The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday to recognize this April as Arab American Heritage Month.
"I'm really proud that our board has worked with San Diego's Arab American community and really appreciate the partnership and grace of the community in introducing our school district's first-ever Arab American Heritage Month resolution," Shana Hazan, president of the board, said during the meeting.
The district will encourage "staff, students and community members to raise awareness and educate future generations about Arab Americans and their role in the diverse fabric of our country and communities and in the American experience," the resolution states.
As part of the resolution, the board will also instruct the district to engage local community organizations to help create materials to educate staff and students.
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President Joe Biden officially recognized April as National Arab American Heritage Month in 2021. Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation designating the heritage month. Other school districts in the state have passed resolutions, including Santa Ana Unified in Orange County and Santa Clara County in the Bay Area.
"We really hope that this resolution is a positive step at further community collaboration and learning so that schools overall become a safer environment for our students and an opportunity for representation and cultural exchange between our community generally and other students," Farida Erikat with the Majdal Arab Community Center of San Diego said during public comment on the agenda item.
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Several San Diego Unified students and parents who spoke at Tuesday's meeting said they are hopeful that the resolution will help build a more accepting environment.
"All of my life, unfortunately, I've seen zero or little Arab representation in school, and it's quite saddening. But when I heard of this amazing resolution, I was extremely excited," one San Diego Unified student said at Tuesday's meeting.
More than 40,000 residents in San Diego County are of Arab descent, according to the county's Health and Human Services Agency Middle Eastern North African population report from 2021. However, that number may be an undercount due to the lack of designated category in government agency data sources, the resolution explains.
Last month, the White House's Office of Management and Budget announced a new "Middle Eastern or North African" category, meaning the approximately 8 million Americans who fall into that category will no longer have to select "white" or "other" on federal forms like the U.S. census, according to NBC News. Federal agencies have until late March 2029 to align their data collection and reporting activities with the new requirements.
At the state level, Assemblymember Bill Essayli (R-Riverside) in February introduced California Assembly Bill 2763 — or the Middle East or North African Inclusion Act — which would require state departments, agencies and commissions that collect demographic data to include a "Middle East or North African" category.
