Piedmont’s ‘White student support circle’ canceled after controversy

(Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

(PIEDMONT, Calif.) The Piedmont Unified School District continues to reel following the blowback caused by a post promoting the district’s “white student support circle” that’s since gone viral, drawing local and national media attention, East Bay Times reports.

The support circle was originally intended for white students to discuss the outcome of the Derek Chauvin case as a means of understanding their role in improving race relations, Assistant Superintendent Cheryl Wozniak wrote in an advisory sent out to district parents on April 21.

The advisory quickly went viral after being shared on TikTok, causing outrage from district families of color, with some seeing Wozniak’s words as supporting white students and families over those of color.

The district is composed of a student body that is three-quarters white, one-fifth Asian and has a Black student union.

The support circle was subsequently canceled.

Superintendent Randy Booker and PUSD board President Cory Smegal addressed the inequalities within the district at the start of last week’s board meeting.

“We apologize for the harm that has been caused by events and intend to repair that harm,” Booker said.

“My role is to call out systems of structural oppression; inequities that promote them led to where these exist in our district. We need to live up to our board policy on racial equity. It’s still in infancy steps. We are working hard to catch up and not shrink back. We need to learn and grow together,” he continued.

Smegal addressed the issue saying:

“Over the past week, our district has received a lot of public attention. Poor phrasing in an email resulted in an invitation coming across as an insult. Our students were the first to call attention to it, and they were right to do so. The leadership response was swift and direct — an apology, an explanation. But we understand that all of these caused harm that needs repair. Tonight we confirm our commitment to racial justice and continuing the work of anti-racism,” Smegal said.

Smegal continued, “Now this week, some are telling us that these efforts are not enough and that there needs to be consequences and more accountability. Tonight, the Piedmont Board of Education again affirms what we testified to last summer, when we passed a board resolution condemning institutional and systemic racism. In the resolution, we committed to doing anti-racist work as individuals and as a board. We committed to keeping anti-racist values at the forefront of our work and to embed these values into our decisions, our actions, our policies and our procedures.

“Our students have made it clear that anti-racism calls for truth and integrity. Our principals understand that the work of anti-racism requires the courage to show up and step outside of comfort zones and that despite the best intentions, sometimes things go wrong. And over the past week, we have all experienced the painful reality that mistakes on the road to becoming anti-racist can invite hasty judgment. If we silence those who take risks and make mistakes along the way, we discourage others from stepping forward to enter into this important work at a time when all of our words are so highly charged and under such scrutiny.”

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