Story by Sofia Alva
News Associate Editor
Photo by Ella Jayasekera
Photography Editor
Graphics by Charlotte Cohen
Associate Design Editor
The district’s annual School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) revealed evidence of racism and other inequities at SPHS. The data, which analyzes performance level across a variety of demographics, generated severe criticism from parents and students.
The SPSA included data from the 2018-2019 school year, which showed that the suspension rate for English learners at the high school is 4.9 percent, while the suspension rate for all students is only 1.5 percent.
“Obviously a BIPOC immigrant is going to be treated differently from somebody with no accent, or even a European immigrant,” sophomore Isu Park said. “When my mom first moved to the U.S. [in ninth grade], she knew very little English, was automatically put in the lowest classes, and was easily labeled a scapegoat in school classroom mishaps. This was multiple decades ago, but the narrative remains: English learners and having accents in general are racially discriminated against.”