Ex-Deukmejian Aide to Lead Poway Schools’ Bias Inquiry

Poway Unified School District school board members appointed William Cunningham, a former education adviser to Gov. George Deukmejian, to head an investigation of ethnic discrimination at Mt. Carmel High School in Rancho Penasquitos.

District Supt. Robert Reeves denied that Cunningham, a friend and educational associate, will be biased in favor of the school administration while investigating the district’s conduct concerning minority students.

At the heart of the controversy is the rivalry between Filipino gangs in Rancho Penasquitos and Mira Mesa, who have clashed several times on school campuses during the past school year.

Reeves said the gang problem, which has been documented by the San Diego police, is not unique to the Poway area and exists in suburban areas throughout Southern California.

The Poway school board approved a $5,000 allocation for the operation of the investigative committee. Establishment of an ethnic relations hot line to field complaints about discrimination within the school system is expected to be in operation shortly.

Filipino parents and students have protested at recent board meetings, claiming that school administrators, teachers and staff single out Filipino students for scrutiny and punishment, in particular for wearing black and red clothing, the identifying colors of youth gangs.

Reeves said Filipino students are treated no differently than any others on Poway Unified campuses. He said an “even-handed policy” in the district was used in punishing any youth found on school property with weapons or drugs, and all youths involved in fighting on school property.

Reeves said the investigative committee will be made up of representatives from two Filipino rights groups, the PTA and the school district. Cunningham was appointed chairman.

The Poway Unified School District, which serves the city of Poway and the San Diego suburbs of Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Mountain Ranch and Rancho Penasquitos, has more than 22,000 students. The largest minority group is Filipino, at 6.7% of the student population. Asians and Asian-Americans make up the second-largest minority group in the district, with 5.3% of the student population, followed by Latino students, at 4.1%, and blacks, who account for less than 1% of the total.