Latest news with #BuchananHighSchool
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump Administration Targets California After Trans Athlete Wins Track Events
The Trump administration is going after California following a 16-year-old trans athlete's victories in a state track and field championship over the weekend. The 16-year-old, AB Hernandez, a junior at Jurupa Valley High School in Riverside County, has made headlines and been at the center of protests in recent months simply for competing. Despite protests on Saturday, Hernandez won first place in the girls' high jump and triple jump at the State Track and Field Championships at Buchanan High School in Clovis, California. Hernandez also finished second in the long jump. But because of a new rule instituted by the California Interscholastic Federation, multiple other student athletes also received medals in the categories that Hernandez competed in. As such, Jillene Wetteland and Lelani Laruelle also won first place in the high jump, and Kira Gant Hatcher also won first in the triple jump. Brooke White also placed second in the long jump. 'A Biological Male competed in California Girls State Finals, WINNING BIG, despite the fact that they were warned by me not to do so. As Governor Gavin Newscum fully understands, large scale fines will be imposed!!!' the president wrote on Truth Social on Monday. On the same day, Harmeet K. Dhillon, the head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, sent a transphobic letter to public school districts in California claiming that the state's law allowing students to compete in sports based on their gender identity rather than the identity assigned to them at birth is 'facially unconstitutional.' 'The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex,' Dhillon, a legal adviser to Trump, an anti-voting rights and anti-LGBTQ rights extremist, argued in the letter. 'Knowingly depriving female students of athletic opportunities and benefits on the basis of their sex would constitute unconstitutional sex discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause.' 'Scientific evidence shows that upsetting the historical status quo and forcing girls to compete against males would deprive them of athletic opportunities and benefits because of their sex,' she also wrote, without clarifying where to find the evidence. The letter gives California a week to fall in line with the Justice Department's interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause, which seems to complement Trump's February executive order. Trump's order aims to block 'male competitive participation in women's sports' and 'rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.' In a letter to superintendents and administrators in the state on Tuesday, Tony Thurmond, the California superintendent of public instruction, reportedly said that the department would review the request and respond by June 9, but that the letter isn't the law. According to The Athletic, Thurmond argued that the Equal Protection Clause 'does not require that athletic teams be segregated by 'biological sex.'' 'The DOJ assertions are not in themselves law, and the letter by itself cannot be an enforcement mechanism,' Thurmond also reportedly said. The news comes after the California Interscholastic Federation, California's high school sports governing body, expanded eligibility for the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships rather than excluding anyone from the competition. 'The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete while complying with California law and Education Code,' the organization continued. On Sunday, Nereyda Hernandez, AB Hernandez's mom, told local outlet KCRA that she was a Trump supporter, but her daughter's perspective and treatment changed her views. 'Just talking to AB, and I started analyzing things differently,' Nereyda Hernandez said. 'It's too much for me because we're people and I don't feel we're being treated as such.' She also told KCRA that the protests during her daughter's big day were a little distracting, but that she was 'proud of her.' 'A kid is more mature than a lot of these adults putting her in this situation. So I'm just happy, yeah, I could brag. That's my baby,' she added. Representatives for the Jurupa Unified School District and the California Interscholastic Federation, respectively, did not immediately respond to HuffPost's request for comment. California Sports Org Expands Finals Eligibility After Trump Tantrum Over Trans Athlete California Is Investigating Paramount Over Its Alleged Settlement Offer To Trump Judge Rules Federal Prisons Must Continue Providing Hormone Therapy To Transgender Inmates
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Prep talk: Southern Section track and field prelims are Saturday
It's the time of year in high school track and field for athletes to start entering peak form and take the first major step on the road to the state championships May 30-31 at Buchanan High School in Clovis. The Southern Section prelims will be held on Saturday at four sites. Division 1 will be at Trabuco Hills, Divison 2 at Ontario, Division 3 at Yorba Linda and Division 4 at Carpinteria. Field events begin at 11 a.m. and running events at noon. Advertisement The qualifiers advance to the Southern Section championships May 17 at Moorpark. For the relay competitions, this is the time of year coaches get real nervous about dropped batons and being disqualified for lane violations. The fastest 4x100 relay team in the state is Servite, which will compete in Division 3. Coach Brandon Thomas has his fingers crossed that his young team is ready to keep running fast times. "We're trying to end with a bang," he said. . . . The Southern Section swimming championships are Friday and Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College. The City Section swimming championships are Saturday at L.A. Valley College. Advertisement This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep talk: Southern Section track and field prelims are Saturday
Servite's 4x100 relay team set a state record at 40.00 seconds at the Arcadia Invitational. It's the time of year in high school track and field for athletes to start entering peak form and take the first major step on the road to the state championships May 30-31 at Buchanan High School in Clovis. The Southern Section prelims will be held on Saturday at four sites. Division 1 will be at Trabuco Hills, Divison 2 at Ontario, Division 3 at Yorba Linda and Division 4 at Carpinteria. Field events begin at 11 a.m. and running events at noon. The qualifiers advance to the Southern Section championships May 17 at Moorpark. For the relay competitions, this is the time of year coaches get real nervous about dropped batons and being disqualified for lane violations. The fastest 4x100 relay team in the state is Servite, which will compete in Division 3. Coach Brandon Thomas has his fingers crossed that his young team is ready to keep running fast times. 'We're trying to end with a bang,' he said. . . . The Southern Section swimming championships are Friday and Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College. The City Section swimming championships are Saturday at L.A. Valley College. This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Girls are overly targeted by Clovis Unified student dress code. Here's the data
Reality Check is a Fresno Bee series holding those in power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email tips@ Kiny Holapatiphone and her friend were walking across the Buchanan High School campus on a crisp fall afternoon when they were stopped by a male administrator who noticed her sweater. The Buchanan High senior wore the sweater often to school for the past three years — including earlier in the fall semester — without drawing any attention from school officials. But that afternoon, she said she was cited by the administrator for violating Clovis Unified School District's dress code because her sweater, which slipped while walking, exposed her shoulder. 'Honestly, my shoulder wasn't even really showing,' Holapatiphone said. 'When my friend saw him, she pulled up her shirt a little bit.' The interaction with the administrator left Holapatiphone confused. Adding to her frustration was the lingering feeling that educators and administrators don't hold male students to the same level of scrutiny as girls. 'If a guy gets dress-coded, it's because he wears pajama pants at school,' she said. Holapatiphone's suspicion was not groundless. Data from Clovis Unified obtained by The Fresno Bee through public records requests show that enforcement of the district's dress code disproportionately targets female students. In the fall semester, female students accounted for 81% of the 3,390 dress code citations issued by administrators and educators. In the 2023-24 school year, girls made up 77% of dress code citations, up from 74% in 2022-23. Clovis Unified's strict dress code, which has been in place since 1975, for generations has drawn strong opinions among students, parents and district staff. The code has been amended in recent years to allow boys, for instance, to wear long hair, though several of its original rules remain in place. Officials say the district's high student achievement is tied to the dress code, which is seen as a source of pride and a distinct part of the 'Clovis way of life' for some longtime residents and alumni. Clovis Unified says adherence to the dress code helps 'prepare and equip students to be successful in life after high school.' However, the stark disparities in enforcement seem to reaffirm long-held concerns from some parents and students that dress code enforcement is overly punitive toward female students, making them feel uncomfortable at schools and harder to focus on learning. In the 2022-23 school year, the district issued 5,421 citations, which rose to 6,370 citations in the following year. Last semester, administrators and educators issued 3,390 citations to students, indicating the district is on track to exceed last year's citation count. Students have been cited for violating the dress code as early as kindergarten, but the citations noticeably rise once students enter intermediate schools. Students in seventh through ninth grades, most of them girls, receive the most citations of all grades. The majority of the citations are for first- and second-time violators with minor offenses that do not require a change of clothing to return to class. No student has been suspended or expelled in recent years for violating the dress code, according to the district. District spokesperson Kelly Avants said in December that the district's policy makes no distinction based on gender. The school district often reminds parents and students of its dress code and that they should expect schools to enforce the policy. Because of the district's frequent outreach to families, 'the large majority of our students choose to follow the dress code and never lose class time or face any disciplinary consequences,' Avants said. She attributed the discrepancy in dress code violations between girls and boys to current fashion trends. 'Past fashion trends for males (such as baggy pants) would likely have shown the reverse,' she said. 'Many types of dress code violations are able to be addressed on the spot with a warning, hats that are out of compliance or logoed sports gear worn as an overgarment can be fixed with a warning and therefore may not result in a recorded violation.' Avants said district leaders review the dress code policy multiple times throughout the year and discuss how to ensure consistent enforcement. The latest version of the policy went into effect in January 2022. Cierra Raine Sorin, a Fresno State sociology professor who studies gender inequalities, said the district's dress code places a greater burden on female students. 'All teenagers feel insecure about their bodies, but the restrictions that we place on the female body in our culture start from a very young age and really amplify as girls make that transition into teenagehood and young womanhood,' Sorin said. 'What they're wearing is made for their gender, but the school says that's not appropriate. That's a lot more work for girls to have to figure out what's appropriate.' All but four of the two dozen female Clovis Unified high-school students who spoke with The Bee said they've been cited for dress code violations. Mora Young, a Clovis High freshman who's received dress code violations, said that her male peers who are out of dress code are rarely cited by administrators. One boy, she said, frequently wears a tank top prohibited by the dress code to school. Some male students wear pants that sag so low they expose the logo of their underwear, she said, without drawing scrutiny from administrators. 'I literally saw them having their jeans all the way down to their knees,' Young said. 'But if I have my jeans down, that's a problem.' Liana Leal, a Clovis West freshman, said she received a citation for wearing shorts at the start of the school year. Her friend, Alondra Ruiz, was also cited for a violation that week for wearing a shirt 'showing an inch of skin,' according to Ruiz. 'They show more attention to girls because they say that it distracts the guys,' Leal said. Some parents are concerned that girls are more likely to lose class time because of the dress code. One parent, Brenna Hughes, started an online petition that garnered nearly 700 signatures in support of changing the dress code policy. Hughes worries that implicit bias from administrators may lead to more girls being mistakenly cited for dress code violations. Hughes said a school administrator dress-coded her daughter's friend by repeatedly blowing a whistle at the girl across the quad. Her daughter told Hughes it was loud and disruptive, drawing nearby students' attention toward the girl. Her daughter's friend was wearing a jean skirt, and she was in a hurry to use the bathroom, according to an email Hughes wrote to district administrators. 'Instead of yelling and harassing girls for hiding from you, maybe you should think about the toxic environment you are creating at school for these young girls,' Hughes wrote of the incident. Hughes asked the district for data on the instructional time students miss after they're cited for a dress code violation, though the district said it doesn't keep track of such information. Students cited for a dress code violation must check in at their site's student resource center. Students who must change can either choose from clothes offered by the schools, such as spirit wear, or wait for parents to bring something for them to change into if they don't already have other clothes on hand. Avants, the district's spokesperson, said the district's practice is to not hold students out of class. 'The impact to instructional time should be kept to a minimum and typically involves a student being told to check in at the student resource center during passing period or break,' she said. According to the district's data, most violations result in warnings and don't require changing clothes. Last semester, hundreds of violations resulted in some form of detention for students who were cited. Clovis West sophomores Jaida Borsum and Laurita Orellana, said they felt embarrassed last semester after being cited for dress code violations. Orellana was given a 'very long trainer shirt' to change into after she was cited for wearing a shirt that showed her stomach. 'It was just embarrassing. It made me feel uncomfortable in school, so I left,' Orellana said. Borsum, who was dress-coded on the first day of school, said administrators dress-coded so many students that there was a 'whole line' of students waiting in the office, and she missed a portion of class. 'I was super late to my first period. It was embarrassing. I was already scared for the first day, as it is, I had to come in late,' she said. Borsum said she felt singled out when she had to wear the school-issued outfit. 'It should be about education,' Borsum said. 'They make you just want to go home.' Clovis Unified says its policy is evenly enforced across the district. Avants said school leaders and staff at each site discuss the dress code multiple times throughout the year to ensure consistency in enforcement. Still, some parents and students feel officials enforce the rules inconsistently. Administrators at some schools appear to be more strict about the dress code. On the first day of the school year, for example, administrators at Alta Sierra Intermediate cited a dozen girls whose shorts were shorter than five inches. Even within schools, some students say the level of dress code enforcement varies among teachers and administrators. 'You could wear something that could be out of dress code one day, and it was fine, then the next day, if a teacher sees you (wear the same clothes), they'll send you to the office,' said Christian Elizalde, a freshman at Clovis High. Elizalde said he received a dress code citation this year for wearing a jersey-like shirt. Dilnoor Riar, a senior at Buchanan High, said teachers at the campus seem more focused on students' learning than dress code enforcement. 'I've had teachers tell us, 'Please don't dress like this, I don't want to have to dress code you. Personally, I don't agree with the dress code, but if a learning director walks in and sees that, then it will reflect on me,'' Riar said. 'Sometimes teachers don't really say anything, I think they're just fed up with it.' However, the administrators who 'work in the main office and patrol the halls' appear more strict about enforcing the dress code, she said. Riar said her friend once wore a tank top and high-waisted pants to a football game. She was carrying something and the top exposed her midriff momentarily. The staff almost refused to let her watch the game, Riar said. 'I'm in a school that has 2,600 kids. I'll see kids walking around with three-inch long skirts, and people sometimes just don't notice,' Riar said. 'And then there will be a student who shows her knees a little bit too much when she bends, the administrators immediately come over and warn her. It doesn't really make sense. You never know when you're going to get dress-coded.' Kristin Heimerdinger, a Buchanan High teacher who's taught in the district for 32 years, said the dress code policy has always been a heated topic of debate. As a classroom teacher, she cares more about students' learning, mental health and wellbeing than enforcing the dress code, she said. Teachers must pick their battles when it comes to dress code enforcement, Heimerdinger said. She noted that one of the reasons the district's strict dress code has remained in place for 50 years is because the community agrees that schools should have some level of control over students. 'You would find plenty of parents, and teachers, on both sides of the argument,' she said. 'I would say, you may not like it or not agree with it, that's just the rule you have to follow, that's what it is.'
