Inglewood Unified School District (IUSD) continues to face complaints from staff that continue to face racial discrimination dating back to 2014 under the administration of Dr. Don Brann. The complaints have resurfaced and have fallen on Dr. Erika Torres, who was appointed by the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) in 2018 to lead IUSD. Staff has previously made claims the district was intentionally “purging” African-American’s from their job and with those concerns resurfacing, the intention could be aimed at purging students as well to sell the district’s land to the highest bidder.
In 2014, five African-American employees in the Inglewood Unified School District have filed a lawsuit claiming the district is orchestrating a race-based purge of employees.
The plaintiffs, who worked at various levels in the facilities, human resources, food services and superintendent’s offices, claim the district has a history of laying off black employees, only to replace them with Latino consultants.
Related: Inglewood Unified employees file lawsuit claiming racial discrimination
Six years later those claims have resurfaced that Torres is only hiring her friends for jobs, whom are all Latino.
2UrbanGirls exclusively reported on racial discrimination allegations that arose back in January on the Centinela Elementary school campus. Principal Albert De Leon was placed on administrative leave as a direct result of the district’s investigation.
Staff have taken to social media to give their first hand accounts of Torres’ failure to promote African-American’s to leadership posts in a district that is comprised of nearly 50% of African-American students.
Related: Letter to the Editor: Inglewood Unified principal calls African-American staffer “monkey
Internally, LACOE is having issues with the going on’s in IUSD as Torres was handpicked by them to “turn around” the district and ask Inglewood voters to approve a $240 million bond November 3.
There is growing consensus that Torres is anti-Black as her response to the issues surrounding the principal are to spend $200,000 to teach the children about slavery.
In 2014 former IUSD state administrator Dr. Don Brann was forced to apologize for comments he made about the community being so “unsafe” he needed a personal security detail.
“The Los Angeles County Office of Education Superintendent has the sole authority regarding the administrator,” said Alex Johnson, the boards lone African-American representative. “The County Board did not vote on the appointment.“
There is no room in our school for racism or leaders who either cover it up or condone it.
9 Comments
Erika Torres the new Administrator for the district loves to self-promote, and has antecedents of discrimination complains while working in LAUSD. She is not the right person to have such a high position in the District
I bet everything he put in technology, I hope it won’t get stolen by other administrators that wanna retire and leave our kids with nothing. There’s been very poor performance in IUSD because of claims “reverse racism” and have the non classified jobs to be protected.
Besides the issue related to the principal, this piece provides zero evidence to prove that there is racism taking place in handling personnel issues at IUSD. Furthermore, while IUSD is “a district that is comprised of nearly 50% of African-American students” it is also more than 50% comprised of Latino students and is that number also representative of the personnel? I don’t think so? Where are the numbers reflecting Latino personnel in a district that is largely Latino? In fact, the last time I checked the large majority of employees were actually African-American. Therefore if turnover is taking place, wouldn’t said turnover be reflective of the majority of employees (in this case African American)? Really disappointed in this article which simply aims at being divisive in a community that really should be coming together especially in the midst of the current political landscape. I expect better fact gathering from 2urbangirls.
I live in Inglewood and attended IUSD schools my education under the African American administration leadership didnt assist Latinos…and never had additional assistance. Our education was really segregated and poor representation. I cant agree less with u.
Indeed there should never be racism in our school district
It was wrong when Board Member Arnold Butler in his outbursts felt okay using the offensive “n word” at a Board Meeting! (All the letter were included when he said it)
It was wrong when a parent at the Warren Lane meeting said she didn’t want her students going to school with the “Mexican” kids.
It was wrong when an advisory committee member stated he didn’t care about removing people’s names from our buildings because “ ALL the White People “were racist slave owners.
Oops California entered the union as a free state = no slaves here.
That was out and out vocal racism but through the years let us consider:
It was LaTanya Kirk-Carter (African American ) who began the $200,000.00 California Highway Patrol Security contract to ensure HER safety when she was the appointed by State Administrator for the already financially devastated school district. There was no uproar about the contract then….however when Dr Brann (Caucasian) arrived and the contract continued he was accused of being racist and blamed for the contract she signed .
When then IUSD reserve officers were arrested for carrying illegal (am 47) firearms an African American Boardmember said she would NEVER vote to fire a black man,
When funds were donated so that students could put on a play about overcoming a not so great childhood Annie was called a racist play which should be done in Inglewood Oops the donor was African American.
Let us work to make certain we call out ALL racist actions no matter who the offenders or the offended are.
No one should find it okay to spread hateful words toward any community member .
No one should be insensitive to children, parents, community, teachers, classified,
elderly, sickly, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, White People, or any other group.
And while we are at it let us stop putting service employees in a sub class while worshipping sports jocks, preachers, entertainers , and those elected to public office.
As the old song says
“Everyone’s the same in the good Lord’s sight
I am not surprised…there is something just not right here. Turn over of top people and Principles is quick.
When it comes to hiring people, qualifications and trust are what employers look for. Job seekers need to convince the hiring department that they are qualified and can be trusted, reliable, and dedicated to the delivery of the service they are seeking employment. Those who are in the job need to continue their best effort in the performance of their work. All employees should feel some kind of ownership, concern, and love for the district or company they are working for. There is a sense of belonging. There is a sense of pride when the company thrives/or when the students succeed. Without these, they will be just hirelings who wait for their pay at the end of each month. Work becomes a drag.
Mr. De Leon, our principal, has shown dedication in his work, extending his working hours even at the wee hours in the morning, sending emails to teachers and planning for the school improvement. He brought innovations to our school and he continues to bring services to the students. Almost every classroom has a smart board and each student has a computer to use. He supports teachers and staff in every way specially in the technology aspect. Centinela got a music teacher for all students through his initiative. I feel the sincerity in all his efforts to improve all the teachers, students, and the school as a whole.
He is nonthreatening in his approach and treats everybody with respect. When he sees something that he feels needs correction or clarification, he asks questions and gives you the chance to explain. When a teacher airs complains against any staffer, he investigates and asks the person a chance to give his explanation. Each person in school is made to feel the importance of his job and his role in the smooth running of the school.
Being a principal is not an easy job; one cannot please everybody. The reception of any staff when asked of an explanation for something that is neglected or perceived abusive by others can vary, and the response can be varied, too (admission, denial, or retaliation). What we need to have here is fairness, a fair hearing of both sides. We need to practice what our community is crying on the street: Fairness to ALL being accused, not only for the Black community. Fairness should be accorded to everybody. A PERSON IS CONSIDERED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.
What does any of that have to do with his racist behavior? He has it tough. So he gets to ease his pressure by using racial slurs. How tough is it to come to work and be subjected to bigotry from your supervisor? How tough is it to endure hypocritical colleagues trying to excuse the inexcusable because it didn’t happen to them and he has done so much for us. So you say fairness when you practice fakeness. What’s fair about the district attempting to cover it up and minimizing his administrative leave.What was fair about returning him without notifying the employees that he made the offensive remarks to. What’s fair about covering up faults and calling it unfair or unbalanced because of who it is not what they did. Can we be honest , under no circumstances should he have said what he said
No circumstance period.
I bet everything he put in technology, I hope it won’t get stolen by other administrators that wanna retire and leave our kids with nothing. There’s been very poor performance in IUSD because of claims “reverse racism” and have the non classified jobs to be protected.