Vindication for Newport-Mesa school district

When the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights ruled five years ago that the Newport-Mesa Unified School District had discriminated against English-language learners by putting them in too many English classes, the decision set off a chain of events that has improved the district and how it educates those students.

Last week, that same office ruled in another case brought against the district. This time, the Office for Civil Rights decided that district officials did not act improperly earlier this year when they interviewed parents of TeWinkle Middle School students following a June school board meeting.

Though the two complaints were essentially linked by only the person making them -- Costa Mesa resident and former City Council candidate Mirna Burciaga, who also targeted TeWinkle five years ago -- it is worth noting that the second time the Office for Civil Rights examined Newport-Mesa, it came to a different, and for the district much more positive, result. It seems safe to assume that, at the least, the district’s handling of the earlier discrimination charge set the stage for it being a more tolerant environment. District officials deserve applause for making that change happen.

Also deserving of relief, if not applause, are TeWinkle Principal Dan Diehl and Assistant Principal Tim Tolzda, who were the targets of these claims but who also received much support in the community. Following the complaint, Diehl released an “action plan,” which he said was in the works before the charges were made, to boost school morale and to improve relations with the Latino community.

The unfortunate part of this story is that Burciaga, who was triumphant five years ago, is not accepting the Office for Civil Rights’ decision this time around.

“I believe the parents didn’t have a chance to talk to the Office for Civil Rights because the office didn’t call them,” Burciaga told the Pilot. “They just made a decision based on what the district told them.”

If the Office for Civil Rights made the correct decision in 2000, there is no reason to think its ruling this time is faulty. And so there are plenty of reasons to see yet more proof that the school district is properly handling the needs and problems of its students and parents.