Centinela Racial Plan Gets 2 Trustees’ OK After Pivate Meeting : Schools: Community race relations training and an ombudsman are among steps the troubled high school district may take.

Two members of the Centinela Valley Union High School District’s board of trustees, along with city and state officials, tried to salvage a 10-point plan to ease racial tensions in the school district at a hastily called gathering Wednesday morning.

The meeting was arranged early Wednesday after discussions of the plan at a special school board session the night before degenerated into shouts and insults.

In contrast to the raucous night-time session at the school board headquarters, board member Pam Sturgeon described the private, morning meeting as “calm and level-headed.”

The two school board members at that meeting indicated their commitment to expand and approve the 10-point plan, which includes provisions for communitywide race relations training and an ombudsman to handle complaints in the district, according to Sturgeon, school board President Ruth Morales and others who were present.

“After the chaos of the (school board) meeting, we knew we still had to implement the plan and had to find a different way to approach it,” Sturgeon said in an interview Wednesday. “We are moving forward with the implementation of the plan.”

The 10-point plan was developed March 9 by Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) and other community leaders she called together to respond to massive student walkouts on March 5 and 6.

The walkouts protested the resignation of Hawthorne High School Principal Ken Crowe, whom many in the racially mixed district believe is among several black administrators targetted for dismissal. Crowe said he resigned after being told he would be reassigned. He later asked the board to rescind his resignation, but the board instead has ordered him placed on medical leave, Crowe said.

Frustrated that Tuesday’s divisive board meeting had gone so badly, several board members and others talked that night about getting together the next day. The Wednesday session was arranged by phone and a group of community leaders gathered in private at 10 a.m. at the Hawthorne police station.

Among those at the session were Hawthorne Mayor Betty Ainsworth; Kenneth Orduna, chief of staff for Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton), Hawthorne Councilman Charles Bookhammer, Hawthorne City Manager Kenneth Jue, school board members Morales and Sturgeon, police and fire officials from Hawthorne and Lawndale Councilwoman Carol Norman.

Orduna said the private gathering was productive, and he is confident the 10-point plan would bring peace to the divided district.

“The 10-point plan will be addressed in its entirety to the satisfaction of everybody,” Orduna said late Wednesday. “Even though the (Tuesday) meeting was disruptive, calm minds and dedicated hearts prevailed. The board is anxious to move on and get about educating the children.”

A follow-up session that is expected to include Dymally, Watson and board members, was scheduled for Monday.

The progress Wednesday was in contrast to the special board meeting, where more than 100 parents, teachers and others filled the district board room. The board’s intention was to meet for as long as necessary, hear comments and suggestions from the community, then vote on the proposal.

The mood was angry. Though the 10-point plan was the only item on the agenda, many speakers expressed support for Crowe and demanded that the board rescind his resignation.

Others criticized, as a waste of money and effort, the board’s decision last week to hire a private detective to find out whether any district employees instigated the student demonstrations.

The meeting later disintegrated into name calling and shouting matches after two students, pressed by members of the audience, took the podium to allege that some teachers have been harassing students who participated in the walkouts.

Morales was unsuccessful in trying to control the discussion or cool the tone of the meeting. At one point, there was a chant of “Recall! Recall!” from the audience.

The meeting had been under way less than two hours when board President Morales adjourned it.

“We have tried to be listeners . . . . But I refuse to have any meeting when in fact we can’t listen and cannot be participants in any kind of order,” she said.

The abrupt adjournment was criticized by some parents and community activists, who were left in the meeting room after board members left for an executive session.

“We feel the board was intolerant to what we had to say,” said Laquanda Briggs, a member of the Committee for Racial Free Education. “We have tried for three months to communicate with this board, and tonight was a true example of what happens when we do.”

But others said the shouting and catcalls left the board with no choice but to cancel the meeting. “They couldn’t get to the business at hand,” said Linda Zirpoli, a Lawndale mother who has a 17-year-old son at Leuzinger High.

Crowe, who was silent during the board meeting, said afterward that he believed the board should have allowed the students to voice their concerns.

“I cannot condone any disruption, and I think that was unfortunate that occurred, but I do feel the students had something to say, and I hope at some point they have a chance to speak their minds,” Crowe said.