A survey, taken last school year by teachers, parents, and students at Serra High School, showed discrimination and bullying were an issue, according to results.
The survey was prompted by an NBC 7 story about former principal Vincent Mays, who left his job at the end of the last school year after it was revealed the doctorate he claimed to have was not real.
After the uproar the story created, in Aug. 2016, the Human Resources office of the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) surveyed the school community.
According to the District, the “information gathering focuses on current attitudes, behaviors, and standards concerning the access for, inclusion of, and levels of respect for individual and group needs and abilities.”
The survey results were outlined in ten pages.
It looks at the learning environment, media coverage, communication, climate, school operations, administration, staff, and diversity.
In the portion about perceptions of the learning environment, a student called the place "a disaster."
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"No one respects the staff, the teachers are intimidated and stressed out, it takes a long time to clear an absence, the counselors do the bare minimum required," the student stated.
The survey also said, “parent reports disappointment with the level of instruction.”
According to the report, students felt forced to take advanced placement courses.
NBC 7 spoke to parent Isabel Gonzalez after school on Monday, and she disagreed with the survey.
“My daughter is doing great. There is no stress on her part, her teachers do well communicating via the phone, so I have no issue with the school.”
But another parent, Rola Tannous said she was not pleased with the school.
“They don't return phone calls. I'm very unhappy. It was the worst choice here, really," she said.
The survey also included perceptions of diversity.
Students reported, “they have experienced exclusion, intimidation, offensive bullying or hostile behavior based on age, origin, English learner status, ethnicity/race, immigration status position, gender and sexual orientation.”
NBC 7 asked Serra High senior Cameron George about last year’s survey.
“Diversity is great. I have a friend from Iran, friend from Texas. I’m from New Mexico. It’s great,” George said.
Parents also reported feeling uncomfortable with the lack of diversity awareness at the school. One parent said she felt that the issue still needed work.
“Other parents reported discrimination does exist in our country but it is a mistake to assume the school is a hotbed of racism due to the actions of a few.”
Staff agreed there is not a problem with race at Serra but some said contributions of diverse students and staff are often overlooked.
On August 12, 2016, NBC 7 filed a public records act request with the District asking for the results of the survey. We received the results on March 9.
In a statement, SDUSD explaining why it took so long to get the information to the media.
It read, in part:
“As NBC has reported, we are currently experiencing budget constraints, which prevent us from hiring additional staff to more quickly answer your requests. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Read the survey results here:
