Dear Santa Barbara Unified Families,

I want to speak directly with you about the recent incident involving students who posed for a photograph that recreated an image of young African American boys, covered their faces in blackface, and posted the image on social media.

I know this has brought anger, hurt, disappointment, and difficult conversations across our community. I also know families have different perspectives about what happened, how schools should respond, and what accountability should look like.

There is one thing I know we can agree on:

There is no place for hate, racism, or discrimination in our schools or in our community.

Blackface has a long history of dehumanizing and humiliating Black people. What happened was harmful. For Black students, staff, and families and for anyone who has experienced being “othered” this incident can raise a painful question:

Will I always be judged by my skin color rather than by my humanity?

No child or staff member should have to carry that feeling into school.

Every child matters.

There is a letter from a Holocaust survivor to a principal that has been shared with educators for generations. Its message is that our responsibility is not only to teach children, but to help them become more human, to understand the consequences of hatred and prejudice and, more importantly, to care about the humanity of others.

That responsibility belongs to all of us.

Our children are growing up in a complicated world. They encounter racism, antisemitism, discrimination over immigration status, Islamophobia, anti-LGBTQ+ bias, violence, war, and human suffering through their devices, phones, and social media. Many families are carrying strong emotions about conflicts and humanitarian crises happening around the world.

Our schools cannot shield children from everything happening in the world. But we can help them learn how to respond to difficult realities with humanity, dignity, curiosity, and respect for one another.

Accountability Matters

This incident was handled through established student discipline processes. We will not discuss individual student consequences publicly because students deserve privacy.

Our responsibility is to address the harm, support the students and staff affected, and continue to expect students to take responsibility, learn from their actions, and repair and rebuild trust. We will continue to maintain clear and consistent expectations for every student.

At the same time, accountability does not require harassment, threats, humiliation, or the continued sharing of students’ images or personal information.

We also need to look honestly at ourselves.

For too long, students have not always experienced the same expectations, treatment, or consequences based on race. We need to examine our practices and our data and be willing to change when it shows that we are falling short.

Schools cannot do this work alone; we need your support.

A school district can teach. We can set expectations. We can intervene. We can listen. We can hold students accountable. We can examine our own practices and make changes.

Parents, please talk to your children about this case and others like it. Explain clearly and firmly the harm caused when we stop being curious about others and dehumanize them through our words and actions.

We cannot create our community’s culture by ourselves.

We all carry the culture.

Families, students, educators, community members, and leaders all have a role in shaping what our children experience.

So, I am asking our community members to check in on one another. Listen to those who have experienced racism or discrimination. Speak up when you see someone being targeted. Protect the privacy and dignity of students. And help our young people understand that they can disagree, ask hard questions, and learn from mistakes without dehumanizing one another.

What you can expect from Santa Barbara Unified

  • We will listen.
  • We will swiftly address racism and discrimination when they occur.
  • We will support students and staff who experience harm.
  • We will examine and continue to improve our systems, practices, and discipline data, and make changes when needed.
  • We will support our principals, teachers, counselors, and staff as they do this difficult work.
  • We will stay committed to holding social media companies legally accountable for providing platforms that allow racism and discrimination to spread without any filters.
  • And, we will continue this work beyond this moment.

I cannot promise that one statement, one lesson, or one initiative will change our culture overnight. This is not a one-and-done issue.

But I can promise that we will keep listening, learning, examining ourselves, and doing this work.

Every child matters. Every child deserves dignity, respect, and belonging.

We can all do better.

And we all have a role in creating the community our children deserve.

Sincerely,

Dr. Hilda Maldonado
Superintendent
Santa Barbara Unified School District