George Floyd’s death was not only horrifically tragic and a failure of the American justice system, but it also demonstrated a need for a cultural and structural reset in this country. Floyd’s unjust death particularly struck a chord with some alumni of the Waukesha School District.
A 2016 graduate from Waukesha South High School, Erik Franze, drafted a letter of demands to the Waukesha Board of Education as he wanted to create change and start conversations about racial inequalities starting within his own community. The letter outlines a need for racial equity and diversity education within the Waukesha school system as it is a predominantly white county.
“Being a white man, he [Franze] then reached out to what are now the other members of our group, notably SDW Alumni of color in order to amplify voices and perspectives that are not regularly give the mic,” Guillermo Contreras, a 2014 graduate from Waukesha South High School, says.
There are eight members of what is now the SDW Alumni group: Saudiel Benitez, Armoni Brown, Guillermo Contreras, Erik Franze, Sammuel Kayiwa, Ashley Semington, Lexus Stokes, and Wendy Williams. SDW Alumni’s letter of demands released in June which was followed by over 1,400 signatures and group members speaking at several official Board of Education meetings. A majority of the original collaborators, in addition to a handful of new ones, have since committed themselves to continuing to work together and make change happen in their hometown
|
|
Tone Deaf
Despite the large amount of support for the letter of demands, former Waukesha School District Superintendent Todd Gray did not reach out to the group, but instead, invited Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to an event about school choice at the Waukesha STEM Academy on June 23.
“This step really upset our organization and signaled the opposite of what we want to see from the district. It was really tone-deaf,” Contreras says. “The District has not condemned this event or recognized how terrible it is for a public school district to support figures who are infamous enemies of public and equitable education for all students.”
In an effort to have their concerns be heard by the Board of Education and Gray, the alumni group organized protests outside of the STEM Academy and Ingleside Hotel in Pewaukee where Pence and DeVos held a rally. Contreras and the rest of SDW Alumni say they were discouraged when protesters were met with intimidation and threats of arrest by the Waukesha Police. This prompted the group to release another set of demands that also have yet to be fully addressed.
It was also brought to light that Gray’s son has employment connections to Pence, according to an anonymous tip from a Waukesha School District employee, which is “a troubling conflict of interest, and calls into question the neutrality of the Superintendent's leadership,” the SDW Alumni said in an email about Pence and DeVos’ visit.
Unpleasant Experience
When SDW Alumni attended a Board of Education meeting on July 8 with newly-appointed Superintendent Sebert and Board members Bill Baumgart, Greg Deets, Patrick McCaffery, Karin Rajnicek, and President Joseph Como Jr. they once again were met with an unpleasant experience.
Ben Strong, a Waukesha-based community organizer, delivered an analysis of the school district’s School Resource Officers (SROs) agreement and also provided commentary throughout the meeting. Immediately after Strong’s statement on SROs, an unidentified voice was heard whispering “asshole” on the mic. “I don't think it was a School Board member [who made the inappropriate remark], but I think the responsibility to investigate and hold who said it accountable for their actions falls onto the School Board, considering they're the only elected officials in the room,” Strong says. “I hope the results of their investigation will be published soon and it's fully visible to the community, who is ultimately responsible for deciding whether or not they want to keep the offender around.”
Although neighboring school districts, including Arrowhead and Elmbrook, have issued official replies to similar alumni-led campaigns, the Waukesha School Board has yet to respond to the SDW Alumni group even after this incident occurred. The objective of SDW Alumni is to bring racial equity and diversity to the forefront of the educational institutions they grew up in, especially with Waukesha being known for having an overwhelmingly conservative and white demographic.
In order to create this change, the group wants to reduce and reallocate funds of SROs towards less violent personnel, increase the number of BIPOC employed by the district, and shift what histories and curriculum is prioritized.
For those who are alumni of the School District of Waukesha, the letter to sign onto SDW Alumni’s campaign is here. Groups such as this are also spreading both locally in the greater Milwaukee area and state as well as nationwide. To support SDW Alumni, contact local SDW representatives directly or attend the next Board meeting on Aug. 12 at 7 pm located at the Lindholm Administrative Building in Waukesha.
To read more news features, click here.
To read more stories by Christina McAlister, click here.
