The director of Long Beach Unified\u2019s center for Black student success has been placed on administrative leave, days after a group of Black parents and community members sent a letter demanding the district fire her and recommit to Black students.<\/p>\n
The district would not say why Norma Spencer was placed on leave but said it was \u201cnot connected to any single action or correspondence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two years ago, LBUSD announced<\/a> that Spencer would lead the center, which has provided academic support, extracurriculars and social and emotional learning since it opened the following year in May 2025. Some parents have been raising concerns about the center and Spencer\u2019s leadership since then. In October, parents told the Long Beach Post<\/a> that the center lacked a clear plan, had opened prematurely and offered programming that did not meet the community\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n These concerns came to a head in the late-April letter sent to district leadership and signed by 16 parents, educators and LBUSD alumni. The letter alleged that Spencer had diminished parent input, undone progress and allowed friction to fester among the center\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n Spencer\u2019s decisions \u201cmirror the very systems of exclusion, control, and disconnection that the District has publicly committed to dismantle,\u201d they wrote in the letter, echoing a longstanding criticism from some that LBUSD\u2019s commitment to equity has amounted to lip service.<\/p>\n The district did not respond directly to the letter\u2019s accusations but said parent input has shaped the center and its offerings. \u201cOver the last two years, Long Beach Unified has worked with and listened to the Black community to enhance the Center of Black Student Excellence and the services it provides to students, families, and staff,\u201d said district spokesperson Eric Mitchell. \u201cOur commitment, focus, and collaboration with the Black community remain unwavering,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Some parents told the Post that they have spent years pushing the district to bolster support of Black students yet have seen little meaningful investment or measurable progress.<\/p>\n Melissa Morgan, a Black LBUSD parent who signed the letter, said she became involved in efforts for Black student achievement when she observed, in district data<\/a>, that Black students were disproportionately disciplined, tracked into programs for students with disabilities and not meeting graduation requirements. Despite those disparities, she said, the district was not focused on strategies she believed would improve student outcomes.<\/p>\n