About two weeks ago, some students from Natomas High School walked out of class and used their voices to engage in an important matter across the country and around the world. They expressed concerns regarding physical safety of women not only at Natomas High School, but in society. We agree with our students about having the right to a safe environment, and we also support when they choose to engage in a civic activity tied to their lives and world. In fact, we have a brief document that outlines our student voices approach that was updated just this past November available on our website entitled Student Voices.
The incident that initially brought on these protests happened nearly two weeks ago and involved one student in particular and his interaction with a female student. Natomas High School sent home a communication about it to families on 2/4/22. On that same day, about 25 young women came to the office at Natomas High School where site administrators took their initial information and started an investigation. Immediately after administrators talked with the students, the first protest followed where students walked out of class. Since then, students have chosen to walk out of class two additional times even after site administrators have spent time listening to their concerns, conducting an investigation, and providing opportunities for students to work in a positive manner on solutions. It’s also important to note, that after 40+ interviews, one student has remained at the center of behavior related to physical safety and has not been on campus since two Wednesdays ago.
In addition to multiple calls and meetings with site administrators, some of the student leaders asked for and met with our Executive Director who leads our Student Voices engagement. She also heard their concerns and has shared that information with administration. This is important for you to know because there have been multiple efforts to work with the students and address their concerns. While Natomas Unified has an on-going approach to honor student voices where students can learn from civic advocacy on important issues such as the one our students have advocated for, unfortunately in this situation, there have been some serious outcomes related to the walkouts. This includes verbal arguments among some students, at least two physical altercations among the student leaders themselves, and shoplifting by students who used the distraction of the protest to walk off campus and steal at Food Maxx. We sincerely apologize to Food Maxx for our students’ behavior.
One of the other outcomes of these walkouts has been some of our female students opening up and getting support from our social emotional staff members on campus regarding incidents with young men (on and off campus) that have affected them. Even when events do not take place on a school campus or at a school event, Natomas Unified has resources to support our students. We have a team of social workers, counselors, and psychologists on site to assist. We also have connections to support services and counseling through the external programs we partner with.
In addition, Natomas Unified has a 24 hour, 365 days/year Social Emotional Support referral system available on a phone, mobile device or computer at https://natomasunified.org/gethelp/.
This system will soon be expanded to directly support young women or men who are subject to or are the victims of any form of sexual harassment, assault or similar unwanted behavior. Doing this well for the well-being of our students will take a week or two. Nothing replaces a student connecting with a caring adult (parent, staff or other safe individual) to seek assistance. And if there is a life threatening emergency, 9-1-1 is the best option. In cases where a caring adult is not immediately available, our Get Help system is there to assist. A QR code for our Get Help system is being distributed to all of our secondary sites.
Our school site is working with student leaders to tailor site based assemblies and/or other learning activities to further create a culture where all students feel safe and know how to access support immediately. As educators, we often come across young women or men who are the victim of some form of sexually inappropriate behavior and wait weeks to tell a caring adult. If you are a parent/guardian, please take the time later today to sit down and talk with your student about their personal safety and how they can seek help from you and/or our schools. If you need help immediately after these discussions, please reach out to your school site or contact our Constituent and Customer Services team at (916) 561-5253 or [email protected]. The time you take today may make a significant difference in the lives of each of our students.
NUSD Communications