Anonymous audience question during the interview and selection
process has some concerned about a racial divide within the
community
Gilroy – A question directed at one applicant has raised concerns about race-based politics staining the process of selecting a school trustee and causing a racial divide in the community.
The anonymous query written by an audience member caught Bob Heisey off guard.
The question – which Trustee Pat Midtgaard pulled randomly from a stack – singled out Heisey to answer: “The Gilroy Unified School District is made up of over 60 percent Latino students. Shouldn’t the board reflect this reality?”
Heisey, a local parent who lost in the 2004 school board election, paused for a moment, looking stunned. He folded his hands together on the table in front of him appearing uncomfortable before collecting his thoughts and answering.
“I don’t think, in my experience, I have felt it necessary to divide the Gilroy community into specific groups and make quotas for any particular group,” he said. “I work with Hispanics. I travel around the world. I see the problems of people everywhere. The problems that people around the world face are the same as the people in Gilroy. So I guess I don’t necessarily think that’s important.”
When Heisey’s turn was up again Midtgaard pulled a question out and apologized to the crowd.
“It’s the same question,” she said. “That’s why we’re having a little problem.”
During an interview Tuesday, Heisey said he paused momentarily after the question was asked because he had to hold back from saying what he really thought, that the question was inappropriate and racist.
Trustees ultimately voted 4-2 to appoint Javier Aguirre. Four candidates were competing to fill the seat vacated when TJ Owens died in October. Owens had one year remaining on his term.
After the board cast their votes, Heisey remained in the front of the room. While Aguirre shook hands with the board members, a few locals approached Heisey who said he wasn’t upset about the loss, but by the divisive nature of the meeting.
“I didn’t feel I was ambushed or anything, but I was disappointed because the board members should have been screening those questions,” he said.
Heisey said at the end of the meeting no one from the Hispanic community apologized for the question and that only Rhoda Bress and Tom Bundros, the two trustees who voted for him, apologized.
On Tuesday, Heisey said that he first wanted to go on record congratulating Aguirre for winning. But the 57-year-old who has been religiously attending school board meetings for the past year said he left Monday’s meeting with a bad taste in his mouth, adding that he thought Midtgaard should have censored the questions.
Midtgaard was unavailable for comment as of presstime Tuesday.
Heisey said he was hurt by the attitude of some members in the audience and the insensitive question because they obviously don’t know him or what he stands for and he’s never advocated for preferential treatment of a certain population of students.
“I will never look at the Hispanic community the same after last night,” said the longtime Gilroyan who said as a parent he would be an asset to the board since he would help add a sense of urgency to procedures. “I know that the large percentage of Hispanics are not racist. But I think you have to look at exactly what happened (Monday night).”
Aguirre said he wasn’t bothered by the question and didn’t sense that Monday’s meeting was steeped in divisiveness.
“I think the public had an opportunity to ask questions and they did ask that question,” he said. “And I thought he (Heisey) had a good answer saying we’re not there to meet quotas.”
Aguirre, a senior policy aide to Santa Clara County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, said he does think it’s an attribute that he’s Latino and speaks Spanish, but that’s not all he has to offer the school district. He said the issue of English language learners, which was repeatedly brought up, is a major issue in GUSD, but not the only one.
“I look forward to learning about all the needs of the district and looking forward to learning about the GATE program and their needs and ensuring that the students get the right resources to score well on the AP (advanced placement) tests,” Aguirre said.
Trustee Jaime Rosso also said he doesn’t think the question directed at Heisey was inappropriate, that actually it was misinterpreted and that the person was simply wondering if the board should reflect the community it serves.
“I was really surprised that he (Heisey) got all shook up about it,” Rosso said. “Whether he took it as an offense to him I think it’s unfortunate because I didn’t view it that way.”
Rosso, who cast his vote for Aguirre, said race was a factor in his decision but not the sole one.
“I think he (Aguirre) showed that he has a good understanding of the needs of the district and that he’s very motivated to serve,” he said. “I think that he’s someone that can relate and communicate very well to the Spanish-speaking community which represents one-third of our student population.”
Before casting his vote for Aguirre, Rosso took the microphone and spoke about the qualities of the two applicants.
“I think you both would make excellent (school board members) and I think you both have offered some very excellent ideas and I appreciate the responses that you provided,” he said. “For me it’s going to be a difficult choice … I find you both have articulated the needs that I think are very important in the district and both talked about improving the academic achievement for all students and closing the gap. However in my question as I addressed the idea of the achievement gap, I feel that that is the area of strongest need now in the district.
“Hispanics as a whole are achieving at about almost half the rate of non-Hispanics in our district,” Rosso continued. “If I were to say we have two strong candidates I would feel that I would love to see the opportunity to have a board member that can articulate and communicate to the Spanish-speaking community and be a strong voice that will articulate and communicate so I will cast my vote for Javier Aguirre.”
Denise Apuzzo and Jackie Stevens were both incensed by Rosso’s comments and what they perceived as his blatantly race-based decision.
Stevens, a frequent critic of academic standards in GUSD and a supporter of Rhoda Bress and Tom Bundros, said instead of choosing the man with the most experience and knowledge the board selected someone that would further their own political agendas.
If someone had asked a question about not being enough white or Asians on the school board people “would have shuddered,” Stevens said.
“They just wanted a Hispanic,” Stevens said. “The only word I can use is shameful, shameful, shameful. It was just a scar on us. Shame on us.”
Apuzzo, a Dispatch columnist and avid board meeting attendee, pointed out that Owens, who was black, only represented about 2 percent of the student population.
Rosso said he didn’t think his decision was racist. The furniture store owner said Aguirre’s race and language were factors but not the singular reason he voted for him. He concluded the board should more accurately reflect Gilroy because they don’t involve the Spanish-speaking community enough. By bringing in Aguirre, Rosso thinks those parents will become more engaged with GUSD and thus the achievement gap will diminish.
Heisey and others cited numerous examples of inappropriate behavior including the two times Rosso attempted to read a question in Spanish and translate it into English, and people in the back giggled.
When Bress finished explaining why she was voting for Heisey, a woman in the back said loudly, “That’s B.S.”
Throughout the meeting, similar not-so-under-the-breath comments continued to spring from the group sitting near the back of the room.
Heisey’s answer to the final anonymous query of the night – “How are you going to ensure that teachers are sensitive to the non-English-speaking students and their parents?” elicited a remark from the crowd, while Aguirre’s answer drew applause.
Aguirre answered first saying, “I think I have the opportunity to use my Spanish-speaking ability to be a communicator between our teachers and parents and to highlight and also address the cultural issues or the barriers between the teachers and our Spanish-speaking parents.”
When he finished some audience members clapped loudly.
Heisey said on a professional basis that the Cross-cultural, Language and Academic Development Examinations or CLAD that teachers have to pass helps address the issue. He said he watched his wife, who’s a teacher, study for it so he’s familiar with the test.
“I think the district has to be aware that these problems can exist by providing translator services when necessary,” he said. “But I have to say I know a lot of teachers. I know my wife’s friends. I know some of the teachers here and I haven’t met very many that are not sensitive to the needs of all their students.”
While Heisey was speaking, a woman remarked resoundingly that teachers aren’t sensitive to her son’s needs.
Trustees Bress and Bundros, said the meeting was divisive and they were surprised by the question. Bundros said his son heard a lot of rude comments coming from the back of the room and added that he would have had a difficult time fielding that question himself.
“I don’t think that race should be a criteria for choosing or not choosing a person for a job,” Bress said. “I think it’s divisive when it’s put into the equation.”
The board member and mother said the board was lucky to have four “very worthy” candidates to choose from and that the final decision was difficult, but that she felt that Heisey was the most qualified.
Bundros echoed Bress’ comments about Heisey’s involvement but also said he was impressed with his comment about reaching out to the average student. Many locals criticized the barrage of questions aimed at dealing with ELL students or those with special needs, instead of discussing improving GUSD academics overall.
“Bob (Heisey) mentioned (during Monday night’s questioning) about the middle that isn’t mentioned very often,” Bundros said. “We often hear about the kids at the bottom and sometimes we hear about the kids at the top, but the ones in the middle are often forgotten.”
