Hundreds of Coronado students, alumni and community residents have launched a petition asking the school district to create a plan to address systematic racism. This past week, several students have told stories of racial slurs, taunting and discrimination in Coronado schools. Today, Visual Storyteller Brad Willis met with Coronado Unified School District Superintendent Karl Mueller for this report.
You can find the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/coronado-unified-school-district-coronado-schools-address-racism
Coronado Schools Update from Superintendent Mueller
June 9, 2020
“A WELL-EDUCATED MIND WILL ALWAYS HAVE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS.” – Helen Keller
Good afternoon,
This is a pivotal time for our community, our state, and our nation.
Schools can be a powerful place to help students process and navigate events taking place in the larger world outside. It is our obligation to create safe spaces to explore and contemplate the essence of who we are. We see individuals in our community and across the world gathering to stand in solidarity for justice, to assume the responsibilities inherent to citizenship, and to foster a sense of agency and urgency. These gatherings have purpose and clarity. They are a call to action. They signal that what we have done to address systemic racism isn’t nearly enough. It is time to critically examine who we are as individuals, as members of a community, and as a nation. It is time to explore how our own action or inaction influences our community and the world around us.
Black Lives Matter.
This is not a political issue; it is an American issue directly related to our fundamental beliefs in equality. It should not be divisive.
As an academic institution, we have a responsibility to challenge our existing practices. We have important work to do in Coronado Unified School District. This work necessitates a professional response. We look forward to examining our current practices and adapting our approaches to incorporate explicit inclusivity and antiracism in our actions as a staff and as school community.
We can and we will get better. We have to.
Respectfully,
Karl Mueller
