After two boys fought on the school bus, recalls parent activist Jesse Willard, the principal questioned one, not African American, and sent him home—but suspended the other and one of his brothers, who were black.

This “was not an isolated incident,” says Willard, but part of a pattern of racial discrimination in school discipline in Modesto City Schools. Jesse and Doris Willard got involved after the boys’ mother called their hotline and they went with her to meet with the principal. The Willards pointed to ways the principal had violated school policy—and the boys’ suspensions were reduced.

The Willards’ hotline was part of a campaign by a group of Modesto parents against bias in discipline. With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), parents gathered data, reported their findings to school board, and spoke out against discrimination. As a result, the district appointed a community affairs director who’s now working on changes to discipline policies.

Parents’ group forms

The Willards got active in 2004, after their son was suspended for fighting. They felt the district treated them unfairly, so they placed an ad in the paper, asking parents with similar experiences to call their hotline in English or Spanish. Calls began coming in and 30 people came to their first meeting. A core group of seven parents met weekly.

“It seems like our kids have to fight twice as hard to stay in school because of everything being done to make them stay out,” says John Mataka, parent and long-time education advocate. “You’ve got to be assertive.”

ACLU gets involved

“We heard concerns from community members that students of color face discriminatory discipline,” says ACLU Racial Justice Project Fellow, Brian Lambert. The ACLU began investigating and went to school and district meetings with students, parents, and community members. The ACLU also filed a Freedom of Information Act request so parent activists could record parent-school meetings.

Parents investigate

Group members divided tasks. Parents:

• recorded meetings between other parents and their schools, noting whether the school followed district policy, then reported results to the school board
• spoke out at school board meetings against harmful policies, such as a proposal to take kids with disciplinary issues to the local jail
• organized a forum where parents could talk with district representatives.

District makes changes

In November 2005, the district hired John Ervin as its first community affairs director, charged with making sure all students are treated fairly. The parents “definitely played a major role in creating the position,” says Ervin. “We are making (over 100) changes to the student conduct code,” with parent input. The district is also starting programs to lower suspension, expulsion, and dropout rates for African American and Latino students.

The parents’ group “has been the catalyst for highlighting concerns about the treatment of students of color in Modesto city schools,” says Lambert.

“The district has never been faced with a group like us,” says Doris Willard. “They’ve never been confronted so bluntly because people never knew they had the right to do these things.”

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