Several Black students and teachers have reported being the victims of racism in the school district. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

Several parents are asking the Beverly Hills Unified School District to recognize students of color and students from marginalized groups including those who are Black, Hispanic, Asian-American and Pacific Islander, LGBTQ+ and have disabilities. At a school board meeting on Sept. 30, parents implored the district to pass resolutions recognizing the groups, including a resolution on Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month, after the district passed a resolution that recognizes May as Jewish American Heritage Month.

Parent Victoria Tate said the group of concerned parents drafted proposed resolutions recognizing the months dedicated to marginalized communities and submitted them to the board. However, the resolutions were not placed on the agenda for the Sept. 30 meeting.

“We have made multiple requests for this board to address the racism and disparate treatment that Black and Latin children in this district face,” Tate said.

Parent Loly Perlmutter asked the district to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month by inviting Latino authors to visit the district and present their writing to students. Hispanic Heritage Month began on Sept. 15 and ends on Oct. 15.

“This is an opportunity to come together to celebrate books and writers of Latin America, and we would like to bring this to the board to have an opportunity to have one of the writers come into the district or the library to bring up more of the culture and the background of Latin American writers,” Perlmutter said. “At this time there is nothing at any school regarding [Hispanic] culture and I think this is an opportunity … for the children to enjoy Hispanic Heritage Month.”

While the district has not formally recognized Hispanic Heritage Month this year through a resolution, BHUSD Superintendent Dr. Alex Cherniss celebrated the month on Sept. 16 in an Instagram post that also highlighted the district’s newly-formed Spanish language program in elementary schools.

“’Hablas Espanol?’ Did you know over 60 million people in the United States speak Spanish? I couldn’t be more proud of our new Dual Language Academies this year at both El Rodeo and Horace Mann,” he wrote. “Happy Hispanic Heritage Month to all!”

The district declined to provide a comment on the parents’ requests to recognize minority students.

The concerns from parents follow a resolution that was passed on Aug. 26 titled “Combating Antisemitism through Education, Awareness, Remembrance and Support,” which recognizes May as Jewish Heritage Month, commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January, designates Oct. 7 as a day of remembrance, adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and provides professional development for staff and educational opportunities for students to learn Jewish history and prevent antisemitism. The resolution was controversial due to a provision that would have required the display of Israeli flags on school campuses, a decision which was reversed by the superintendent due to safety concerns.

Some parents also spoke out against the resolution for only addressing antisemitism instead of all forms of hatred and racism. Many Black students at BHUSD have reported being the victims of anti-Black racism during the past school year, particularly in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election.

“This administration did little to nothing when students, parents and the outside community were concerned – and some outraged – by the unsafe and toxic environment that existed during and after the presidential election,” said resident and former BHUSD parent Gay Abrams, who is Jewish. “How will our Black, Latino and other [students] feel about the resolution that focuses only on antisemitism and Jewish history?”

In April, former fashion design teacher Bella Ivory and former basketball coach Jarvis Turner sued the district, alleging anti-Black racism and discrimination. On Sept. 8, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brock T. Hammond ruled that the two plaintiffs can move forward with one trial, rejecting the BHUSD’s request for the allegations to be presented as two separate cases. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 12.

The school district’s current assistant superintendent for student services, Laura Collins-Williams, is also suing BHUSD for alleged transgressions including anti-Black racism and discrimination based on race, age and gender, retaliation and a hostile work environment.