Michael Miller
A Costa Mesa middle school principal who was accused last month of
discrimination has put together a plan to boost morale and to improve
relations with parents.
Earlier this week, Dan Diehl, principal of TeWinkle Middle School,
submitted a draft of his ideas to Newport-Mesa Unified School
District Supt. Robert Barbot. Among the 21 proposals are a bilingual
quarterly newsletter, a parent center on campus and
cultural-sensitivity training for all staff.
At the district's June 14 board meeting, five women protested the
treatment of Latino children at TeWinkle, claiming that Diehl and
other administrators excessively disciplined and used slurs toward
Latino students.
One of the women, Mirna Burciaga, a parent at the school, filed a
formal complaint with the federal Office for Civil Rights.
Diehl, who said he has not read Burciaga's complaint, said came up
with many of the ideas before the protests.
After the allegations were made, he added other proposals,
including one for a multicultural parent advisory committee that will
meet monthly.
"We want to give parents another open line of communication -- not
just if there's a problem but if they have creative ideas for how to
make the school better," said Diehl, who is entering his second year
as TeWinkle's principal. "We want them to have their voices heard."
In addition, the school plans to:
* Examine data of suspensions and expulsions to determine whether
Latino students receive harsher punishments than their classmates.
* Schedule meetings of the PTA and the English-language advisory
committee back-to-back, in hopes of getting more Latino parents in
the PTA.
* Invite parents to participate in the school's staff retreat on
Aug. 30 this year.
* Include a section in the parent handbook explaining how to solve
problems at the school without going to the board of education.
Barbot said the proposals for TeWinkle are valuable regardless of
the case's outcome.
"You can start getting defensive, but what you really want to do
is address the issue to make sure it doesn't happen again," Barbot
said.
The Office for Civil Rights, which received Burciaga's complaint
June 20, is still deciding whether to investigate. Neither the office
nor Burciaga has released the complaint to the public.
During the last two weeks, Newport-Mesa officials have looked into
the TeWinkle issue.
A team consisting of Diehl, TeWinkle Assistant Principal Tim
Tolzda, English-learner-programs director Karen Kendall and community
