Civil rights office to probe TeWinkle

The federal Office for Civil Rights has agreed to investigate a

complaint against the Newport-Mesa Unified School District that

accused it of racial discrimination against students, staff and

parents at TeWinkle Middle School.

The complaint, filed June 20 by former TeWinkle parent Mirna

Burciaga, made nine allegations against the predominantly Latino

Costa Mesa school.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will

investigate only the ninth allegation, which claims that the district

interviewed parents in an intimidating manner after they first voiced

concerns about TeWinkle.

At the April 26 school board meeting, Burciaga and four other

family members of TeWinkle students complained about the treatment of

Latinos at the school. Afterward, the district held private meetings

with the families regarding the complaints. Principal Dan Diehl and

Assistant Principal Tim Tolzda, both of whom had been implicated in

the parents’ original complaints, were among those present.

Burciaga argued that having the two administrators in attendance

put pressure on the parents, a complaint that the Office for Civil

Rights will investigate.

“What they are saying right there is that there is enough evidence

that the district didn’t comply in forming that committee and

following the steps to see if this really happened,” Burciaga said.

“They have to ask, ‘Are we really helping these parents?’ And they

really didn’t do that.”

District officials disputed the allegation, saying that having the

administrators present could have helped to straighten out the

problem.

“Our purpose was to actually get more specific information about

the complaints and to find out how we could help, how we could remedy

the situation or do things differently,” Diehl said. “That was the

intent, and it made sense for us to be there.”

Although the district’s policies require that investigations of

discrimination complaints “shall be conducted in a manner that

protects confidentiality of the parties,” it makes no reference to

which administrators may or may not attend a meeting.

If the Office for Civil Rights finds that Newport-Mesa violated

policy in the parent meetings, it may order a facilitated resolution

between the parties or demand that the district amend its practices

in the future.

“I’m confident, from everything I’ve seen, that the process was

followed,” said Supt. Robert Barbot. “We’re not here to be completely

defensive. We’re here to correct problems.”

Also contained in Burciaga’s complaint were eight allegations that

the Office for Civil Rights declined to investigate, either due to

lack of evidence or because they fell beyond the office’s

jurisdiction. Among them were complaints that Tolzda made racially

insensitive comments during a Saturday detention session, that the

school excessively disciplined Latino students and that Diehl

intimidated fellow staff members.

Burciaga had also accused the school of discrimination in not

rehiring teacher Enrique Ode and transferring former Assistant

Principal Tony Valenzuela to another job, both situations that the

office dismissed as private personnel matters.

Burciaga said, however, that even though the Office for Civil

Rights would be investigating only one of her charges, she hoped that

the investigation would tackle some of her other points as well.

“At this point, I want to think we still have a chance to work

this out,” she said. “In the case that nothing happens and they don’t

look into any kind of solution for what’s been going on at TeWinkle

for a number of years, then I’d like to pursue it some other ways.”

A former Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation commissioner and City

Council candidate, Burciaga has a history of action against TeWinkle,

where all of her children attended school.

In 2000, she successfully filed complaints against TeWinkle with

the Office for Civil Rights and the state Department of Education,

claiming that the school provided insufficient resources for its

English-learner students. The following year, Newport-Mesa signed a

federal agreement promising to improve its programs.