The mayor of Huron sent the Community Alliance this message on June 6: “FLASH***HOT OFF THE PRESS*** CHUSD Board prefers to support separation than a high school. Voiced at tonight’s board meeting.” Mayor Rey León was referring to the Coalinga Huron Unified School District Board meeting held that day.
The board meeting took place following a high-profile meeting in Huron a month earlier with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, State Senator Anna Caballero (D–Merced) and other elected officials. At a press conference after that meeting, all parties agreed that funding for the new high school was attainable and a high priority. The land for the high school has been donated, the community is behind the effort and it looked as if the wheels were in motion to secure the funding.
Huron students (mostly Latinx), currently bused to Coalinga, would benefit from the opportunity to get an education equal to that of the largely white student body in Coalinga. No more getting up before the crack of dawn to catch the bus, getting home after dark and no more losing out on opportunities to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities because of busing. The students, parents and community activists in Huron want their students to graduate and attend college.
CHUSD Superintendent Lori Villanueva, speaking before the Board on June 6, outlined a long list of reasons why Huron would never get its own high school. Villanueva said that “for any project to happen, the following is required: Board direction to proceed with the project, full funding for the construction building and other costs, and a funding plan for ongoing costs.”
After Villanueva’s presentation, a proposal was made not to bring up the Huron high school issue for further discussion unless those elements were in place. One board member stated that even if all of those conditions were met he would still not vote for a high school in Huron. If Huron was successful in securing the funding needed, the idea of removing Huron from the CHUSD was discussed.
Following the vote, León said that “while the board has historically been untrustworthy, I can believe that they might have the courage to move in that direction simply due to their disdain of farmworker students. Of course, it would be a blessing to the community of Huron and its Latino families and students.”
After the meeting with Thurmond, it seemed that everyone in the room was in agreement to find the funding necessary to build the new high school from local, state and federal sources. But that spirit of cooperation and “Si se puede!” (“We can do it!”) seemed to disappear when Villanueva spoke before the school board on June 6.
With León’s hard work and connections (at the state and federal level) and the strong support of the community, this high school will be built, even if it is without the support of the CHUSD Board.
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Change takes a long time, but it does happen.
