The Manhattan Beach Unified School District, facing a double-whammy of hate incidents and labor tensions, had an overflow crowd at its school board meeting this week. 

Several recent racist threats and anti-semitic graffiti drew a strong response from families and community members, while MBUSD employees continue to call for a stronger contract proposal.

MBUSD experienced recent incidents of both antisemitic graffiti and racially driven hate at Manhattan Beach Middle School and Mira Costa High School. At MBMS, a swastika and other hate speech graffiti were discovered in a boys' bathroom. At MCHS, a swastika was found carved into a trash can, and a student was reported to have made serious, violent anti-Black threats against another student while claiming to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Family and community members came to the meeting to express outrage, with several arguing that this has not been an isolated problem. Many also called for stronger and more visible punishments for such incidents. 

"What is the minimum consequence when a student makes a racially motivated threat to kill another student?" asked one student speaker. "Students are hearing that the answer is a short suspension, two days. If that's wrong, tell us what the policy is. Some might say the alleged student is only a sophomore and that they didn't understand what they were saying, that they only meant it as a joke but have learned from it. But you do not learn the weight of threatening somebody's life by spending a few days at home."

MBUSD Superintendent Kim Linz acknowledge the outrage from commenters and said that such behavior was unacceptable. 

"I want to say plainly that there's no doubt where we stand. Hate speech in any form, racial threats in any form, intimidation in any form, directed at any person or group has no place in Manhattan Beach schools," she said. "And I want to be clear: This is more than a series of isolated incidents. Coupled with the recent antisemitism at our schools, it is a call to action for our district and our entire community."

Linz enumerated steps that MBUSD was taking to address the problem, including holding meetings with students; providing staff training on recognizing and responding to hate; offering assemblies and lessons on respect, bias, and the impact of hate speech; facilitating student-led discussions of how to work together to address hate and hate speech; working with a district-level committee to ensure a logical progression of anti-bias education from pre-K to high school; and expanded partnerships with relevant community organizations. 

Meanwhile, MBUSD teachers and staff rallied at the meeting for a salary agreement that included meaningful increases for teachers and classified employees and greater recognition of the financial realities facing staff.

Much of the commentary on the labor side has focused on an initial proposed 1% salary increase, which teachers and supporters characterize as inadequate, particularly in light of inflation and rising living expenses.

Union members have cited statistics claiming that since 2021, the superintendent's salary has increased by 26.5% and the deputy superintendent's by over 30%, while site-level educators have received just 11% in increases even as inflation has reached 24.4%.

"Teachers are tired of being handed the leftover crumbs," commented one teacher. "A 1% increase is an embarrassing slap in the face, and we are no longer willing to quietly accept an unjust contract."

In a message to families last week, Linz emphasized that the district has not yet made a final compensation offer. She asked for additional time because the district expects to have a clearer picture of its budget in December before it makes commitments that extend into future years.

Referencing the budget challenges of the last fiscal year, Linz wrote, "Our goal is to make commitments to our employees that we can afford to keep, not make promises today that could lead to layoffs, staffing reductions, or larger class sizes tomorrow."