PSUSD details 'Stand Up to Hate' rollout, equity walks and new reporting tools

Dr. Antonio Hunt, PSUSD's director of Title IX and compliance, presented a qualitative update on the district's "Stand Up to Hate" initiative on April 14, describing a districtwide video campaign, student panels, equity walks and new reporting tools.

"This began by the development of our stand up to hate video campaign, which we rolled out district-wide," Dr. Hunt said, outlining that every school viewed the video and followed up with school-specific activities. He said the initiative emphasizes student voice and site-level equity leads to tailor response and prevention work.

Dr. Hunt described operational steps the district has taken: equity walks with principals and coaches using rubrics for reflective practice; posters with QR codes placed in every classroom and office to allow students to report incidents (anonymously if they choose); and conscious-education/unconscious-bias training for staff. "So our road ahead is we are looking to expand conscious education ... and continue to dedicate support for site equity leads," he said.

Student speakers who helped produce the campaign described local impacts. Senior Kyler Lerma said the campaign helped students recognize and call out hate speech: "It really shows how our community is kind of changing to stand up against hate speech." A junior speaker, Sol, said the anonymous reporting tools and restorative circles made them feel safer and more willing to report incidents.

Board members pressed for data on reach and outcomes. Dr. Hunt said the meeting's presentation was intentionally qualitative and that OE-13 will provide a more quantitative report later in the year. He noted an early indicator of progress: "we did have a 100% district-wide launch completed across all PSUSD schools" and that 204 staff have completed conscious-education training so far.

On handling specific incidents, Dr. Hunt said cases are handled individually with restorative conversations or disciplinary measures as appropriate, and confirmed the district has received "several complaints" about use of racial epithets and responded on a case-by-case basis.

The board asked about engaging parents; Dr. Hunt said the district has posted campaign materials online and will continue outreach and could expand parent-focused trainings in the future. He reiterated that the district expects to present the OE-13 quantitative update with rubrics and participation numbers at an upcoming meeting.

The district plans to continue site-level follow-up, expand staff training, and deepen student leadership roles as it moves from awareness to measurable outcomes.