ENCINITAS — The San Dieguito Union High School District is preparing to implement a multiyear unity and tolerance initiative under the leadership of the new superintendent as tensions rise locally and globally around antisemitism and the situation in Israel and Palestine.
The One San Dieguito Initiative was introduced at the board’s Oct. 26 meeting by Superintendent Anne Staffieri, who was selected for the role earlier this year following the controversial dismissal of Cheryl James-Ward last spring due to her racist comments about Chinese Americans.
Staffieri acknowledged the sense of disunity that has consumed the district in recent years, particularly when it comes to politics. Board meetings have often served as the stage for charged and, at times, aggressive discussions around various issues, including racism, the LGBTQIA+ community, parents’ rights and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) work.
The superintendent stated that in order for students to achieve academic excellence, they first need to feel that they belong, are respected and are supported. The initiative will officially kick off in early January and last through 2026.
“Like many districts across our region and across our country, we’ve experienced a heightened sense of polarization with a lot of issues and a heightened level of hate-based incidents. We’ve also, here in San Dieguito in recent years, seen a steady stream of transition in leadership, which has left us in need of a clear path forward, and we believe this One San Dieguito Initiative is just that path,” Staffieri said.
The initiative will take place through a partnership with the San Diego-based National Conflict Resolution Center and involve a training program focused on developing communication, culture, and conflict resolution skills that leaders, parents, students, and staff can be involved in.
“We see conflict at all those levels of society, and we’re seeing it more in the K-12 sector than any other sector across society,” said NCRC President Steven Dinken. “We’re really honored to work with [San Dieguito] to try to alleviate a lot of this tension, polarization and division that’s happening among students, teachers, administrators, and families.”
Prior to the vote, Trustee Phan Anderson repeatedly asked Dinken to share his definition of “what a woman is” before being interrupted by Trustee Rimga Viskanta, who also serves as board president.
The board then approved the initiative in a 3-1 vote, with Anderson opposed and Trustee Jane Lea Smith absent.
Support for Muslim and Jewish communities
The initiative comes at a time when those affected by the ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine are asking for more support from the district.
Tensions are especially heightened after a Nazi symbol was discovered painted inside the boys’ restroom at Torrey Pines High School on Oct. 11.
Nomi Schalit, whose children previously attended San Dieguito Academy, urged district leaders to follow through on previous resolutions committing to affirming Jewish students and standing against antisemitism.
“The Jewish community needs your help. We are not OK; we are scared,” Schalit said. “Please take time to learn about the nuances of antisemitism. It doesn’t start or stop with just swastikas in the bathroom.”
This is not the first incident that has raised antisemitism concerns in the district. Nazi symbols also appeared at Torrey Pines in 2021 after the district adopted a resolution denouncing antisemitism and last fall, the district community demanded action following a teacher’s remarks about Hitler that many said were antisemitic.
Several district leaders, including Staffieri and several board trustees, have released statements outwardly condemning the Oct. 7 attack in Israel by Hamas and expressing their support for those affected locally.
“For many in our community, the horrific terror attack on Oct. 7 and subsequent war between Israel and Hammas [sic] have had a direct impact. Many of our students are suffering as they grieve the loss of friends and family. Around the world and here at home, we are anxiously awaiting word about the hostages being held. Our Jewish and Muslim students are both expressing fear and uncertainty during this time, and it is our job to maintain a safe environment in which they can grow and thrive,” Staffieri said in an Oct. 27 message.
However, local Muslim leaders say the district’s lack of recognition for the over 8,000 people in Palestine who have been killed in Israel’s responding assaults speaks volumes.
Yusef Miller, a community social justice leader involved in various coalitions — North County Equity and Justice Coalition, Islamic Society of North County, North San Diego County NAACP and Interfaith Justice Coalition — said many Muslim and Palestinian families in the district do not feel supported by the district right now.
“They treat it as if all Palestinians are Hamas. They don’t even acknowledge the high death toll in Palestine,” said Miller. “There’s an opportunity to express compassion for both sides of the issue, and that opportunity is missed every single time. The only time we see compassion is from individual teachers. As a school system, a district, there is none there, so they don’t feel safe.”
Trustee Michael Allman stated during the Oct. 26 meeting that the district stands with Israel and that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”
The latter statement is part of the district’s antisemitism resolution from 2021, which clarifies that criticism of the policies of the state of Israel is not necessarily, in and of itself, antisemitism but that criticism of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish homeland is antisemitic.
Miller said he and others stand up against Zionism’s negative impacts on indigenous Palestinians and that this is not antisemitic.
“We stand up against the ills of every state — that’s the United States, Britain, France — and Israel is not excluded from that. They try to silence us by saying those statements are antisemitic, but we will not allow that,” Miller said.
Tazheen Nizam, executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Allman and Staffieri’s statements about such contentious political issues could lead to the marginalization and isolation of other students.
“This threatens the well-being of students and undermines principles of fairness and justice, which are imperative in an educational institution,” Nizam said on Tuesday. “The statements made by Trustee Michael Allman and Superintendent Staffieri endorsing a one-sided and biased position alienate the AMEMSA (Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian) population of the school district and encourage the othering and marginalization of these students.”
Experts also say that anti-Zionism is often conflated broadly with antisemitism. Michael Provence, a professor of Middle Eastern history at UC San Diego who has studied the region for decades, said Zionism is defined as the ideology of Jewish nationalism in Palestine.
“In my view, based on the last 20 years or so, there’s been an attempt to delegitimize criticism of the policies of the state of Israel and its occupation of Gaza,” Provence said. “That’s how we get to where we are, in the effort to not allow some people to speak and allow other people to monopolize the right to speak.”
Provence said it is also curious to see institutions like school districts taking hardline stances on issues in the Middle East.
“It’s a mystery why the school board thinks they need to be weighing in on international conflicts,” Provence said. “These kinds of efforts to harness people’s concerns to their local institutions are pretty wrongheaded most of the time.”
