago?” He said 48 hours of training by the SRO’s was inadequate.

Jafar Kalani Bey wrote “SRO’s will be detrimental to the quality of education on campus.”

Mike Moses, a police officer who attended Antioch schools and an AUSD parent wrote, “it was the presence of police on campus that set me on the career path of a police officer. Get SRO’s back in the schools. SRO’s have changed many lives.”

“It would be nice to have more security

Jenny Dunlap, a teacher at Antioch High wrote, “With these SRO’s we can get rid of the private security contract. I support the approval of this measure.”

A parent of two students in Antioch schools wrote in support of SRO’s. “How can we use resource officers to bridge the gap of trust of some of those in the community.”

A recent graduate of an Antioch high school wrote in favor of SRO’s.

Lisa Borelli, whose son is a quarterback at Antioch High wrote “he’s scared to death to walk on campus” and mentioned “constant threats.”

Protesters Break into District Offices Interrupt Meeting

Gibson-Gray then said there would be a recess of the meeting.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Householder asked. “Hello?”

“Hello?” TSawyer-White said.

Gibson-Gray then said, “we’ve had a breach to our building. We have protesters in our building and we have to call police. Please stand by.”

When she returned to the meeting, Gibson-Gray said, “Thank you all for your patience.”

“Wait. This is trustee Householder. I just wanted to see if you could give me a recap,” Householder said.

“The recap is they breached the building,” Gibson-Gray responded. “I don’t know who they are. They were in T-shirts. I didn’t read their T-shirts. They were protesters. I don’t know who they are.”

Public Comments Resume

Victoria Williams wrote, “I’m a recent Deer Valley High School Graduate. I’m urging the board vote no on the SRO’s. SRO’s have historically contributed to the school to prison pipeline of students of color. Antioch youth and residents are speaking up in large numbers…you should listen.”

Courtney Wright wrote in support of the SRO’s. “Just a few months ago…there was a meeting…on safety at our schools,” she wrote. “I’m thankful for the grant the AUSD has received for counselors. We need to take action. Please vote yes for our community and our schools.”

DeAnna Gordon wrote, “Studies across the country have shown SRO’s don’t make schools safer. Students do not need to be policed at school.”

Emily Woodall wrote in opposition to school resource officers. “It’s my distinct opinion…SRO’s will criminalize students of color. Studies have shown those schools with SRO’s have three-and-a-half times more arrests than those schools without them.”

Michael Sagehorn wrote, it’s “an opportunity to increase safety on school campuses. We need more supportive adults on campus, not less.”

Antioch High School Site Safety Coordinator wrote, “I know it’s time to ask for more help. I’m in favor of an SRO in our schools.

Protesters Pound on District Building Doors Interrupt Meeting, Again

Householder then said, “I’m hearing a lot of noise and it’s getting pretty difficult to follow along.”

“The protesters are banging on the building,” Gibson-Gray said then asked Sawyer-White if she was able to hear.

“It sounds like someone’s breathing. They’re banging on the window?” Sawyer-White asked.

“Actually, they’re pounding on the door,” Gibson-Gray said.

Householder then reiterated she was having difficulty hearing. In response, Gibson-Gray then called for a 30-minute recess.

Gibson-Gray returned before 30 minutes and the sound of pounding on the doors could still be heard.

“I’m still hearing a lot of the same noise, though,” said Householder during the roll call of board members.

“I’d like to continue the meeting until tomorrow, if we have a quorum,” Gibson-Gray said. She then asked, “Trustee Sawyer-White, can you make noon?”

“I work,” responded Sawyer-White.

“Can you make 7 p.m.?” Gibson-Gray then asked.

“Yes,” Sawyer-White responded.

Gibson-Gray then asked the rest of the board members if they could also attend the 7:00 p.m. meeting, and they all confirmed.

“The protesters are in our lunchroom. They’re pounding on the door,” she said.

The meeting was adjourned to Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. when the remaining public comments will be read, and the board will deliberate and vote on the matter. It can be viewed on the district’s YouTube channel.

 

By Allen Payton

The Antioch School Board will hold a special meeting tonight, Wednesday, August 5, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss and vote on helping the City of Antioch fund up to six sworn police officers who will serve as School Resource Officers and will work at the middle and high school campuses in the district. The deadline for accepting the grant is August 9, 2020.

The Antioch City Council voted 3-2, last Tuesday night July 28, to accept the $750,000 U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Grant funding over three years, with the condition the school board approve 50% in matching funds. Over 100 members of the public, including students in Antioch schools submitted public comments mostly opposed to the placement of police on school campuses. (See related article)

Two school board members, Crystal Sawyer-White and Ellie Householder, both submitted public comments during the council meeting also opposing the use of police officers on Antioch campuses. So, unless either or both change their minds, the decision to approve will be left up to the other three board members. Sawyer-White only wants police at high school sports events.

According to the district staff report, “If approved by AUSD, the City of Antioch will fund the remaining 50% not covered by grant funding. For the past 10 years, the Antioch Unified School District has been one of the only school districts in far East County without School Resources Officers (SROs).

The average cost to AUSD for each SRO is approximately $63,000. If the Board chooses to move forward with funding 50% of the six approved SROs, the cost to AUSD is approximately $378,000 per year for the first three years. Year four of the grant requires both agencies to pay a larger share (an increase of approximately $41,667 per SRO). However, this will be offset by funding that will carry-over from year one as a result of the time it will take to hire and train the officers.

For the past five school years, the District has hired a private security firm with two officers to serve during the school day. The average cost per year for the past five years is approximately $263,000. If the Board accepts the grant this evening, the funds used to contract with the private security firm to hire two officers will, instead, be utilized for six SROs.

Additionally, approximately $100,000 is currently budgeted within the District’s budget for various security costs that can be reallocated to offset the contribution by AUSD, resulting in minimal, if any, additional contribution from the general fund.

The Board can choose to fund 50% of all six officers at a cost of approximately $378,000 per year or can choose fewer officers at the following costs: 2 officers – $126,000; 3 officers – $189,000; 4 officers – $252,000; or 5 officers – $315,000.

Should the Board approve the cost sharing of SROs, District administration and the City would negotiate an MOU which would include, but not be limited to: parent input into hiring/selection of SROs, flexing of schedules to cover key nighttime events such as sports, etc.”

The school board meeting will be livestreamed and can be viewed on the AUSD YouTube channel.

 

By Antonio Hernandez

For years, our community has struggled with providing a safe, supportive learning experience for our students. This has resulted in a decline in enrollment in the Antioch Unified School District, as more parents have opted for private education, inter-district transfers, homeschooling and charter schools.

But when parents opt out of our local public schools, they are not protesting the great teachers at AUSD. They are saying no to a system that continues to overstretch staff resources. Within the last year, AUSD has cut counselors, teacher aids, college and career staff, librarians, custodians, bilingual aids, and much more. Most recently, AUSD cut 26 similar positions (totaling $1.8 million) from its budget.

Now, both the City of Antioch and AUSD are facing a tough question: whether or not to fund over $3 million to place six cops on our school campuses known as student resource officers (SRO). But is it really the right response?

It’s understandable that as a community we may feel that adding police to our schools will make our children safe. But cops on school campuses are not an effective solution, which is why schools throughout our country are moving away from this practice in favor of more holistic solutions.

A recent paper by the Brookings Institution found that increasing investments in SROs does not lead to safer schools. Instead, they found that academic achievement is a much stronger predictor of school safety. Another paper published in Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice found that students felt less safe in the presence of SROs.

Often by the time an SRO is involved in a student’s life, we have already failed them in a million different ways. More than two-thirds of children report experiencing at least one traumatic event by the time they reach the age of 16. Based on a 2018 survey of our students, a full 70 percent of 11th graders in Antioch identified with the statement, “I felt sad and down.” And according to the most recent Census statistics, 24.9 percent of AUSD students — more than 7,000 kids — are living below the poverty line.

It’s not hard to imagine how these factors can lead to trouble at school. Yet school incidents could be prevented with the right resources. For the same cost as the six SROs, we could hire around 20 counselors to staff nearly all of our schools. But our efforts don’t have to end there. By providing quality after-school programs, access to food and shelter, and a supportive community, we can begin to address the true underlying causes of student underachievement issues rather than just the symptoms.

When we invest in SROs over education, not only are we teaching our kids that we see them as violent and in need of policing, but we are ignoring the root of the problem. On the other hand, by addressing the basic needs of our students such as access to food, shelter, and mental health resources, we can dramatically improve not only the safety of the school, but student achievement as well.

By connecting troubled students with a trusted counselor, we can reduce their feelings of hopelessness. Kids could learn to express their anger in healthy ways as well as develop resilience to help them through traumatic events.

Too often, the lack of student resources and support leads to tragedy. How many more students does the community have to mourn before our city leaders can make bold, innovative decisions to address the equity issues at the heart of the challenge with school safety?

Cops are a band-aid solution to under-resourced schools, and a very poor one at that. We must resist the temptation of using our overstretched police department to solve our communities most complex problems, even if it makes us feel better.

Now more than ever, we need to let our leaders know this is not the way we want to solve this problem. Join in this conversation on my facebook page: facebook.com/antonioforausd

Hernandez has taken out Nomination Papers to run for Antioch School Board in District 1 to challenge Board President Diane Gibson-Gray.

 

Sawyer-White withdraws from school board race, then pulls and files nomination papers again, reveals write-in campaign for Congress in March; said she would not run and back Lewis, but changed her mind

By Allen Payton

Antioch School Board Trustee Ellie Householder has changed her mind, withdrew from the mayor’s race on Monday and instead pulled nomination papers to run against incumbent Arne Simonsen for City Clerk. In addition, another candidate, Lauren Posada, has pulled Nomination Papers to run for City Treasurer against incumbent Jim Davis and another challenger, Ruben Rocha. (A message was sent through the Facebook account of someone with that same name in Antioch to get more information about the candidate. Please check back later for more details about her and updates to this report.)

Mike Barbanica filed his papers on Monday to run for City Council in District 2 and is awaiting verification of his nomination signatures. If qualified, he will face former Antioch City Councilman Tony Tiscareno. Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commission Chairman Sandra White was qualified on Monday to run for city council in District 3. Julio Mendez qualified on Friday, July 31 to run for mayor but nothing definitive about the candidate could be found, yet on the internet.

Also, according to the latest report from the Contra Costa Elections office, Antioch School Board Trustee Crystal Sawyer-White filed her nomination papers on Friday, July 24 but then withdrew from the race. Then on Monday, August 3 she pulled and filed her papers, again.

Asked why she responded, “because I wanted to submit a candidate’s statement. They said, ‘you have to withdraw and resubmit’. Last time I won, but I didn’t have a candidate’s statement.”

Asked about her agreement with Clyde Lewis to not run for re-election and support him in the District 3 school board race, Sawyer-White shared the following.

“I ran for Congress in March against McNerney. I never hear from him. He doesn’t represent Antioch to me. It was a scare tactic. I was a write-in for Congress,” she stated. “There was an African American ‘She Ready’ event and said there were 100 seats open and they were really going to back us up. Jim Frazier runs unopposed every year. But I didn’t get enough write-in votes but not enough to make it to the November ballot. That’s when Clyde said he was going to run for school board.”

“Crystal said if I was going to run for school board, she would run for something else and support me. That was our agreement,” Lewis said when reached for comment. “Then I heard through a mutual friend that she had decided to run for school board, again.”

Sawyer-White said she changed her mind after Lewis had said he was going to run for city council, and people asked her to run, again.

“I announced on FB (Facebook) months ago…officially. Clyde told me he was running for city council a few months ago,” she said.

However, Lewis said he had been asked by some people to run for city council and he told them he would consider it.

“But it isn’t what I know. It’s not where I have the relationships,” he explained. “So, I continued in my plan to run for school board.”

“I am truly passionate about education,” Sawyer-White shared on July 23. “My term has been a living hell, but I believe another term with new trustees we can improve the district. I established a East Bay Parent Advisory Committee and I am on the CCCSBA (Contra Costa County School Boards Association) now, as well. I believe in transparency is key. Ellie and I work well together. It has been a pleasure!”

“You need someone experienced in there. I just can’t sit here and have my son in the district. It was a horrible semester,” she shared, today.

UPDATE: In a post on her Facebook page on Tuesday, Householder wrote,

Posted on Householder’s Facebook page on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020.

“After careful consideration, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy for mayor. I did not make this decision lightly. After meeting with local leaders, the reality is our community needs to rally around a Democratic candidate for mayor. The last thing any of us want to be is a Ralph Nader (even though I love him but that’s besides the point).

I have the utmost respect for individuals like Council Member Monica Wilson, former Mayor Wade Harper or anyone who wishes to run for mayor (or any office for that matter).

During this meeting I was asked why am I running. For me it was simple, the flagrant disregard of our youth in Antioch. The City Council meeting on SROs exemplified that. We should not brush off 100+ concerns from youth about cops on their school campuses, we should be celebrating and ENCOURAGING it.

So I have decided to run instead for City Clerk – a position that will allow me to engage our young people in the democratic process, just as I have been doing for years.

In the age of Trump, we should be expanding access to the ballot box, not limiting it.

I am excited to work with the community in building an effective 21st-century Clerk’s office that engages everyone in the democratic process. I hope you will join me.”

In addition, according to Monday’s report by City Clerk Simonsen, the following candidates for city offices filed their nomination papers or qualified for the November ballot:

Mayor

Sean Wright (I) – Mayor of Antioch

Julio Mendez – Qualified on 7/31/20

Rakesh Kumar Christian – Qualified on 7/22/20

Kenneth Turnage II – former Antioch Planning Commission Chair

Monica Wilson – Antioch City Councilwoman

Wade Harper – Withdrawn 7/31/20

Gabriel Makinano

Elizabeth Householder – Withdrawn 8/3/20

Council District 2

Tony Tiscareno – former Antioch City Councilman – Qualified on 7/30/20

Michael Barbanica – Filed 8/3/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Council District 4

Alex Astorga

Sandra White – Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commission Chairman – Qualified on 8/3/20

City Treasurer

James Davis (I) – Antioch City Clerk

Ruben Rocha

Lauren Posada

City Clerk

Arne Simonsen (I) – Antioch City Clerk

Dwayne Eubanks – Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commissioner

Ellie Householder – Antioch School Board Trustee

ANTIOCH SCHOOL BOARD

District 1

Antonio Hernandez

Diane Gibson-Gray – Antioch School Board President – Filed Papers 7/31/20

District 3

Clyde Lewis – Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commissioner

Crystal Sawyer-White – Antioch School Board Trustee – Filed Papers 7/24/20, Withdrew, Pulled & Filed Papers, again 8/3/20

There were no changes in any of the other city or school board races. This list will be updated when additional registered Antioch voters take out Nomination Papers, withdraw or become Qualified for the various city or school board races. To see the latest list of candidates for all 10 races visit www.antiochherald.com/elections-2020.

Eubanks changes his mind; Tiscareno files papers for District 2 council seat

By Allen Payton

Two more candidates have jumped into the fray of Antioch politics, as Police Crime Prevention Commission Members Dr. Clyde Lewis, Jr. and Dwayne Eubanks have pulled their Nomination Papers to run for Antioch School Board in District 3 and city clerk, respectively.

According to the County Elections Office Wednesday afternoon report, Lewis will be challenging current Trustee Crystal Sawyer-White who is running for re-election to her second term on the board, after having said she wouldn’t run and would support Lewis.

This is his second attempt, having run for school board in 2018, placing fourth behind Mary Rocha, Ellie Householder and Jim Davis.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Lewis is the founder, and since 2014 has worked as Principal Consultant and Grant Specialist of ONESSIS International, LLC, and is currently leading the structuring of a program designed to support the re-entry of formerly incarcerated youth. He has previously worked in education, first as a lecturer at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and Keio University, as well as for Overseas Broadcasting, OBC in Tokyo, Japan. Then as a Graduate Research Assistant for San Francisco State, as well as for Skyline College. Lewis also worked for Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and in job training and development including developing the Career Training and Employment Center (CTEC) Career Pathways program for Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS) as the Director of Workforce Development.

He earned both his Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree with emphasis in Ethnic Studies, as well as his master’s degree in Educational Administration and Supervision with Higher Education emphasis from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Lewis earned his Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership, Administration, Social Justice and Matriculation from San Francisco State in 2016.

He is the president of the Kiwanis Club of the Delta-Antioch and also serves on the District Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee for the Contra Costa Community College District.

Eubanks, changed his mind after announcing on his Facebook page last July that he was running for City Council in District 2. The map of the city council districts and his comment, “Running For Antioch Council Second District” still appears on his page, as of today. He will instead take on incumbent City Clerk Arne Simonsen, who is seeking his third term in the currently, part-time position.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Eubanks is a Senior Business Analyst for the Judicial Council of California. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and Sociology from Linfield College in 1975 and did some coursework toward an MBA at J.F.K. University in 2002 and 2003. Eubanks is active with the Antioch Historical Society and is an avid runner.

Simonsen faced no opponent four years ago and defeated Argentina Davila-Luevano in his first campaign for City Clerk in 2012. He previously served on the Antioch City Council having first been elected in 2000, placing second out of five candidates behind Brian Kalinowski, and re-elected in 2004 placing second out of seven candidates, again behind Kalinowski, but beating incumbents Reggie Moore and Manny Soliz. Simonsen lost his bid for re-election to his third term on the council in 2008 placing third out of three candidates behind Mary Rocha and Kalinowski.

In addition, former Antioch Councilman Tony Tiscareno filed his papers to run in District 2 and according to the daily report from Simonsen, is awaiting verification of signatures. Each candidate must submit the valid signatures of at least 20 registered voters in the district in which they plan to run.

The following Antioch residents have taken out Nomination Papers as of 5 p.m., July 24th or Qualified for the following City offices:

ANTIOCH CITY OFFICES

Council District 2

Tony Tiscareno – Former Antioch Councilman – Filed on 7/28/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Michael Barbanica

City Clerk

Arne Simonsen (I)

Dwayne Eubanks – Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commissioner

ANTIOCH SCHOOL BOARD

District 3

Crystal Sawyer-White – Antioch School Board Trustee

Clyde Lewis – Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commissioner

There were no other candidates to pull or file their Nomination Papers for any of the other city offices or school board seats. This list will be updated when additional registered Antioch voters take out Nomination Papers or become Qualified. To see the complete list of candidates for city offices and school board, and to see the 2020 election district maps visit www.antiochherald.com/election-2020.

Editor’s Note: If not provided by the candidates, the photos of them used by the Herald are the best and most recent photos available on the internet, usually from their social media pages. All candidates are encouraged to email their bio/resume/curriculum vitae and most recent photo to editor@antiochherald.com. Thank you.

School Board Members Sawyer-White, Householder express their opposition

By Allen Payton

Following a presentation by Antioch Police Chief T Brooks and listening to over 100 comments mostly from students and recent graduates of high schools in Antioch opposing the placement of police officers on campuses, known as School Resource Officers (SRO’s), the Antioch City Council voted 3-2 to approve accepting a $750,000 federal grant to fund six SRO’s. Councilmembers Monica Wilson and Lamar Thorpe voted against the motion that included the condition the Antioch School Board agree to fund half of the cost.

But the decision will be left up to only three of the board members, as Trustees Crystal Sawyer-White and Ellie Householder, who is running for mayor, opposed placing the six SRO’s on Antioch school campuses. However, Sawyer-White supported having them at sporting events.

Mayor Sean Wright spoke first saying, “I would like to thank Chief Tammany Brooks for bringing this to council. This is something people in the community have been asking for, for a long time. But due to a downturn in the economy…part of the plan was as we increased the number of police on the force, with community policing there is an opportunity to put officers on campus. Not just for safety, but to build relationships.”

“Several students said they never saw cops, they didn’t have relationship with officers,” Wright continued. “Our youth need to understand our officers, and our officers need to understand our youth. That interaction…on campus. I have two children that attend Deer Valley High School. I think this is something that needs to be for us to approve, contingent upon the school board approving them, and that they want to help pay for them.”

In response to Wright’s comments Thorpe then said, “Like you I’m the only other one on here that currently has students in Antioch schools. When my daughter leaves Holy Rosary, I’m not going all the way to Carondolet. I want her going to high school in Antioch.”

“That’s not what I’m hearing from community members,” he said in regards to Wright’s comments. “What I have heard is that they want youth programs…that they’re wanting our youth directed into the right paths…gang intervention in our schools. I don’t want my daughter to go to school where there are police officers. With the work Chief Brooks is doing with community policing, stopping and playing basketball, that’s the kind of engagement.”

He said he was “particularly impressed” with the comments from all the youth.

“In the face of the $1.8 million cuts the school district recently made…counselors, bilingual aids for students that have language barriers. I’m all for funding positions at the school district,” Thorpe stated. “If we want to give police officers overtime to go to basketball games, I’m all for that. But I’m not for this as an African American parent, a Latino parent…with what’s going on in this country, today. I find it very very problematic that we’re going in this direction. I think we should postpone this until we find out from the district if they’re willing to fund this. And with the pandemic we don’t know when kids will be going back to school. This one gives me a lot of heartburn because this is against what a lot of people are demanding in our country, in our community, which are services.”

“I too have been listening to the youth,” said Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock asking of Antioch Police Chief Tammany Brooks, “Can you please tell us why you applied for this grant, Chief?”

“Since I’ve been chief, I’ve had residents asking me when I think I can put school resource officers back into the schools,” he responded.

“You have been working with AUSD on this grant, correct?” Ogorchock said.

“That is correct. We worked with the school district on applying for this grant,” Brooks replied.

“All my kids and the kids they grew up with didn’t have a fear of police, because they had relationships. I’ve heard loud and clear they want police at the schools and at the events,” Ogorchock stated. “I’m appreciative of the students commenting. But I also have to listen to the parents.”

“Chief can you use this grant for mental counseling or anything else?” she asked.

“No. This is a DOJ grant specifically for school resource officers,” Brooks explained. He then said the decision has to be made by August 9 and that AUSD Superintendent Stephanie Anello planned to have a special meeting, next week to discuss the issue.

“I support this,” Ogorchock concluded.

“You said something to the amount of training,” Wilson said to Chief Brooks.

“In the first six months there’s a mandatory 48-hour training course for school resource officers,” Brooks said. “That training is new training. This training is current…to benefit the relationship between the schools, the students and law enforcement.”

The training includes de-escalation and cultural awareness, he mentioned. “The grant pays for this specific training and advanced training.”

“I’m not one to use our police officers as mental health experts,” Wilson stated. “I heard from the 700 people who commented (at the council’s meetings in June) ‘our police officers are not social workers.’”

“How do we address the trauma our students are going through at home?” she asked. “Our council of teens are saying we need to address mental health. I just think if we’re going to invest…we need to invest more in mental health…tutors.”

“I think this needs a longer conversation and I’m surprised this didn’t go to the school district, first,” Wilson continued. “I’d like to learn what their plan is, first. It just doesn’t sit well with me to have officers in a role instead of mental health experts.”

“I just can’t vote for these six officers when these students are asking for the counselors,” she concluded.

Mayor Pro Tem Joy Motts then said, “First, I just want to make the comment that I wish we had more time to consider this. I think the chief received this June 25th, so we haven’t had the time to discuss this.”

She said she wished it could have been sent to the city council-school board subcommittee for discussion, first. Motts then suggested a rigorous interview process for the officers with parents and school staff.

“We have options, here,” she continued and asked for “Full support from the school board and there financial commitment of at least $250,000 and going forward the collaboration of all three agencies.”

“That’s really the only way to go forward with that,” Motts added.

Thorpe then said, “I think we need to ask the school district if they’re going to fund this entire thing. I also don’t accept this notion we can’t meet. Both the mayor and Diane Gibson-Gray, the president of the school board have the power to call meetings. So, there’s no excuse. The school-council ad hoc committee should have met on this issue.”

“Joy you did it as the president of the school board when they were trying to steal Dozier-Libbey Medical School,” he added.

Thorpe then made a motion that the school board pay for the entire amount. Wilson seconded the motion.

“Are you asking for them to fund the entire $754,000?” Motts asked.

“Yes,” Thorpe replied. “If they want this, they’ll pay for it.”

So, the amount he wanted the school district to pay for was the total amount except for the grant.

Ogorchock then offered a substitute motion to accept the grant and fund the six school resource officers.

“Part of the acceptance of this grant, we would then enter into an MOU with the school district,” Chief Brooks explained responding to a comment by Motts.

Motts then seconded Ogorchock’s motion.

“A substitute motion?” Thorpe asked. “That would require a four-fifths vote.”

“A substitute motion requires a majority vote,” City Attorney Thomas Smith responded.

“The motion is $750,000 contingent upon the balance from the Antioch School District,” Wright said.

“All six officers, the grant funds are there, and the school district picks up half,” Ogorchock repeated her motion.

“So, whatever we send to the schools, they could kick back to us with ‘no, we want to pay a lesser amount,’” Wilson said.

“To make it clear, all the current students, tonight they don’t have the resources to support our students,” Motts said. “To ask them to do something with the money they can’t do.

Brooks explained that Brentwood has three SRO’s and the district splits the cost fifty percent with the city. He also mentioned Pittsburg still has five SRO’s and the school district pays $550,000 toward their costs. However, Brooks shared that both Concord and Richmond which each had four SRO’s have stopped their programs.

The substitute motion passed 3-2 with Wilson and Thorpe voting no.

By Velma Wilson

We may not be headed back to the classroom yet, but students still need school supplies for the school year. Let’s prepare students for success by ensuring they have the necessary school supplies while they are distance learning.

On August 15th from 11am- 2 pm, in the parking lot of Somersville Towne Center, Claryssa will host her Annual Stuff the Bus School Supply Giveaway. She will also be accepting school supplies, donated computers, and Ipads to have refurbished and then distributed to students and families in need. Social Distancing will be adhered to and mask/face covering is mandatory.

Requested donations:

Wide & College Ruled Notebooks

Wide & College Ruled Filler Paper

Colored Pencils

Colored Markers

Crayons

Highlighters

#2 Pencils

Mechanical Pencils

Ink Pens (blue, black, red)

Erasers

Glue Sticks

Rulers

Pencil Sharpeners

Folders

1″ Binders

2″ Binders

Dry Erase Boards & Markers

Staplers and staples

Backpacks for Laptops

Monetary donations can also be made to Claryssa for Stuff the Bus via Venmo @CWILSON1216

For questions please contact Claryssa at 925-250-0692 or Velma at 925-250-3051.

Will study molecular biology, computer science

By Antioch Unified School District

   Like so many, Deer Valley High School had an unusual end to its school year. But two Deer Valley students continued to shine and rose to the top of the Wolverine pyramid.

   Britney Ta was the valedictorian while Jasmine Yang earned the title of salutatorian. Ta ended her year with a weighted GPA of 4.3953. She accomplished this impressive feat by working hard, of course, and taking 11 AP courses in three years.

   She said her favorite subject was “definitely psychology with Mr. Gorski. His classes were always super engaging and interesting with his unique teaching style. As a class, we established multiple inside jokes and created a sense of community among our peers – something I find to be pretty rare in most classrooms. I looked forward to going to school on the days I had AP Psychology.”

   Additionally, she enjoyed AP Calculus with Ms. McClain, who was “also super invigorating. I feel she prepared me for college like no other. She deserves the highest of recognitions.”

   Aside from her studies, Ta also kept busy as an active member of Key Club, CSF, the DV Dance Crew, which was “definitely one of the highlights of my high school career. It was incredible.”

   One of her favorite memories from Deer Valley was during the homecoming assembly.

“I was a part of a friend’s skit and able to become close friends with people I would never meet otherwise through our skit practices.”

   Ta attended kindergarten and part of first grade in Hayward. After moving with her family to Antioch, she went to at Diablo Vista Elementary and Dallas Ranch Middle before becoming a Wolverine.

In the fall, Ta will go to UC Santa Barbara with plans to major in computer science.

   Salutatorian Jasmine Yang earned a final GPA of 4.3478. Her favorite subjects were Japanese, math and biology. She really enjoyed Ms. McClain as her math teacher “because she made class and learning enjoyable.”

   Some extracurriculars Yang participated in were the Contra Costa County Science and Engineering Fair, where “my partner and I won fourth place in the biology division.” She also was involved in MESA winning second place the Math Escape Challenge and was active with the Japanese festivals held on the DV campus.

   Her favorite high school memories revolve around the Japanese festivals because “even though they took a lot of hard work to set up, work through and clean up, I had a great time laughing and (being) alongside my friends and classmates.”

   Like Ta, Yang also attended Diablo Vista Elementary School and Dallas Ranch Middle schools. This fall, she will head to Cal and major in Molecular and Cell Biology.

   “I am very proud of Britney and Jasmine,” said DV Principal Bukky Oyebade. “They have worked very and proven just how resilient they are. DVHS has several outstanding young people, and these two young ladies have risen to the top. I wish them well and would love for them to stay in touch and come back to pour into the underclassmen.”

#WeAreAUSD