California school board leader ‘personally offended’ after presentation referred to ‘homeless’ instead of ‘unhoused’

During a Pajaro Valley Unified School District meeting last month, Vice President Joy Flynn said she had a “lot to say” regarding a presentation delivered by Assistant Superintendent Michael Berman. Berman gave a “Report on Student Achievement” in which he referred to a group of students as “homeless,” according to FOX News.

“I have a lot to say, and I will speak plainly. And you may not like it,” Flynn said. “I am personally offended by what was presented.”

Flynn insisted that the term “unhoused” be used instead. When another board member noted that “homeless” is the word officially used by the state of California, Flynn replied, “That doesn’t mean that’s the language we have to use.”

Flynn also criticized the presentation when it discussed black students. Berman shared data that showed black students had the highest suspension rates in the district despite being less than 1 percent of the total enrollment.

"One thing I want to call out is we see only one group in red, and it's our black and African-American students. This is a big problem. You may have noticed that this is the first time we've seen our black students in any of these indicators," Berman said.

Berman noted that there were not enough black students to be “statistically significant” in certain measurable categories such as graduation rates and "college and career" categories. But Flynn, who is black, said she was once again personally offended.

"I'm personally offended by that. If we have one black student, that student is statistically significant enough to be on the report,” Flynn said.