Santa Barbara Junior High Principal returns to campus following racial slur incident

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – Santa Barbara Junior High School Principal Daniel Dupont returned to his position on Nov. 14 after a brief leave of absence following an Oct. 25 incident where Dupont was documented using a racial slur.

Santa Barbara Unified School District placed Dupont on administrative leave to investigate the incident where they concluded the following provided statement.

"While addressing a racial slur that was allegedly used by students, the principal brought the alleged parties to his office. During the course of this conversation, the principal repeated the word that had been allegedly used by the students in an attempt to explain why it cannont be used."

Principal Dupont issued a statement to district school parents explaining the course of action:

"My response to a recent student verbal incident was problematic. Due to that response, I was placed on administrative leave while the incident was under review. While on leave, I had the opportunity to reflect and engage in professional learning to be more thoughtful and make needed adjustments. I have since returned to work and am striving to put into action the important lessons I have learned."

The Junior High principal said he is happy to make himself available from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. each day, or by appointment, if anyone has questions. 

In a separate statement to the district, SBUSD said "As a result of the investigation, multiple remedial measures were taken, which we cannot detail because of personnel privacy requirements."

The district discussed its general efforts and methods it will use to pledge direct action:

The district has formally been monitoring and addressing racial incidents in schools since April 2022. Part of this work includes convening a 'Combating Anti-Blackness Working Group' to advise the district on the issues impacting students, families, and employees. In this work, there has been an evolution of activities.

The work started with assessing where we are as a district. Since then, it has evolved into action being taken now by two committees. One is reviewing the curriculum and spaces students have to see if they have books and posters that reflect the students we serve. The other one is looking at sharing the stories of students and what has happened to them.

Additionally, the district has been working with school site leaders on ways to address racial incidents, beginning with a local definition: A race-related incident is defined as any incident in which a person or group is targeted for their race or perceived race. The targeting can be emotional, physical, and/or verbal; virtual and/or in-person; direct and/or indirect, regardless of intent. This definition is used at each board meeting when ShaKenya Edison reports on race-related incidents within the district.

The Combating Anti-Blackness Committee is open to anyone in the community. Interested Anti-Blackness Task Force Members can RSVP to askthesuperintendent@sbunified.org . We greatly appreciate any interest in aiding us in this critical work and welcome additional community members who might be connected to moving forward.

Leaders have received training on how to respond appropriately to reports of race-based slurs, acts aimed at intimidating students or staff, and how to investigate these. The district’s goal is to create safe and inclusive learning environments that are conducive to a sense of belonging and connectedness for all students, staff, families, and the community.

Lastly, the district is currently undergoing a racial climate assessment in schools conducted by an outside consultant- Insight. A survey is being prepared now to be sent out to look into where we can continue to grow and improve the culture of the district.

We take all complaints seriously and have in place policies to conduct thorough investigations.

Due to privacy laws, we cannot divulge any further information about the incident that led to the investigation.

The community's and parents response on the result on the investigation, leave of absence, and Principal's return remain unknown at this time.