Students at Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez High School walked out Tuesday, calling for the return of Principal Mauro Bautista, who has been absent from campus for a month.
About 200 students gathered for a sit-in before walking out of the campus around 11 a.m., chanting, “FREE JEFE!” and holding signs that read, “There is no Mendez High School without Bautista.”
The student protesters are demanding that LAUSD representatives be transparent as to why Bautista has been away from the campus. In addition, students want to ensure that no school policies will change as a result of his absence.
“We are calling for his [Mauro Bautista] reinstatement back into the school and for his attendance to the graduation for the Class of 2024,” said one student during the protest. “Since 2009, Mr. Bautista has served as a leader for all. Under his guidance, Mendez High School has been able to prosper in all areas.”
After a brief walkout, most students returned to the campus and several gave testimonies about their positive experiences with their former principal.
Citing confidentiality laws, a Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson said officials couldn’t share details surrounding Bautista’s absence, according to a statement emailed to Boyle Heights Beat.
The district noted that in Bautista’s “absence,” Edna Bereal will lead the school as interim principal “in conjunction with Region East leadership.” Ana Vega, a regional director with the district, sent a message to the school community, letting them know Bautista “will be away from campus,” according to LAUSD.
“We have provided and will continue to provide updates to our students, employees and families about this matter as appropriate,” the district’s ‘statement read.
Mendez staff advocating for Bautista are phrasing his absence differently. A total of 75 Mendez staff members signed a statement addressed to district leadership and stated that Bautista was “removed” from campus “with no explanation other than it was a ‘personnel issue.’”
With no additional information, staff said they “feel that this is punitive and retaliatory,” given that weeks before his removal, “Bautista advocated in favor of teachers and school staff for LAUSD to approve a budget that would be fair to the Mendez community, always prioritizing students in making decisions for the school.”
A Boyle Heights Beat reporter reached out to interim principal Edna Bereal for an update but has yet to hear back as of Tuesday afternoon.
At a scheduled professional development meeting after school Tuesday, district officials fielded questions from staff and agreed to provide a letter to parents in English and Spanish with more information. The Mendez community also received a notification via the Blackboard Connect messaging system, alerting parents about the student demonstration.
Bautista, a longtime Boyle Heights resident, became the first assistant principal of Mendez when the school opened in 2009, and was then named principal in 2011.
For student Thomas Mizar Rodriguez, an 18-year-old senior, Bautista is a main reason why Mendez is more than just a school. It’s a community space, he said.
“Bautista is like the school’s parent. [He’s] not like another teacher or principal that goes home and he’s gone worrying about his own stuff. He really cares for our school and he really cares for the students,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said it appears that school staff “barely understand what’s going on,” and there are students who “have no idea what’s going on.”
“It’s important students stand up for themselves because we’re being treated like we don’t have a voice,” he said.
Michelle Madrigal, 17, a senior at Mendez, said she noticed a “more strict” school environment a month into Bautista’s absence. She’s unsure of what Bautista’s involvement will be with their upcoming senior graduation.
“I’ve seen other graduations [in previous years] and people are usually more excited, but now we don’t know what’s happening. We don’t know if Bautista will be back to give his speech,” said Madrigal, who will take part in the protest.
Natalie Juarez, a 17-year-old junior, said the uncertainty surrounding Bautista’s absence has caused chaos and confusion among teachers and students.
“I’m not one to judge but they [LAUSD] could be handling it a little better. Letting people know what they’re thinking and planning to do would be much more comforting because this is people’s education at stake here,” said Juarez, who will be participating in the sit-out.
Parents of students are also seeking answers.
A tense meeting was held Thursday eve between parents and the Los Angeles Partnership For Schools, an independent nonprofit that oversees Mendez. The organization serves as the administration for 20 LA Unified schools.
Parents asked why LAUSD representatives weren’t present to address their concerns and wanted to know if Bautista would be back for graduation.
To Jonathan Everhart, a Mendez parent, the district’s response poses more questions than answers.
“We don’t know for sure what it is. The concern that me and other parents and community members have is that Mr. Bautista has gone to bat for the [Mendez] community a couple of times and is at odds with the district,” Everhart said.
Everhart said he was unsure whether he was sent a notice from LAUSD about Bautista’s absence and heard about the announcement from others at the school. “I sent an email to them but so far no response,” Everhart said.
Ben De Leon, a social studies teacher at Mendez who has been teaching at the school for nearly a decade, said they’re closing the school year “without a leader.”
“We find ourselves trying to program and plan for next year without a leader. We’re already stretched thin,” De Leon said.
According to Mendez staff, district officials plan on meeting with high school seniors Wednesday. Students say they plan to continue protesting until there’s more transparency. In a Tuesday afternoon statement to Boyle Heights Beat, LAUSD reiterated their commitment to the health and safety of students.
Boyle Heights Beat youth reporters Destiny Ramirez, Edwin Perez, and Kathryn Mora contributed to this report.
This post was updated on May 28th, 2024 at 6 p.m. to add new information about the protest. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Here at Mendez now, watching at least a million dollars worth of LAUSD “personnel” just standing around in the shade doing nothing and saying nothing.
Really?
What’s the purpose?… at least a million dollars!
BRING BACK OUR BACKBONE, B A U T I S T A !
It’s promising to see students organizing and questioning the shady practices of their district, which is usually not concerned with placing students at the center of decision making, but instead is concerned with financial aspects of the institution.
The district continuing the underfunding of schools and allowing privately run charters to drain funds even further is clear evidence of this.
In past legal cases LAUSD has literally lied about staff members that challenge their authority… LAUSD needs to be accountable to the communities it serves not act as overlords.
So he hasn’t said something yet? Then it’s 100% a justified termination. The district can’t say something.
LAUSD needs to be trimmed