Nearly 40 Inglewood teachers rallied outside of the city’s school district office Wednesday — just one hour before the city’s Board of Education was scheduled to meet — to bring attention to their concerns about campus safety.
Teachers marched, chanted and even sang during the rally. Chants could even be heard from inside the district office during the board meeting.
“When ITA is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” teachers yelled during their rally Wednesday.
The rally comes as the Inglewood Teachers Association continues to make their concerns known to district officials. ITA President John Hughes spoke to members through a small megaphone Wednesday, emphasizing the importance of campus safety and recalling multiple incidents where teachers and staff felt unsafe on Inglewood school campuses.
In an emailed statement on Tuesday, Hughes said the teachers association has been asking for a comprehensive safety plan, additional safety personnel, more secured school perimeters, reduced class sizes and protection from hazards including dilapidated buildings and wildlife on campuses.
James Morris, the district’s county administrator, said in an emailed statement Thursday that the district is “actively working with labor partners to address safety concerns at all school sites and discuss ways to improve campus safety.”
Morris said he met with the teachers association last week, and at that meeting a joint decision was made to communicate to all district employees that wearing identification badges is a required safety expectation on Inglewood school sites. He added that the district is also in the final stages of adding security cameras at all school sites and the project is scheduled to be completed in January 2026. It’s expected to cost about $600,000.
Last month, the ACLU published the 2025 Inglewood Unified School District Report Card, which emphasized that students from different schools and neighborhoods, some territorial, are now on one high school campus, leading to tension and even violent incidents.
The tipping point came after a student was stabbed last month by another student at Inglewood High’s interim campus. The incident took place just a day after the teachers association held a rally about unsafe working conditions.
“Our students and educators deserve a safe environment to learn and work in. No one should come to school afraid,” Hughes said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
Maria Siles, a parent who attended Wednesday’s rally, said she was frustrated by the district’s inability to quell violent incidents on campus.
“First of all, they need to have metal detectors. That was my first opinion for the principal at the beginning of the year. They say they got all the bad kids out. It doesn’t look like it. It’s still going on,” Siles said.
Ryan Reddy, an association member, said during the rally that their concerns about safety have been the same across the district this school year.
“We’ve had safety concerns throughout the district, especially for the last couple of months. It’s gotten pretty dangerous. Weapons on campus, massive brawls, fights,” Reddy said. “The safety concerns that teachers have as part of the union, is not just for our sake, but for the safety of our students, too.”
