NORTH HIGHLANDS, Calif. — It’s been three months now since Twin Rivers Unified School District removed Kadhir Rajagopal as principal at Oakdale School in North Highlands, and students and parents who called him a positive force for good are still seeking answers from the district.
They’re also organizing a Multicultural Justice Festival in support of Dr. Raja, from 12-5 p.m. on Saturday, Apr. 2 at Oakdale Park.
Several students spoke at Friday’s Justice and Accountability March outside the State Capitol, which the brother of Stephon Clark organized to draw attention to police brutality, among other social justice causes.
Matthias Jones, an Oakdale School seventh-grader, said he feels less safe at school since Rajagopal — whom students and parents call “Dr. Raja” — was removed.
“Things have gotten hard there. There have been more fights, more bickering. I don’t even know if I feel safe at that school anymore without him,” Jones told ABC10. “It was just better when he was there because he was always calm. He would always understand our intentions, our personalities. He would always calm us down. He was like a light that we could always follow in the dark.”
Jones and other students and parents tell ABC10 that Dr. Raja created a revolutionary mentoring program, which helped transform the school and reduce the number of fights and other disruptive incidents.
Since Dr. Raja was removed as principal on Dec. 17, students have staged several walkouts in protest. Community members circulated a petition to the Twin Rivers Unified School District Board of Trustees, demanding answers and the reinstatement of Dr. Raja. They collected hundreds of signatures.
“I would love to see him come back and I would love the district to finally listen to the community,” Jones said. “It’s been three months and I’ve been waiting patiently, and all it has been doing is making me angry…I think things would be better if he was here.”
ABC10 followed up with the school district on Friday, asking about the community’s ongoing demand for answers.
In response, a Twin Rivers USD spokesperson replied:
"As a policy, Twin Rivers Unified does not comment on or publicly discuss personnel matters. However, we want to assure our families and the community that the district has no higher priority than providing the best education possible for our students in a high-quality learning environment. No programs at Oakdale are in jeopardy due to this leadership change. In addition, we have met with our partners in the mentoring program and have assured them we remain committed and will continue to work in partnership with them to strengthen the program over time.
"Our desire is to support the entire Oakdale school community in moving forward as we focus on the future, knowing that our strength as a school community lies in the common passion all of us share for our students and their education."
