Let the bidding begin!

Thousands of acres of ocean real estate will be up for grabs during the first-ever offshore wind lease auction on the West Coast. Beginning Tuesday morning, the Bureau of Energy Ocean Management (BOEM) will auction off five leases – three off Morro Bay and two off Humboldt Bay – for the development of floating offshore wind energy facilities.

Forty-three separate entities, ranging from regional LLCs all the way up to energy giants like Shell, have qualified as potential bidders for the five lease areas.

Here’s how the bidding process works:

Bidders will hop online for the monetary auction at 7 a.m. PST. All five lease areas – comprising over 373,000 acres and up to 4.5 gigawatts of capacity – will be offered up in a single auction. Each lease area has its own minimum bid requirement, ranging from $6.3 million to $8 million. “Each bidder may only bid for one of the offered Lease Areas at a time and, ultimately, acquire only one of the Lease Areas in the auction,” as noted in the Final Sales Notice (FSN). 

Bidding will go in rounds until there are no new “live bids.” If bids are still coming in by the end of the day, the auction will continue on Wednesday. Once bidding ends, BOEM will determine the “provisionally winning bid” for each lease area. 

Once the provisional winners have been announced, BOEM will return the non-winners’ bid deposits and the Department of Justice will conduct an antitrust review of the auction. All winners are considered provisional until they sign the lease, provide financial assurance and pay any outstanding balance of their bid.

As soon as those requirements have been met, the lease will be executed and the leaseholder will begin the planning process early next year.

Lost Coast Wind, a newly formed coalition of local tribal and environmental consultants, hopes to ensure a successful wind energy future for the North Coast by building “meaningful, impactful partnerships between local Native Americans and wind developers.”

“We want to make sure that, as wind energy resources are developed here, it is being done in a fair and equitable way,” Craig Tucker, principal for Lost Coast Wind, told the Outpost. “We’re working with the Yurok Tribe and they have a lot of concerns. … I think the Yurok Tribe, and other local tribes, are going to be very interested in whoever steps forward as a developer. I think developers would be wise to start collaborating with local tribes as soon as possible to make sure that their impacts on tribal resources, cultural resources and natural resources are immediately addressed.”

To mitigate potential impacts, BOEM offers developers a little something called a bid credit package. To qualify for the credit package the bidder “must commit to mak[ing] a qualifying monetary contribution to programs or initiatives” that benefit the greater Humboldt County community, according to the FSN for the Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA). Up to 30 percent of the final cash bid that is accepted for each lease area during the upcoming auction could be set aside to offset local impacts to tribes, fisheries and other Humboldt Bay communities.

“Someone’s gonna pay a lot of money – probably hundreds of millions of dollars – for the rights to lease the ocean to develop a wind project, and instead of all that money sort of disappearing back into the Department of the Treasury, some of that bid could be invested locally,” Tucker explained. “That could include different community benefits, investing into the fishing industry to help solve some of the conflicts they may have with offshore wind, or investment in the local workforce so folks living here can have access to the skills that this industry needs.”

However, the bid credit is not guaranteed. Bidders can choose to opt out of the credit on the Bidder’s Financial Form. 

Whether or not the bidders choose to opt into the bid credit package remains to be seen. “It will really take a few weeks to spell it all out,” Tucker said.

Speaking on behalf of the Blue Lake Rancheria, Councilmember Jason Ramos emphasized the need for an expedited “transition to clean technologies and low carbon solutions” for North Coast communities.

“Bringing offshore wind to the North Coast region is a tremendous opportunity for Humboldt County to lead by example, and take a progressive step forward toward sustainable living,” Ramos told the Outpost. “The move would support meaningful industry growth that will bring in new good-paying jobs and spur positive economic growth, along with safeguards to ensure the region is not exploited. Tribes are currently exploring ways to lead on these energy projects, by supporting needed workforce development, supply chains, as well as operations and maintenance needs of the wind turbines.”

[DISCLOSURE: The Blue Lake Rancheria is a minority owner in the Outpost’s parent company, Lost Coast Communications, Inc.] 

Wiyot Tribal Chair Ted Hernandez told the Outpost that the matter has yet to be discussed by the tribal council and declined to offer further comment on the subject for the time being.

Want to learn more about offshore wind energy? In the video below, friend of the Outpost and Arcata News reporter Eric Black takes a look at how the Humboldt WEA would tie into transmission infrastructure throughout the region to bring renewable energy to the North Coast and beyond. 

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DOCUMENTS:

• Proposed Sale Notice Comments to BOEM
• BOEM Final Sale Notice
• Final Environmental Assessment

PREVIOUSLY:

• Biden Administration Proposes Offshore Wind Lease Sale, Including Two Spots Off the Humboldt County Coast
• IT’S ON: Humboldt Offshore Wind Leases to Go Up For Auction on Dec. 6
• Harbor District Announces Massive Offshore Wind Partnership; Project Would Lead to an 86-Acre Redevelopment of Old Pulp Mill Site
• Offshore Wind is Coming to the North Coast. What’s in it For Humboldt?
• North Coast Fishermen Fear for the Future of Commercial Fisheries as Offshore Wind Efforts Advance

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Here’s a question: Should two elected positions in the Humboldt County government — treasurer-tax collector and auditor-controller — be consolidated into a single director of finance, whose job would be to oversee a single Department of Finance?

Quick follow-up for those who answered “yes” (or “maybe” or “I don’t know; tell me more”): If that position IS created, should that person be elected by voters or appointed by the Board of Supervisors?

If you’ve lived and voted in Humboldt County for a while, you might recognize those exact questions from your 2016 General Election ballot, when they were packaged as Measure Q and Measure R. Both measures were narrowly defeated at the ballot box, which is why, to this day, the county still has an independently elected treasurer-tax collector (Amy Christensen) and auditor-controller (Cheryl Dillingham). 

But a whole heckuva lot has happened in the past six years, and Board Chair Virginia Bass thinks it’s time to take a fresh look at this proposition. 

“I think it’s been quite the conversation in the community for quite some time,” Bass said when reached by phone Monday. “I also know from groups that I’ve talked to in the past several months, they’ve asked why we have the system set up as it is. … I think there’s reason to have a conversation about it tomorrow.”

At tomorrow’s regular meeting, the Board of Supervisors will consider placing a ballot measure on the June March 2024 ballot to create the Department of Finance. If the idea gains any traction at all, the board can ask staff to return at a later date with information on election timeframes, costs to support such a ballot measure and other considerations.

The argument in favor of consolidation last time around went something like this: Combining these two relatively small departments would increase efficiency, offer more opportunities for employee cross-training, provide better backup coverage for staff and facilitate better succession planning.

During the fiscal chaos that characterized the past four years of county government, another argument arose more than once: Maybe the Board of Supervisors should have the power to fire the county’s auditor-controller. 

A staff report prepared for tomorrow’s discussion says consolidation would increase overall staffing levels in the two departments. The Auditor-Controller’s office currently has 19 approved positions while the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office has 10, and both departments are struggling to hire and retain staff, as is the case across county government.

“Combining the departments will also provide opportunities to create more efficient and effective processes, procedures and communication,” the staff report says.

Six years ago, opponents of measures Q balked at the idea of taking decision-making power away from voters. They also argued that the skills and experience required for the two distinct roles are significantly different from one another and not easily acquired. 

And last time around, both the sitting auditor-controller (Joe Mellet) and the sitting treasurer-tax collector (John Bartholomew) argued against consolidation. They’ve both since retired.

If anyone from the public would like to weigh in on these questions, you can either email the board (cob@co.humboldt.ca.us), show up to the meeting in person or watch it via TV or Zoom (a link will appear on this page once the meeting gets under way) and call in when they get to that item on the agenda. 

Call-in instructions:

When the Board of Supervisors announce the agenda item that you wish to comment on, call the conference line 720-707-2699, enter Meeting ID 854-6053-9347 and press star (*) 9 on your phone, this will raise your hand. You’ll continue to hear the Board meeting on the call.

PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR TV OR LIVE STREAM TO AVOID DELAYS.

Press release from Humboldt Bay Fire:

At 0240 early Monday morning, December 5th 2022, Humboldt Bay Fire units including 3 engines, a ladder truck, and two duty chiefs, were dispatched to a structure fire in a residential structure at 4800 block of Meyers Avenue in Eureka. Additional information indicated an occupant may be trapped inside.

The first arriving unit was quickly on scene and reported a working fire in a single-story residence. The crew accessed the fire room and located an unconscious victim in a bedroom, whom they quickly removed from the house. Care was transferred to the second arriving unit so fire attack could re-enter the house and extinguish the fire. CPR was immediately begun on the victim, as well as three pets that were also located in the bedroom. Crews quickly controlled the fire and kept it contained to a single bedroom. The fire residence was an additional dwelling unit in a converted garage that was attached to the main house. The three occupants of the main house were able to evacuate and were not injured in the incident.

Additional arriving units established a water supply, ventilated smoke from the house, and assisted with medical care. CPR was continued on the patient with HBF Paramedics and City Ambulance personnel who arrived on scene. Two pets were transported to Myrtle Avenue Vet by HCSO deputies for emergency treatment. Unfortunately, the patient and one of the pets were overcome by smoke in the house and were unable to be resuscitated. Our deepest condolences to the family for their loss.

After approximately 30 minutes, the fire was completely extinguished. PG&E was notified and disconnected gas and power to the building. The fire originated in the bedroom in a wastebasket and appeared to be accidental in nature but the exact cause could not be determined.

Damage was estimated at $80,000. There were no injuries to fire personnel on scene. Humboldt Bay Fire would like to thank its allied partners for their assistance during this incident. Samoa Fire District, and Arcata Fire District helped to ensure the safety of the HBF community while our resources were committed. Additionally, we would like to thank PG&E, HCSO, Myrtle Avenue Veterinary Hospital, and City Ambulance.

We would like to remind folks to be extra careful at this time of year with candles, heating sources, holiday lights and ornaments. Do not leave open flames unattended and do not overload outlets with multiple plugs. We wish all a safe holiday season.

Now, we’re aware that at least a few people aren’t in favor of the big rebranding of 20/30 Park that the Eureka City Council is looking to finalize at its Tuesday night meeting. They carry some sort of torch for that civic club of yore which built the current park – an association of young men in their 20s and 30s that apparently made a point of doing good deeds around town, way back when. And that’s fine. History is important.

But just on a practical level: Was there ever a park in more dire need of a reputational refresh? In case you weren’t aware, 20/30’s image is not good. There was a time, not long ago, when its name conjured every manner of shady behavior. Things seem to have quieted down a bit lately but the stigma remains, and it probably doesn’t help that since the 20/30 Club ceased to exist many, many decades ago, the park’s name just strikes the casual onlooker as some sort of … blank. Two numbers. It sounds, more than anything, like a police code.

Which is a shame, because not only is the park located on the city’s heavily populated and less well-to-do West Side, where there are lots of kids who could do with a boost in neighborhood pride, but the park itself has some cool features that are about to get a lot cooler. The city has obtained big grant funds to renovate the place, which will include all-new playground equipment, extra amenities (Roller hockey! Futsal!) and an upgrade for the park’s neat old baseball field.

City government thought that maybe this would be a good time to redo the name of the park, too, and after a few rounds of polling the citizenry they decided that the public liked the idea. Working with the Wiyot Tribe, the city came up with a shortlist of Soulatluk names that might serve, and after more polling and a pass through the planning commission they settled on “Da’ Yas,” in honor of the cypress trees that populate the park. “Da’ Yas” means “where the cypresses are.”

And so the council is expected to formalize Da’ Yas Park to much fanfare and no doubt some disgruntlement Tuesday night, in what will be the evening’s showcase item. Read the staff report here. Also on the agenda, earlier in the evening and on the consent calendar, is a resolution that’ll permit the city to buy all the new playground equipment from a single vendor, to the tune of about $600,000. That equipment will contain some specialty gear, including the big swan egret that’ll be the playground’s showpiece. The staff report for that is here, and a bid from a Santa Rosa company called Ross Recreation Equipment can be found here. [CORRECTION: Yes egret, not swan. Thanks to the commenter below.]

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What else is on the agenda, you ask? The council will look to finally finalize that sewer lateral ordinance that Izzy wrote about a few weeks ago. They’ll talk about updating some local building codes to comport with new state law. (Staff report here.) They’ll think about refinancing some old wastewater bonds, which should amount to a million dollars in savings according to the staff report, which can be found here.

Since it’s on the consent calendar, the council will likely approve the purchase of eight new “fully outfitted” Chevy Tahoes to serve as police vehicles, at a cost of $550,000. According to the staff report – find it here! — the purchase will be part of a new “Assigned Vehicle Program” developed by the Eureka Police Department, in which cop cars will be assigned to some specific officers, rather than placed in a car pool which all the police draw from willy-nilly. The cops would also take their car home on the days in which it’s assigned to them. Here, let that staff report explain it:

The purpose of the AVP is to improve department efficiency in response to critical incidents, accountability, and vehicle longevity at the Police Department. Officers have expressed interest in an AVP for some time now as a way in which to improve overall morale in the department. This program will also create more accountability for vehicle use and care among department members. Furthermore, by implementing the AVP, vehicles will not be driven as often and the longevity of the City’s fleet will improve.

The AVP will involve a patrol vehicle assigned to a pair of patrol officers working opposing weekday and weekend shift assignments. This program will allow officers from each team, based on a lottery, to be assigned a specific patrol vehicle for the duration of the calendar year. Additional vehicles would be maintained as pool cars, to be utilized by officers working overtime, or if their assigned vehicle is unavailable or in need of maintenance.

Information gathered from other agencies by the Police Department indicates that assigned vehicle programs elsewhere have resulted in higher morale, better cared for vehicles, and better presence in the community, with assigned vehicles visible when travelling to and from work or parked at officers’ residences.

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Apart from those things, the council is going to hear a whole bunch of reports and updates and special presentations about various stuff cooking in the community.

The California Fishermen’s Marketing Association will be on hand to talk about what they’re up to, and — presumably — to outline some of the fisherfolks’ concerns about offshore wind energy.

The Eureka Youth Council — a cool, kinda shadow City Council populated by teenagers — will show and give a presentation, and hopefully they will tell the actual council about everything they’re doing wrong.

Mayor Susan Seaman will have a couple of updates from the Humboldt Count Library and the Kamisu Sister City Project. And, to cap off the evening, City Manager Miles Slattery will give the council an update on the city-run Little Saplings preschool program.

Get hype! The Eureka City Council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, at Eureka City Hall, there at the corner of Fifth and K streets. The full agenda, including instructions on how to Zoom in to the meeting remotely, can be found at this link.

From the Eureka Police Department:

On December 3, 2022, just before 6 p.m., officers with the Eureka Police Department responded to the 3300 block of Broadway for the report of a robbery that just occurred outside of a major retail store. The victim, a 65-year-old Salvation Army Bell Ringer, was handed a demanding and threatening note by an unknown male. The male then removed the red kettle full of donations and fled into the nearby greenbelt.

Officers reviewed surveillance provided by store security and were able to immediately identify the suspect as 32-year-old Dennis Scarella of Castro Valley. Scarella had been contacted by officers less than an hour prior. Officers searched the greenbelt but were unable to locate Scarella. An arrest warrant was issued and broadcasted to surrounding agencies.

On December 4, 2022, at about 4:10 p.m., officers responded to a restaurant on the 3000 block of Broadway for the report of a stolen tip jar. Employees provided officers with an image from surveillance. The suspect was identified as Scarella. After a brief search through the surrounding greenbelt, Scarella was taken into custody without further incident.

Scarella was transported and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for robbery. Additional theft related charges are still under investigation.

Eureka Police Department press release: 

On December 3, 2022, at about 10:30 p.m., officers with the Eureka Police Department responded to St. Joseph Hospital’s Emergency Department for the report of a 5-year- old juvenile female who had been shot in the foot by her father. The family self-transported the juvenile to the hospital and hospital staff notified law enforcement.

Based on the initial investigation, it appears the incident occurred in the family home located near W Grant and California Streets. It is reported the juvenile was shot in the foot when she jumped onto her father’s lap while he was cleaning his gun.

The Eureka Police Department Criminal Investigations Unit responded and assumed control of the investigation. This is an ongoing investigation and no arrests have been made. The juvenile is in fair condition and is recovering.

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For the second time in less than a decade, the ACLU of Northern California today filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria alleging repeated acts of discrimination by Loleta Elementary School employees against Native students and students with disabilities.

According to the complaint, district employees, including at least two teachers, have regularly subjected Native students to verbal harassment and excessive discipline beyond what’s meted out to non-Native students. This pattern of disparate treatment “directly reflects discriminatory racial intent,” the complaint says.

As evidence, the filing cites firsthand accounts from parents and students and includes, as an exhibit, a recent report regarding a third-party investigation commissioned by the district in response to complaints from a parent. That investigation resulted in sustained allegations of discrimination against disabled students; failure to implement a student’s individualized education program (IEP) as required by law; and one teacher repeatedly demeaning and shaming students in class.

“The findings are damning and reveal a pattern of racial hostility,” said Carmen King, a communications strategist for the ACLU of Northern California. “These [findings] include multiple examples over the last year that Loleta Elementary staff has used racial slurs in their interactions with Indigenous students.”

The ACLU’s complaint, which was filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in San Francisco, comes nine years after that same office launched an investigation into the Loleta Union School District over very similar allegations made by the Wiyot Tribe, with support from the Bear River Band. 

The subsequent inquiry found substantial evidence that the district had created a hostile environment for Native American students, disciplining Native students more harshly than others and failing to provide legally mandated services for Native students with disabilities. 

This new complaint says these kinds of discriminatory behaviors have resumed at Loleta Elementary School.

“The case is centered on how the Loleta School District has denied Indigenous students, including disabled students, equal educational opportunities as required by the law by ignoring serious and repeated acts of discrimination and harassment,” said Linnea Nelson, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Northern California.

In a phone interview on Friday, Nelson said parents of impacted students have repeatedly raised these issues with administrators and staff, “and they have, unfortunately, been met with indifference, inaction and, in some cases, retaliation,” she said. “The Bear River Band tribal council felt that a very strong and serious response was needed to support those families and those students who are brave enough to come forward and really expose what has been happening in Loleta Elementary School classrooms over the last several months.”

One of those parents is Sarah Sand, who told the Outpost that her son was subjected to a variety of discriminatory behavior last school year, when he was in fifth grade. A Native American student, Sand’s son has been diagnosed with ADHD and sensory processing disorder, conditions which can manifest in fidgeting, wiggling in his seat or blurting things out when it’s not his turn to speak.

Her son’s IEP calls for a one-on-one aide, extra breaks and alternative testing methods, but Sand said her son’s teacher, Heather Nyberg-Austrus, failed to implement them. 

“There were many accommodations that could have made his life and his time easier, and she just refused to make them,” Sand said.

She said Nyberg would regularly call her at work to say her son was acting up so she should come pick him up. But when she talked to staff and administrators, she got conflicting reports. On the last day of school before Christmas break last year, she got another call to come get her son, but when she arrived at school a few minutes later she was told that staff had lost track of him. 

“And they said, ‘Well, he’s probably somewhere,’” Sand recalled. “And it was that moment when I realized that there was a big problem, because it was easier for them to lose my child than it was to implement his IEP or deal with him.”

She also heard disturbing anecdotes about Nyberg using racially coded language — referring to a group of Native students as a “gang,” for example, while referring to non-Native kids in more benevolent terms.

This past June Sand filed a complaint against the district and several staff members pursuant to the California Department of Education’s Uniform Complaint Procedures. She also reached out to the ACLU.

“It felt like the right move,” she said. “I felt that something was wrong, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. I knew his IEP wasn’t being implemented. I knew that they were just pacifying me. … That was when I said, you know, we have to talk to somebody. This has to stop.”

An investigation was conducted by the Whitestar Group, a neutral, private investigation firm based in Santa Rosa, and just last month Sand received a letter from Loleta Superintendent/Principal Linda Row summarizing the findings.

The evidence, including witness testimony, established that Nyberg had locked students out of class and excluded numerous students, including Sand’s son, from attending field trips as punishment for behaviors related to a recognized disability, according to Row’s letter. The investigation also found that her son’s IEP was not properly implemented and that Nyberg inappropriately raised her voice to Sand’s son and other students.

“Every witness provided numerous examples of [Nyberg] ‘screaming,’ ‘yelling’ and raising her voice to both students and other staff members … ,” Row’s letter says. “The school psychologist and several other witnesses observed negative impacts on students such as crying, saying [Nyberg] didn’t like them, and avoiding [Nyberg’s] class.”

Row’s letter went on to say:

The evidence supported the conclusion that, during the 2021-2022 school year, [Nyberg] shamed a specific student in front of his classmates by asking if he took his medication that day.

The evidence also supported the conclusion that, in July 2022, when a student, whose IEP calls for breaks, returned to class after a break, [Nyberg] asked the student’s aide, “Now where was he?” The aide responded, “He took a short break.” [Nyberg] then replied in front of the whole class, “A break from what, laying his head down on the table all morning?”

The district concluded that Nyberg had engaged in antagonistic, derogatory and discriminatory behavior toward students, bullying them to the point where they dreaded going to her classroom. Nyberg’s behavior violated several district policies, and Row’s letter to Sand said, “The District will be taking corrective action and informing [Nyberg] of District expectations.”

Sand wasn’t impressed. 

“What does that mean?” she said. “That doesn’t mean anything to me. Our children are still being harmed. The teacher is still teaching.”

Sand’s outrage is still raw, and she grew emotional when talking about the psychological impacts on her son.

‘The honest, hard truth is that my son experienced bullying from his teacher, from someone that I trusted to keep my child safe at school.’ —Sarah Sand

“The honest, hard truth is that my son experienced bullying from his teacher, from someone that I trusted would keep my child safe at school — an authority figure — and she abused that trust and she broke that trust and she made him feel like he was small, like he couldn’t function properly because of his disability.”

She said that at one point last school year, her son became so despondent that he drank a large amount of mouthwash, hoping it would make him sick enough to solve all his problems. Sand believes it was a suicide attempt.

“And I have been struggling with that ever since because he did not — this didn’t need to happen,” Sand said. “It didn’t need to happen at all. And I know my son is not the only child suffering.”

The ACLU complaint says that’s clearly true, and it cites several examples involving Nyberg as well as Loleta Elementary’s seventh-eighth-grade teacher, Mary Gustaveson.

“In November 2022, Ms. Gustaveson screamed so loudly at an Indigenous student that other students were afraid Ms. Gustaveson was going to hit the student,” the complaint says. It also alleges that Loleta Elementary employees have used racial slurs towards Indigenous students and disciplined Indigenous students more harshly than their non-Native peers.

The most egregious example of Loleta staff members’ racial hostility, according to the complaint, occurred when Nyberg, who is white, repeatedly used the “N-word” in the classroom while trying to explain to students that racial slurs are okay when used by people within the affected group — two Indigenous students calling each other “Indian giver,” for example — but not okay when used by people outside the group. 

“Multiple students in the class then replied to Ms. Nyberg that the ‘N-word’ was a bad word and always racist,” the complaint says. “Ms. Nyberg stated that her use of the ‘N-word’ in that conversation was not racist because no one in the classroom was Black and she was not directing the word at anyone.”

A footnote explains that Nyberg didn’t say “the N-Word” but instead used the actual word. “Since this word is one of the most offensive racial slurs in the English language, this complaint instead refers to it as the ‘N-word,’ but Ms. Nyberg used the full word throughout this exchange,” the footnote says. 

Numerous students were extremely upset by this incident, the report says, and it alleges that Nyberg has also used racially-coded, derogatory language to refer to Indigenous students and routinely prohibited Indigenous students from sitting in the seat closest to her desk, which many students view as a “privileged seat.”

The complaint says Nyberg’s offensive comments date back at least four or five years, including things she said during an all-school meeting to acknowledge that Loleta is on ancestral Wiyot land. 

“Ms. Nyberg spoke up in a very oppositional tone and said, ‘I’m a fifth-generation Ferndalian,’ strongly implying that her family has as much right to the land as the Wiyot people,” the complaint says, adding that this claimed entitlement “is deeply disturbing given that, approximately five generations ago, white settlers in Humboldt County engaged in massacres and other genocidal acts against local Indigenous communities, including the Wiyot people.”

The complaint cites examples of discriminatory behavior from other staff members, including Superintendent Row, saying she and the LUSD board of trustees “have acted with deliberate indifference to racial discrimination by failing to effectively respond to specific complaints of discrimination, retaliation, and verbal racial harassment against Indigenous students.”

As an example, the complaint says that the board responded to concerns about Nyberg’s use of the “N-word” with vague suggestions of “weak measures,” such as sending her to an unspecified training at some point in the future.

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Parents like Sand hope that the ACLU’s complaint will produce more tangible results. Nelson said the complaint filed by her organization nine years ago did seem to improve matters — for a while, anyway.

In 2017, the Loleta Union School District entered into a voluntary resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, promising to engage with expert consultants, identify the root causes of discrimination, develop a corrective action plan and submit numerous progress reports.

The district eventually hired a psychologist, Sandy Radic-Oshiro, to serve as school climate director, a role that provided students with essential support, Nelson said.

“Her time, as I understand it, was funded through the Humboldt County Office of Education,” she explained. However, the school climate director position is no longer being funded, and Radic-Oshiro left the district this past June. “And I think that has had a significant negative impact on the district implementing the provisions of the previous settlement agreement with the federal government,” Nelson said.

The Bear River Band is requesting government-to-government consultation with the district — through the Office of Civil Rights — to discuss a new proposed resolution agreement. Nelson said the ACLU and the Bear River tribal council felt that filing a second complaint was necessary to underscore the gravity of the situation.

“That kind of racism affects students’ visions of themselves and their futures,” Nelson said, “and being subjected to racist remarks and stereotypes at school negatively impacts educational outcomes for Indigenous youth.”

Darrell Sherman can attest to the long-term harm caused by discrimination from a respected role model. A tribal council member and social worker who formerly worked as the tribe’s assistant director of social services, Sherman grew up in Loleta and attended the elementary school. In a phone interview last week he remembers having a strong bond with his teachers.

“I graduated from Loleta in ’96, and we had so much rapport with them because we had a lot of tenured [teachers],” he said. “Like, all the teachers knew your uncles and aunts and cousins, and some even taught your parents.” 

He doesn’t remember hearing any racist remarks from teachers, but he did once feel betrayed by his Little League coach, who he considered one of his best friends. One day while he was pitching in a game, Sherman kept making a mistake on the mound, dragging his back foot off the rubber plate in what’s called a balk — a violation that allows the batter to take a base.

His coach approached the mound, and while on his way he made a declaration loud enough to be heard by everyone nearby: “Oh, don’t worry about it; he’s Indian,” Sherman recalled. 

He was too wrapped up in the stress of the game to think much about the comment in the moment, but the remark stayed with him for years, this offhand suggestion that he was somehow deficient because of his ethnicity.

“I think of the situation and the experience that I had and the long-lasting negative effects,” Sherman said. “It’s just generations, you know?”

Reached by email on Friday, Loleta Union School District Principal/Superintendent Linda Row said she did not have any comment since she had yet to receive a copy of the complaint. The Outpost forwarded a copy to the district Monday morning. We’ll update this story if and when the district responds.

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DOCUMENT: OCR Complaint Re: Loleta Union School District

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Here’s a press release from the ACLU of Northern California:

Today, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights on behalf of the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria regarding repeated acts of discrimination against Native American students and students with disabilities in Loleta Union School District.

The complaint reveals troubling patterns of racial hostility and cites multiple occasions over the last year that Loleta Elementary staff has used racial slurs and racially coded language in their interactions with Indigenous students. Parents of Indigenous students who have come forward to raise these issues with school administrators have been met with deliberate indifference and, in some cases, active retaliation from school staff. The failure to respond to complaints of discrimination and harassment is in opposition to the district’s own required policies and procedures.

The complaint also details repeated failures on behalf of school staff to make reasonable modifications to avoid discriminating against students with disabilities. Rather than modifying disciplinary policies and practices as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Loleta Elementary staff routinely punish disabled students for behaviors arising from their disabilities. Students who exhibit behaviors that are manifestations of their disabilities are often removed from classrooms and denied critical learning time.

Indigenous students with and without disabilities face disproportionately higher rates of exclusionary discipline, chronic absenteeism, and lower academic outcomes than their non-Indigenous peers. These disparities are particularly egregious in Humboldt County. A 2020 report authored by the ACLU titled, Failing Grade: The Status of Native American Education in Humboldt County found that Indigenous students in Humboldt County, including in Loleta USD, face vast disparities in academic outcomes. These negative outcomes are a direct result of systemic failures that cause Indigenous students to feel disengaged and unwelcome at school, such as bullying and racially hostile school environments; disparate use of disciplinary practices such as suspension, expulsion, and referrals to law enforcement; and failure to provide school-based student supports, including culturally relevant school-based mental health professionals.

“Explicit and implicit racism affects students’ vision of themselves and their futures. Being subjected to racist remarks and stereotypes at school negatively impacts educational outcomes for our native youth, said Darrell Sherman, Council Member of the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria. “We need to tell kids they are doing a good job; tell them they are going to succeed—and treat them accordingly. We all have a role in building up and protecting the youth in our community.”

Previously, the Humboldt County Office of Education provided a part-time School Psychologist and School Climate Director at Loleta Elementary to help to address discrimination experienced by Indigenous families and to create a more inclusive school culture. Unfortunately, the District failed to fill that position when it became vacant earlier this year. The absence of an effective School Climate Director has exacerbated much of the discrimination and harassment experienced by Indigenous students and their families.

“With the departure of the previous Superintendent and previous School Climate Director, the situation at Loleta Elementary has rapidly spiraled out of control, and the district is failing to take reasonable action to remedy or stop ongoing serious legal violations,” said Linnea Nelson, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California.” Indigenous students and students with disabilities are suffering at Loleta Elementary School because of employees’ discrimination against them. Robust corrective action is urgently needed.”

“The Bear River Band is committed to challenging historic inequities on behalf of its members and all Indigenous students,” said Josefina Frank, Chairwoman of the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria. “Remedying unlawful discrimination is essential to provide Indigenous students at Loleta with equal educational opportunities so they can further their education and achieve professional success.”