S.B. Schools to Open Welcoming Resource Center

By Dianne Anderson
It’s not every day that San Bernardino sees something big, bright, shiny and new worth tens of millions of dollars of dedicated resources built up in the heart of the community.
But around the corner and in the works, San Bernardino Unified School District’s $45 million Welcoming Resource Center is set to help parents and students access whatever academic and wellness resources they need.
Parent advocate Devona Robertson said the vision for the center spans many years. She compares the planning process to the 400-meter relay with the first leg of the race from DLAC (District English Learner Advisory Committee) mothers.
Well over a decade ago, the fight for the center started with help from Dr. Judy White when she served in several positions at the school district.
“The DLAC mothers said she laughed with them, cried with them and met with them, and that was the type of support that was encouraging and needed,” said Robertson, president of the District African American Advisory Council.
Last week, local leaders within the school district, parents and community members converged for the long-awaited groundbreaking at 736 North E Street in San Bernardino, the site of the upcoming center to be completed by December 2024.
Centralized access is the vision of advocates, who hammered out goals for one-stop enrollment for parents with children at various schools. They pushed for parent workshops, student vaccinations, counseling, and help with all things related to academics.
Robertson said she got involved after a District Advisory Council meeting, when Sam Casey, an education advocate with COPE, encouraged everyone to team up to create a solution for families in the city.
“That’s what we did. We started to meet with cabinet members several times a month, we walked through what it would take and cost, what we could have and couldn’t have. We were encouraged to dream, to visualize what we desired to see,” said Robertson, parent organizer with COPE.
Meeting with facility planners, family engagement, and potential builders was a pleasant process, she said. If parents had questions, people were brought in to explain and address concerns.
“I look forward to the end result and I hope the district continues to engage with families to ensure the Welcoming Resource Center is what was intended, that this will remain a collaborative project throughout the process,” she said.
At the groundbreaking, she talked about how important it is for the center to welcome families and students, and how everyone should feel good when they step through the doors. While the district doesn’t typically welcome all, she feels if someone is unhoused and walks into the center, she hopes they would be asked how the center can help them in other ways.
She stressed that many homeless people are employed. She sees the center as a huge force of good with a massive capacity for resources.
“My prayer is this will be an example of what partnerships can look like, a beautiful example of Black and Brown solidarity because it is Black and Brown parents meeting and advocating for this together. Where divisions could have been created, it was not created,” she said.
Board member Danny Tillman said the center is a one-stop shop, and one big benefit is that parents will no longer have to run all over town to multiple schools to enroll their children.
Also included, parents can access medical services, student immunizations, mental health and wellness services. Parents will have more access to getting their high-achieving students into the right programming.
“We have so many magnet schools that a person can apply to go the school,” he said. “All the testing for kids to get into certain programs, a lot of it will be handled there. The main thing is the outreach to parents is as convenient as possible.”
For the most part, he said counselors concentrate on getting kids into the right classes, but the new welcoming center counselors will also be outreaching mental health help at the site.
“The key is to have a site like that and a place where a parent can go to get a whole bunch of resources. That’s the best part about it,” he said.
The building will be stunning and functional, but he said best of all, the funding that is making it happen came by way of voters who were committed to the students enough to pay for it through part of their property taxes.
“The $45 million was paid for by bonds,” he said. “I say thank you to the voters to allow us to build a building like this that is going to serve our parents and students.”
District Superintendent Mauricio Arellano described the Welcoming Resource Center as a beacon of hope and opportunity for families, for community development and for access to the resources that are needed for their success.
“This project represents our commitment to providing comprehensive support and resources to empower every student and family in San Bernardino and Highland,” he stated. “We are also excited to contribute to the revitalization of our downtown area.”
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