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This petition is created by a group of San Dieguito Union High School District (SDUHSD) students and parents who are united in our demand to remove Cheryl James-Ward as the superintendent for the district.

During a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training on April 11, when asked why Asian students do so well in school, Cheryl James-Ward attributed it to family wealth by responding “We have an influx of Asians from China, and the people who are able to make that journey are wealthy. You cannot come to America and buy a house for $2 million unless you have money”. She doubled down when the board’s president pushed back, “In my community, in Carmel Valley ... we had a large influx of Chinese families moving in, sight unseen, into our homes, into the community, and that requires money” (reference videos 4 and video 5 from 1:19:55).

When James-Ward's factually flawed, culturally ignorant, and racially biased statement was posted on YouTube, and led to outrage among Asian Americans as well as other ethnic groups, she issued several disingenuous apologies, deflecting blame by saying that her statements were taken out of context and used as a political attack, and used her Afro-Latina background and past interest in Chinese culture as defense (reference this link)

In a School District Board Meeting on April 20, over 80 parents attended and many spoke out to plead with the board to remove James-Ward’s from the position as the superintendent (reference videos 1 and video 2). The board voted 3:1 to place her on administrate leave. She subsequently publicly declared her intent to file a lawsuit against the board, thereby shifting focus from the issue on hand - which is she is not qualified to be the lead educator for the school district. Her interviews with several news outlets also proved that the parents’ mistrust of her initial insincere and disingenuous apologies was well founded, “I kept going back over what I said, I could not find anything wrong with what I said.” 

Cheryl James Ward is not qualified to be the superintendent and must be removed for the following reasons:

• Her initial statements were factually flawed, culturally ignorant, and racially biased (reference article 6);
• She has been offered multiple opportunities to sincerely apologize and course-correct, but she refused to accept any responsibility;
• Her response to the question of why Asian students do so well in school is not acceptable for a qualified educator.
  1: What drives certain students to perform better than others should have been a question she has already thoroughly examined throughout her career as an educator;
  2: She failed to recognize that passion for education and hard work, not ethnic background, are the best predictors for academic success;
  3: She failed to recognize that the focus for the school district should be how to bring struggling students up, not to denigrate hard-working students who are doing well.

Our district deserves a highly qualified leader, and our students deserve an educator with passion, heart, and integrity, to ensure that students of all races and ethnic background have the opportunity, and are provided with the maximal available resources, to reach their full educational potential. 

Please contact the Board:

  President Maureen "Mo" Muir - maureen.muir@sduhsd.net

  Trustee Michael Allman - michael.allman@sduhsd.net

  Trustee Julie Bronstein - julie.bronstein@sduhsd.net

  Trustee Katrina Young - katrina.young@sduhsd.net

Please reference the following media links for more information:

1.     Brief video recast of parents asking Cheryl James-Ward to resign at 4/20 board meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrVMFs6L5Ws

2.     We are REAL parents of the district: https://youtu.be/uEv8p3JBEVU

3.     Cheryl James-Ward’s 4/13 apology statement: https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/12087470?key=jwCH7Vui8xwlzqUO66-l-A&token=HSLARx5MOGRm_q2beozGmw

4.     Video clip of Cheryl James-Ward’s comments during DEI training on 4/11: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vefyGdb613s&feature=youtu.be

5.     The original full video of the DEI training on 4/11. Cheryl James-Ward’s comments about Asian students started around 1:19:55: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F35-yi9KkeU

6.     A parent’s heartfelt commentary recently published on The Coast News:

https://thecoastnews.com/commentary-superintendents-remarks-are-wrong-racist-and-ignorant/