By Tali Woodward

A simmering controversy over the plan to house a charter school at Newcomer High School, a 25-year-old transitional program for immigrant kids, has prompted charges of anti-immigrant bias and racism – and made it clear that the treatment of immigrant families will be a theme during the San Francisco Board of Education race.

When Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's plan to relocate a charter school called Cross Cultural Environmental Leadership Academy (or XCEL Academy) to the Newcomer campus was first announced, it was met with heavy resistance. State law requires school districts to make space available to charter schools, but this plan was drawn up before the Newcomer community got a chance to weigh in. And critics says it could force the well-regarded program to shed up to 130 slots meant for students who have just arrived in the county and often have little or no knowledge of English or the U.S. education system.

This fall's school board race, in which board members Eric Mar, Jill Wynns, Heather Hiles, and Mark Sanchez are up for reelection, has long been seen as a referendum on the superintendent's popularity. Mar and Sanchez frequently criticize Ackerman's decisions and management style, whereas Hiles and Wynns tend to support her.

The Newcomer issues quickly became politicized when Mar and Sanchez drafted a resolution to preserve Newcomer's space. The board voted it down June 22, but the controversy hardly dried up.

Although Ackerman publicly apologized for not involving the community more directly in her decision-making, she also suggested that objections to her plan were rooted in racism. Weeks later she penned an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle saying, "My recommendation to temporarily place XCEL at Newcomer for one year is based on the need to find the charter school a short-term location and on enrollment trends that indicate the facility can accommodate temporarily both programs."

She also reiterated her belief that some complaints were motivated by prejudice: "I realize that many of the voices speaking against placing XCEL Academy at Newcomer are motivated by concerns about space. More troubling, however, are the comments that seem driven by fear of the XCEL students themselves, most of whom are African American and Latino."

Dozens of students, teachers, and immigrant rights activists who gathered at the San Francisco Unified School District office Aug. 3 objected to that notion.

"We feel disrespected," said 19-year-old Laura Melgarejo, who graduated from Newcomer in 1999 and now attends City College of San Francisco. "It's not that we don't want to share space with students of other racial backgrounds."

Mar then announced he would introduce a new resolution at the board's Aug. 10 meeting. It would require that more space be allocated to Newcomer, that students who are diverted from the school receive comparable support services, and that Ackerman hold a meeting with Newcomer families and staff.

"The decision to house XCEL at Newcomer is not based on sound educational principles for either school," Mar told the Bay Guardian, emphasizing that the one-year arrangement will be disruptive.

"We as a board have to urge the superintendent to play a role of bringing people together and not engaging in the sort of name-calling that's happened," he added. "She's never acknowledged the racism comments, and that's the thing that's really burning people up."

Ackerman was out of town during the protest, but the district issued a statement that emphasized efforts to work with the Newcomer community and current negotiations "to determine if classroom space can be released to Newcomer."

Board member Hiles said the plan "wasn't handled appropriately" but added, "It's the piecemeal planning that's the problem." Earlier this year, after the school board grappled with similar tensions over the placement of a charter school at Luther Burbank Middle School, Hiles coauthored a successful resolution to establish long-term facilities planning that's based on community input.

But Hiles thinks it's time to stop focusing on the location of XCEL. "I don't think what we're doing now – the protest and the new resolution – will solve anything," she said. "I think it's the responsibility of the superintendent and the school board members to de-escalate the drama and the tension and the polarization."

Wynns was out of town and couldn't be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, the education community is debating a charter amendment that would allow noncitizens who are raising public school students to vote in school board races. Supporters say this is a good way to ensure immigrants have a say in how their kids are schooled. Opponents – such as Sen. Barbara Boxer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her group SFSOS, and Sups. Tony Hall and Fiona Ma – argue that only fully naturalized citizens should be able to participate in the political process. (Louise Renne, who has served as city attorney and counsel to the school district, even drew a direct connection to terrorism, asking, according to the Chronicle, "If noncitizens can vote, can Osama bin Laden vote in a school board election?")

Mar said he believes opponents are trying to use the charter amendment "as a wedge issue to turn out more conservative voters." But he's most concerned that the city ensures immigrants don't bear the brunt of post-9/11 fear. "I think the immigrant community is feeling their interests are being neglected and that, even in liberal San Francisco, they're being scapegoated."

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