BHS BSEP Attempts to Diversify
Recently, the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project (BSEP) committee activated an outreach plan to create more ethnic diversity among its members. The plan also aims to raise awareness about the BSEP committee, the School Governance Council (SGC), and how students and parents of all racial backgrounds can become involved.
When Proposition 13 passed in California in 1978, property taxes across the state were significantly reduced, forcing a deficit in funds and a decrease in per–student spending. A measure was then proposed in Berkeley to attempt to counter the damages brought on by Prop 13, and help fund enrichment programs in Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) schools.
This measure was initially called the Berkeley Schools Enrichment Project and later renamed the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project. The measure passed, and it has been regularly renewed and adjusted since.
Due to the size and complexity of Berkeley High School and the bylaws within the BSEP measure, the SGC, which creates the budgets for other schools in Berkeley, created a subcommittee called the BSEP committee.
“We’re made up of an equal number of five parents, five students, and five administrators and teachers, including the principal,” explained Allen King, chair of the BSEP committee. The student government elects the BHS student representatives, the parents are chosen by the Parent Teacher Student Association and the SGC selects the various teachers and staff.
One of the biggest issues currently concerning the BSEP committee is a lack of ethnic diversity and representation of the BHS small schools.
“Right now, there are maybe three or four members … who are of color,” explained senior and student representative Simone Obidah. “And the parents on our committee, with a few exceptions, have students in Berkeley International High School and Academic Choice. There’s nothing wrong with this … but next year BSEP is hoping to have parents from [small schools] Communicative Arts and Sciences (CAS), Community Partnership Academy (CPA), Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA), and the new Green Academy as well.”
King says that usually student representatives are from CAS and that there hasn’t been as much racial diversity among the parent members. “We have several Latinos this year, but [we’ve had] no one representing the African American community for about four years. So we as a committee are doing more outreach to the parents as well.”
In an attempt to encourage diversity on the committee, the BSEP council has begun a diversity outreach plan to the entire Berkeley High community, including work with the Parent Resource Center The plan extends to the community on many levels, asking people to run for the committee and be more involved.
Karen Laws, a member of the committee, researched and found that most of the students who ran for a position on the BSEP committee did so because a teacher recommended them for it, and not out of their own initiative. To raise awareness among Berkeley High students, Laws will be visiting every eleventh grade English class at Berkeley High along with the two student representatives, Simone Obidah and Yoneko Murillo, to do a presentation about the BSEP committee and the School Governance Council.
King also put in extra effort to tell parents about the BSEP committee, particularly through emails, and has already seen progress from it.
“I’ve already gotten one phone call from an African American [parent who] said she’s going to run next year, because of what she read in my email,” said King, “and she called and had a conversation with me.”
The BSEP committee is already making profound efforts to ensure that all of its aspects are as full of diversity as they can be, and also to make sure that as many people know about BSEP as possible, particularly the students.
“What’s cool about BSEP is the students play a big role in the decisions that are made, and the staff and parents love to hear what we have to say,” says Obidah.
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