San Dieguito Superintendent's Remarks About Asian Students Sparks Outrage

By Tigist Layne, the Voice of San Diego

April 22, 2022

San Dieguito Union High School District Superintendent Cheryl James-Ward made comments last week linking the academic success of Asian students to wealth.

James-Ward made the comments during a diversity, equity and inclusion training session on April 11. She was responding to Board Trustee Michael Allman’s question about why Asian students do so well in school during a discussion about grade data.

“We have an influx of Asians from China, and the people who are able to make that journey are wealthy,” James-Ward said during the training. “You cannot come to America and buy a house for $2 million unless you have money.”

“We had a large influx of Chinese families moving in, sight unseen, into our homes, into the community, and that requires money; the whole family comes — grandparents, parents, and the grandparents are there to support the kids at home … Whereas in some of our Latinx communities, they don’t have that type of money, parents are working two jobs. They’re working from sunup to sundown,” she continued.

An anonymous user posted a three-minute video of her comments on YouTube on April 16, which immediately sparked criticism from her colleagues and district parents.

The district board heard more than three hours of public comments during a meeting on Wednesday night where speakers expressed outrage, saying she was reinforcing stereotypes about Asian Americans and pitting people of color against each other.

Many parents and residents called for her resignation or firing. In a closed session after the meeting, the board voted 3-1 to place James-Ward on administrative leave. Board Trustee Katrina Young was the single no vote.

James-Ward issued an apology letter to the district’s families last week:

“I should have slowed down when making the comments which did not provide the true complexities of student success and challenges, stereotyped a community, and caused harm,” she said. “I apologize for the harm caused to any of our students, parents, and members of our community.”

The district and James-Ward declined to comment.

Board Trustee Mossy Retires

Around the same time as James-Ward’s controversial comments, Board Trustee Melisse Mossy announced her resignation from the district board. She said her decision was mostly due to her colleagues’ inability to see eye-to-eye, which often put her in a difficult position.

“I did find myself, you know, between two very different points of view, which I don’t mind listening to different points of view, but it’s really hard when they wouldn’t listen to each other’s points of view as well,” Mossy told Voice of San Diego. “And that’s not to be negative against them… the times we could work together were the most rewarding times of my tenure.”

Mossy was often the target of criticism from community members and parents of the district. She described receiving threatening emails and text messages. At a recent meeting, she saw someone in the audience use their hand to make a motion of shooting themselves in the head while she was speaking. Another person got up and danced around, making mocking gestures while she spoke.

Voice of San Diego has previously reported that women candidates and officeholders often become the targets of threats and harassment, especially through social media.

“Being in the middle, you don’t really have a chance for people to be 100 percent behind you, because if you lean to be independent at any given time, 50 percent of the people won’t be in agreement,” Mossy said. “A lot of people painted me as a very conservative person, but then, conservative people, when I didn’t vote to go against the mask mandate, just really attacked me.”

She added that she looks forward to the positive impact that her colleagues will continue to make for the district’s students and staff.

Mossy was elected to the board in 2018. Her term was set to expire this fall.

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