Students at Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez High School began the school year Monday without transparency from Los Angeles Unified School District officials regarding the removal of their principal and vice-principal last spring.
An interim principal and assistant principal now lead the school following a tumultuous conclusion to the previous school year where students held multiple sitouts, walkouts and led a march to Los Angeles City Hall asking for answers from the tight-lipped school district. The change in administration comes after former principal Mauro Bautista and assistant principal, John Cerezo, were quietly removed from their positions without notice.
This school year’s situation is leaving students, teachers and parents feeling disappointed and in limbo.
“After we left with uncertainty, we’re kind of returning with uncertainty as well,” said English teacher Lizette Toribio. She said that in a leader she looks for someone who’s both community oriented and “someone who understands the needs of our school, our families and our teachers.”
Fred Simmons and Alexander Contreras will be temporarily filling the roles as the new principal and assistant principal at the school, respectively, according to LAUSD officials.
Simmons is no stranger to the Mendez campus. He served as the assistant principal at Mendez for 10 years according to an LAUSD spokesperson.
Simmons, on a call with Boyle Heights Beat, said he was excited to start the school year but, when asked about his mission to support the school and its students, was reluctant to give a comment. Simmons said he and Contreras were instructed to not speak to the media by LAUSD.
Axel Berganza, a Mendez student, said he was excited to come back to school and be productive after a long summer break and feels confident that the interim principal will do well.
“I think that people are content with it because he’s more known. I don’t think there’s that much dispute against him being principal,” Berganza said.
The 15-year-old said he remembered Simmons working on the Mendez campus during his freshman and part of his sophomore years at Mendez.
The Mendez junior did say, however, that “everybody wants Bautista back.”
Rumors about Bautista quickly spread across the Mendez community in the spring and caused rifts throughout the Eastside school as faculty, parents and students felt left in the dark by LAUSD who refused to give insight into the removal.
“I truly believe that Mendez isn’t Mendez without him,” Berganza said. He participated in some protests calling for the return of their principal last spring.
“He really motivated students in the right way. For students that needed that extra attention and motivation to have that drive in school, he gave it to them.”
Berganza said he and his classmates valued their former principal’s commitment to listening to students and fighting for things like afterschool programs that were in jeopardy due to budget cuts.
“I think that’s one of the most supportive traits a principal can have. To value students’ wants and to try their best to fight for them,” Berganza said.
An LAUSD spokesperson denied a request to interview the new administrators and when asked about an update regarding Bautista, said that “all personnel matters are confidential”.
Since the spring, the district has not shared the reason Bautista was removed, but his brother, Israel Bautista, spoke at a community meeting at Proyecto Pastoral in June to dispel any rumors that his brother was incarcerated.
“I can tell you for a fact that my brother is not in jail. He is not being investigated for anything criminal,” Israel Bautista said during the June meeting.
Toribio said while she appreciates having a rapport with Simmons, students had a very unique relationship with their former principal.
“I think what’s challenging is that sometimes it’s not always in line with district needs and that’s what makes it complicated but we need someone who’s willing to go at bat for them,” Toribio said.
In a statement, Rocio Rivas, LAUSD Board Member of District 2, told Boyle Heights Beat that health and safety of students is a top priority for her and reaffirmed that Mr. Simmons’ relationship to the community makes him a good choice for the temporary role.
“We are excited to begin a new school year and are confident that Region East leadership and operations will continue to provide support to ensure Mendez High School continues to fulfill its mission of education in the community,” Rivas said.
Maricela Velázquez, a parent of a Boyle Heights Beat high school reporter and senior at Mendez, wants clearer communication from the school’s administration and more parent involvement to support students.
“I am worried because I don’t know how this is going to affect my student, since it is his last year and in his last year he is supposed to be enjoying it as much as possible,” she said. “I don’t know how the administration will be.”
Velázquez expressed uncertainty when asked if she had hope for the school’s climate after losing Bautista.
“I would like to have hope, but as I have been seeing in recent months, how they have been ignoring us and have not given us even a little bit of hope that they are taking into account the opinions and what we have fought until now, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.
