San Leandro High Students Protest Decision Not to Rehire Latina Administrator

A fluctuating group of around 75  students spent the day protesting outside the school against a decision not to rehire a popular Latina administrator. 

Assistant Principal Patricia Crespo has been told she will not be asked back next year. This is Crespo's second semester working at San Leandro High.

The students — most, but not all, of them Latino — sat and stood on the curb in front of the high school on Bancroft Avenue, waving signs of support for Crespo and cheering loudly when passing cars honked. 

"The first person who cares about us, they fire her," said Kimberly, one of the protestors, a sophomore at the high school. "If we got a problem, she was always there."

Tony, who said he had been protesting in front of the school since 5:30 a.m., said it wasn't right that the school was firing one of the only Latino school staff.  

"We feel like they made a huge mistake," said Tony, a junior. "Not only can she talk to our parents in Spanish, but she's one of the only teachers we've..."

"opened up to and really trusted," said another student, Jasmine, finishing Tony's sentence. "She's not just here for the paycheck," added Jasmine, a sophomore. 

Both students said their parents spoke Spanish. 

Nearly 39 percent of the student population at San Leandro High is Hispanic or Latino, according to the most recent School Accountability Report Card (2009-10). Crespo said she is the only Hispanic administrator at the school. 

Crespo said she was heartened by the students' support. 

"It's making a bad situation a little more bearable," she said in her office in the early afternoon. 

Still, she said she had been out to talk with the students four times throughout the morning, urging them to go back to class. 

Crespo said she had been told last Monday that she would not be asked back next fall.

"I was told I was not a good fit. Some teachers felt like I wasn't being supportive of them," Crespo said. 

She said the school board had voted at their March 15 meeting to accept the high school principal's recommendation not to rehire her. Crespo said many teachers had expressed their support to her, but didn't think the decision could be reversed. 

Crespo said most of her job is attending to discipline problems with students. She also manages the school's English Learners Advisory Committee and Advanced Placement testing, she said. 

Crespo said she had some "really difficult" discipline cases this year and guessed that dissatisfaction about how she handled some cases led to the school's decision not to rehire her. 

Around 1 p.m. on Monday, school district Superintendent Cindy Cathey stood on the steps of the high school along with Principal Linda Granger and Associate Principal Mike Hassett, looking distraught. Cathey said she understood that the students wanted answers, but couldn't legally provide any because it's a private personnel issue. 

"Anything that happens to any employee in the district is not something we can talk about," Cathey said. 

Principal Granger said she supported the students' right to protest, "but it needs to be done at the appropriate time," she said, "outside of school hours."