Pasadena Unified Board Passes ‘Latin-X’ and Indigenous Students Support Resolution

The Pasadena Unified School District Board on Thursday committed to the terms of a resolution which promises support to Latina/o/x and Indigenous parents in successfully preparing their students to be college and career ready upon graduation from the District.

The resolution commits the District to creating a Latina/o/x and Indigenous Parent Council and to providing the parents with materials and resources in Spanish and their respective Indigenous languages, as needed.

Elizabeth Lisa Barrios of Urban Strategies, a nonprofit “social enterprise” for low-income communities, read the resolution aloud to the Board before the vote.

“The Pasadena Unified School Board pledges to support the Superintendent’s systematic use of talent and resources to hire educators of color as teachers and administrators,” the resolution said, in part, “as well as provide professional development to train teachers and counselors to be culturally responsive to the needs of Latina/o/x and Indigenous students.”

The resolution also said the School Board “acknowledges the Tongva peoples as the historical and current stewards of the land the district sits upon.”

.In a related developments, a group of PUSD principals, as part of the 2021 Professional Leadership Goals program, presented to the board what they called a “United Agreement to Student & Family Engagement and Commitment to Black Students.”

Their presentation led by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Julianna Reynoso, noted that “It is possible to have student engagement in Distance Learning, and that “(Principals) have to be more intentional with opportunities because of the Distance Learning environment, and asserts that, “We do not assume engagement, we need evidence of the engagement.”

Said Reynoso in her introduction, “These are some of our beginning ideas as well as goals that we have identified as critical opportunities to be part of our enhancement, our changes, and our transformation. This idea has been further identified by each of our principals, as part of their evaluation process, where they have compiled wonderful ideas, and transformational opportunities.”

The program presentation itself stated a commitment to “family engagement,” which it defined as the “systematic, integrated and sustained inclusion of families and programs, aligned to student’s development, learning, and wellness, where families have shared resources for access and equity, in an effort to create a culture of shared responsibility.”

The new commitment would also create an online District Family Engagement HUB that would encompass COVID-19 and Distance Learning Resources, a Handbook, Technology resources, help desk tickets and support for technology issues, and a family resources center.

The hub would also establish a Parent University, a Parent Portal, and develop Parent Leadership Groups.