The racist graffiti that was scrawled on campus was the biggest story at Cal High last year. 

The incidents drew angry responses from students, teachers and parents alike, and  prompted news stations from across the Bay Area to flock to campus. 

Since the incident, the school has gone to great lengths to address concerns and ensure that Cal is a safe and accepting school for all students.

Cal was recently named  as a “No Place for Hate” by the Anti Defamation League (ADL). 

In order to earn this distinction, a school had to meet four requirements that help students feel more comfortable on campus, according to the ADL website. These requirements include: building a safe and inclusive community; empowering students and staff to take a stand against hate and bullying; hosting three anti-bias activities annually; and sending a clear, unified message that all students have a place to belong.

Teacher Donna Montague, said one of the anti-bias programs that Cal started last year was Pride Week, which took place in April and was dedicated to raising awareness for the equality of members in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (LGBTQ+) community. 

In the past, Cal hosted a Day of Silence, which is now incorporated into Pride Week.

Leadership adviser Erin McFerrin also noted that the school organized a Day of Kindness today to help make all students feel more included. 

Leadership students wrote positive message on clothespins and attached them to students’ shirts. They also wrote nice message on post-it notes and stuck them on lockers in the main building.

“It’s a day to boost morale on campus,” senior leadership student Sidney Dutcher. “We can make someone’s day so much better by doing a small thing like this.”

The school and district have dedicated time at multiple staff development days over the past six months to educating teachers and administrators about how to better address any form of hate at school. 

The entire Cal staff on Aug. 11 participated in training workshops sponsored by the ADL to better establish safe classroom spaces on campus. The ADL will continue to work with Cal to resolve issues this year, and even included some of their events during freshman WING orientation, McFerrin said.

At the orientation, which took place the week before school began, leadership students hosted a mini Club Faire to help freshmen learn about the various clubs on campus, including the Black Student Union and Gender Sexuality Alliance.

“What we learned from last year’s incidents is that it incumbent on the students and teachers to create a school culture and community that is able to have a unified and vigilant response to any instances of hate and bias,” English teacher Eghosa Obaiza, adviser of the Black Student Union, wrote in an email interview. 

“Hopefully our unified voices will spread and have a positive impact on the district and leadership,” she continued.

Dr. Terrence Roberts, a member of the Little Rock Nine, also addressed the entire district at a professional development day in March. 

Roberts spoke to about 150 students the day before meeting with district staff, shared his experiences with racism when he was one of nine African American students to attend the all white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. in 1957.

“Racism is still very prevalent at our campus,” Montague said.  “Two girls recently came up to me and told me that a student had just used the N-word in an extremely offensive way.”

Several teachers started last year a group known as Staff in Action, which helps train staff members about how to address racism in the classroom. This group has continued meeting again this year.

Montague said Principal Sarah Cranford also has continuously met with the heads of the cultural clubs on a regular basis.

Some students would like to see even more done. 

“The school should be having more assemblies like the one we had last year,” said junior Nick Dechev, referring to the school- wide assemblies that addressed the multiple instances of racist graffiti that included the N-word on campus last fall.

“People should be able to voice their opinions every semester in an open mic, so that no one feels left out,” Dechev said.

Cal was not the only school that experienced racism on campus last year. Monte Vista in Danville also had a student write the N-word on a bathroom wall. Incidents of students directing racially motivated hate toward classmates was also reported at district middle and elementary schools.

As part of its response, the district is hosting several presentations that are promoting diversity in schools, and will continued to do this throughout the school year, Montague said.

These events are being called the Culturally Responsive Speaker Series.  The first speaker will be today at 4 p.m. at the Dougherty Valley High theater. It will focus on setting the stage for equity and opportunity. 

District spokesperson Elizabeth Graswich also noted that the district has many new programs in place this year, including a community action group for cultural responsiveness and a professional development model where staff will participate in six mandatory training sessions.

“The school should make more effort to create more support groups for people who feel discriminated against,” said junior Ali Noorzad.

Junior Hugo Santana disagrees. 

“The school should have only one group,” Santana said. “We should rename the BSU to the All Student Union to represent all students.”

Sophomore LaJolie Beugre said the BSU exists because a lot of black students are underrepresented on campus.

“If we had an All Student Union the majority would be the only one represented,” said Beugre. 

Added BSU member Skylar Robinson,“The BSU is an inclusive environment. The name is BSU, but everyone is welcome.” 

There are also other on-campus cultural clubs and organizations, such as the  Chinese Student Association, Jewish Student Union and Muslim Student Association.

“The school can never do enough,” said PE teacher Lenard Matthews. “The only thing you can do is know your heritage, so if someone calls you a racist, you can laugh in their face because you know your blood.”