ADDRESSING RACIAL EQUITY AT TAMALPAIS HIGH SCHOOL 1

Addressing Racial Equity at Tamalpais High School

Kelly Kennedy

EDUA 556: Human Resources

November 8, 2020

Deborah Collins

Concordia University Irvine

School of Education
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The Marin County Office of Education sits fifteen miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge,

and comprises fifteen elementary school districts, two unified districts, and two high school

districts. With an average adjusted household income of $122,993 per year, Marin County

consistently ranks as one of the wealthiest counties in the nation and garners property values that

are amongst the highest in the state of California (Schmidt, 2019). Because many of Marin’s

school districts are able to pocket funds from local property taxes that exceed their entitled

allotment designated by the state’s Local Control Funding Formula, these “Basic Aid” school

districts provide inflated salaries and compensation packages that allow them to recruit highly

qualified teachers and staff (EdSource, 2020). The parent foundations in Marin contribute

millions of dollars to enhanced education at their sites, and the support that students receive at

home and in the classroom translates to high achievement in their schools (Education Data

Partnership, 2020). But while many of Marin’s citizens may accelerate economically and

academically, the county is notorious for maintaining one of the largest socio-economic divides

between its White populations and its citizens of color (CBS San Francisco, 2016).

Marin’s most affluent elementary and middle schools sit on the southern end of the

county, closest to San Francisco, and feed into the Tamalpais Union High School District.

TUHSD consists of three primary sites, Redwood, Drake, and Tamalpais High School, but also

offers a small continuation school for students who struggle academically at these schools, as

well as an alternative school for students who need unique schedules and accommodations

(Education Data Partnership, 2020). Tamalpais High School was founded in 1908 and is one of

the county’s oldest sites, serving students from the coastal cities of Mill Valley, Sausalito, Marin

City, Stinson Beach, and Bolinas. Most students entering the school come from the Mill Valley
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Elementary School District, which has only 7.87% “unduplicated” students; a stark contrast to

the 79% of students designated as disadvantaged youth, entering from Bayside MLK Middle

School in Marin City (California School Dashboard, 2019). This socioeconomic divide between

Marin City and the surrounding cities feeding into Tamalpais High School is the driving force

behind the achievement gap that exists at our school. And because this divide correlates directly

to race in our county, we find very few students of color in the twenty-five AP and Honors

courses that we offer at Tam, and we see vast discrepancies in GPA and college readiness

between our White students and our students of color, who represent about 31% of our

population (Tam High Student Success Network 2020). This achievement gap has been

exacerbated since distance learning began in the Spring, when many of these students lost access

to the programs we have funded to address this gap, and to the technology and emotional support

needed to succeed with distance learning (Brenner, 2020).

When our current principal took over as Tamalpais High School’s leader in the 2016-17

school year, both the district and the school began implementing specific strategies to address the

stark achievement gaps between our White students and our students of color. Compared to 85%

of White students who graduated eligible for entry into the UC’s and CSU’s in 2016, only 35%

of Black students, and 47% of Laninx students at Tamalpais High School graduated with the

same level of preparation (Tam High Student Success Network 2020, p. 2). According to our

principal, one of his first objectives upon entering our school was to engage our staff in a cycle

of inquiry to address this divide, and develop a mission to close the achievement gap for our

marginalized populations. Staff meetings and professional development began to align with this

objective, and our principal worked with the Tam High Foundation, our school’s parent
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organization, to generate funds for school improvement measures (Principal, personal

communication, November 2, 2020). In partnership with the Tam High Foundation, TUHSD, the

Main Community, and Marin Promise Partnership, our school developed the Student Success

Network, designed to build community and transform school culture by “participating in

rigorous cycles of inquiry, deepening relationships between school and community partners,

leveraging existing resources, challenging assumptions and shifting mental mindsets, being

advocates for students, and being antiracist leaders on campus” (Tam High Student Success

Network, 2020, p.1). By developing systems to monitor and intervene with the academic success

of struggling students, specifically those identified as low-income, Black, LatinX, or as English

Language Learners, the Success Network has nearly doubled the percentage of 12th grade

students of color who are graduating as eligible for the UC’s and CSU’s (Tam High Student

Success Network, 2020, p.16). In addition to this program, our students and staff are now

actively engaging in anti-racist work, and for four years, we have had a site Equity Team. We’ve

developed organizations like the Marin Educators for Equity Initiative, Students Organized

Against Racism, and the Marin Promise Partnership Math Team (Tam High Student Success

Network, 2020, pp. 13-14). Recently, our district and school board developed an Equity Task

Force, and a resolution to support anti-racist education, which stipulates various measures to

integrate anti-racist work and multicultural education into our curriculum, instructional practices,

hiring practices, school culture, and school systems (Tamalpais Union High School District,

September 8, 2020).

Despite these extensive initiatives, and the organizations and professional development

implemented at our site over the last four years, our Black students and marginalized populations
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from Marin City are still reporting a school culture that profiles our students of color, and

perpetuates racial divides (Black at Tam, n.d.). A Muslim student on campus, who particpates in

Marin Organized for Racial Equity, a county-wide program that is not affiliated with Tamalpais

High School, reported that she still experiences racial epithets and microagressions from staff

and students. Recently, she was followed by a White community member as she was walking

home from school, who asked her if she was lost, and told her she “should go back to where she

belongs.” (Student A, personal communication, October 30, 2020). Our staff of color have also

reported inappropriate comments from White staff and students. One of the leaders of our

Success Network, who is also a Special Education teacher of Asian descent, reported that one

staff member complimented her on her “ethnic hairstyle,” and a student looked at her as he made

a reference to the “China virus” when discussing Covid-19 in her class (Teacher A, personal

communication, November 2, 2020).

In addition to a school environment that continues to lack cultural sensitivity for our

students and staff of color, our students of color are still not able to match the academic

achievement of our White populations. Eighty-seven percent of White students graduate as

college-ready, compared to 61% and 63% of our Black and LatinX students (Tam High Student

Success Network, 2020, pp. 16). There are disproportionate numbers of students of color who

receive D’s and F’s on their grade report cards, in comparison to our White students, who report

higher GPAs and stronger performance levels on our standardized tests (Principal, personal

communication, November 2, 2020). Our teachers are feeling frustrated by a perceived lack of

progress amongst our marginalized populations, and many students of color believe that our

initiatives exist merely as performance acts, which carry very little substantial impact and are
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designed primarily to assuage our White guilt (Teacher A, personal communication, November

2, 2020). Our parents and members of our Tam High Foundation are pleased with our Student

Success Network, but are equally as frustrated by the lack of accountability for racist comments

and actions. One parent reported that another parent felt that our district’s “anti-racist work and

education is a waste of their taxpayer dollars” and “does little for my student’s education”

(Parent A, personal communication, November 5, 2020). So while we have implemented many

programs to theoretically improve our school culture, and while some of the data collected from

our Student Success Network suggest that we’re making progress, much of our quantitative and

qualitative data shows that we are still lacking in our ability to bridge the academic, social, and

racial divides that exist between our White populations and our students, staff, and community

members of color.

After speaking with our former Wellness Coordinator, who is Black and well connected

to our diverse student populations in Marin City, I believe that we need to develop a plan to hold

students and staff more accountable for racist actions and behaviors that promote intolerance. As

Dr. Muhammed outlined during Concordia University’s Fall symposium presentation on

educational leadership, there are four critical behaviors needed to transform school culture:

communication, trust, support, and accountability (Muhammed, 2020). Our principal spent his

first three years communicating our purpose for change by presenting us with the “brutal facts

and data” that Dr. Muhammed argued as critical to stimulating “commitment to a cause bigger

than the self” (Muhammed, 2020). Our principal has spent four years building trust amongst our

school communities, and has provided our students, staff, and parents with substantial support

and professional development to evaluate our own racial biases, and develop as anti-racist
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educators and school leaders. But as Dr. Muhammed stated, “some people don’t operate off of

rationale,” so at some point we need to stop asking, and need to start demanding that we change

(Muhammed, 2020). As our Wellness Coordinator mentioned in our interview, students believe

that “racist behavior is often tolerated, because at most there is a verbal reprimand, with little or

no follow-up. We have no ‘teeth’ to support the policies we develop.” (Classified staff member

A, personal communication, October 29, 2020).

Our school would benefit from using this school year to engage stakeholders in

developing an articulated accountability plan, and actions steps for accountability that could be

used by our students and our staff. Staff members and students could use this plan as a set of

steps to follow for reporting racist actions and behaviors, and ensuring that there are

consequences for intolerable actions. Just as we might intervene when a student is struggling

academically, we could develop an intervention plan to engage the student’s parents, site

administrators, and teachers in identifying and evaluating that student’s racial biases. We could

also work with our teacher union and district office to identify ways in which racial equity could

be embedded into our evaluation processes, and considered a mandatory component to our

instruction. Because we implement a survey for students to evaluate our practice, as part of our

file for summative teacher evaluations with the district, we could also incorporate questions into

this survey that allow students to evaluate our practices as they pertain to racial equity and

multicultural education. These processes and actions would encourage students to “ to speak out

against bias and injustice” and would “engage families and communities in ways that are

meaningful and culturally competent,” which are practices that are defined as critical for

anti-bias education (Fuciarelli, n.d.).

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Additionally, I believe that we are lacking in our ability to engage students in our

curriculum, and I think that our school would benefit from implementing a linked-learning

academy to embed students’ electives into core classes. We already have an Academy of Media

Studies, or AIM program, that connects electives in Documentary and Film Studies to students’

English and History classes, but few students of color are enrolled in this program, and there is

no integration with math and science (Teacher B, personal communication, November 3, 2020).

In general, students report very little connection between the subjects in their schedules, and feel

that teachers establish vastly different expectations for learning and behavior (Student B,

personal communication, October 30, 2020). A linked-learning academy would not only unify

diverse student populations through a common interest, but would also establish fluency and

consistency within their schedule. Teachers in an academy can collaborate to establish common

rubrics and protocols for grades and behavior, in order to build upon “intergroup awareness,

understanding and skills” and create “classroom environments that reflect diversity, equity and

justice” (Fuciarelli, n.d.). Academies also have a history of effectiveness in engaging students in

curriculum and work-based learning, especially in inner-city schools (Laura and John Arnold

Foundation, November, 2017).

For anything new that we want to develop, we need to engage all stakeholders in the

decision making process. Input from our students and staff of color is critical, and gathering data

and input to inform an accountability plan, or a new academy for our school, will take time.

Analyzing that data to inform decisions requires a careful, collaborative effort, to ensure that we

build programs that will have a direct impact on our marginalized populations. But we should not
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hold back on action out of fear that what we do will not be perfect. We can always re-evaluate

and improve!
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Brenner, Keri. (2020, October 29). Grades Drop in Tam Union School District Under Remote

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