Four after-school program staffers at Fresno Unified say they were told by a district employee not to speak Spanish on the job – and that speaking Spanish with each other on school grounds was against state law.

The only circumstances under which they were allowed to use Spanish, they were also told, was when the after-school program leader needed them to translate for Spanish-speaking parents – a task that is not part of their job responsibilities.

“Speaking Spanish is a part of my identity,” said after-school program employee Brianna Sanchez at an FUSD board meeting Wednesday. “I was literally in shock that I was being told that a part of my identity was illegal.”

The staff who shared this account are employees of the Moreno Institute, an organization that supports educational opportunities for immigrant students, and were all placed at FUSD’s Manchester GATE Elementary when they were allegedly told by an FUSD employee not to speak Spanish on school grounds in a meeting Feb. 2.

The after-school program leader and two program supervisors did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

After alerting their own supervisors of the incident with Manchester GATE’s after-school program leader earlier this month, the Moreno staff said they were immediately removed from Manchester and placed at other school sites.

As a result, the Moreno employees were unable to say goodbye to the students they’d been working with since September.

“I used to love going to work,” Moreno employee Orlando Martinez told the Ed Lab after the meeting, describing the difficulty adjusting to a brand new school site. “I do not feel as welcomed.”

Following testimonies from five total Moreno employees and other employees of Manchester GATE’s after-school program familiar with the incident Wednesday, Board President Veva Islas asked district staff to meet with the Moreno employees. They convened privately while the board meeting was still in progress.

After the meeting, Islas denounced what the Moreno Institute employees shared as “xenophobic” and an attempt to “oppress the Latino student professionals” in a series of texts to the Ed Lab.

“As a native Spanish speaker, I am highly offended by this situation,” she said. “Not just for myself but for every non-English speaking family in our district.”

In an emailed statement Thursday afternoon, district spokesperson Nikki Henry confirmed an investigation of the incident was already underway, while adding that Wednesday’s public comments brought to light some new information FUSD staff will be following up on.

Henry also said the suggestion that using Spanish on school grounds is not allowed clashes with the district’s values.

“We are unaware of any law that would prohibit speaking a language other than English in our schools. In fact, that would be in direct conflict with our values and our programming as we are a leading district in dual language immersion programs,” she said.

“We are aware of a very outdated law in California, Proposition 227, which was passed in 1998 requiring that parents sign a waiver to keep their students in a bilingual classroom,” Henry added. “Thankfully, that law was repealed in 2016 by the passage of Proposition 58.”

What the Moreno Institute employees are demanding

In addition to sharing their experiences, the Moreno employees presented the district with a list of demands Wednesday, a copy of which was provided to the Ed Lab.

Those include:

• That the district employee and their supervisor face “severe consequences” at the least or up to termination

• Anti-racism training for the involved district employees

• That Manchester GATE students, teachers, and families be informed about the alleged Feb. 2 incident

• An in-person apology from the district employee and her supervisors to the Moreno employees

• An apology to the entire Manchester GATE and Fresno Unified communities, translated into multiple languages

• A safe space for the affected staff to talk about the racism and discrimination they’ve faced

• Reparations for the Moreno staff’s lost wages and mental and emotional harm

“On October 7, 2020, Fresno Unified declared itself an anti-racist institution, vowing to take a stand against racism and discrimination in all forms,” said Moreno employee Victoria Torres before the board Wednesday. “If that declaration is not simply smoke and mirrors, you will support us. You will stand with us. And you will work tirelessly to rid this district of such racist and small-minded individuals”

Fresno civil rights activist Gloria Hernandez, who also addressed the board Wednesday, said the incident the Moreno employees described contained echoes of the discrimination she and her peers faced decades ago.

“The tears Orlando (Martinez) cried today reminds me of when we used to get slapped for speaking Spanish,” she said.

“It’s got to stop. I thought it stopped decades ago, but here we are again.”

Regarding the Moreno employees’ demands, Islas declined to comment on personnel issues but said “I do hope that significant actions can be taken against those involved.”

Beyond investigating further, Henry said the district’s human resources, equity and access, and after-school programming teams will continue to meet with the Moreno employees to “work together on solutions.”

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