The vice principal at Sunnyside High School in Fresno, California, received backlash as a video exposed his racist behavior toward Black girls walking through a neighborhood.
Fox 26 News shared the video of Fred Veenendaal on the phone with police, telling them that there are “three section-8 people here” walking in the gated community.
In the intense conversation, Veenendaal told the teens that he felt inclined to interrogate them as he was a member of the neighborhood’s board of directors. However, the girls were adamant that they “didn’t even do nothing” and told Veenendaal that his actions were harassment, which he argued is not the case.
He then referred to Kyra Schrubb, 17, and Bri’janae Lewis, 17, as “ghetto girls” in his call with law enforcement, signaling his racial bias further.
Schrubb spoke with reporters about the issue.
“I feel so bad because, like, as a Black woman, I should be able to walk peacefully without, you know, people being racist for no reason,” the teen expressed.
After the viral video made its rounds on social media, Veenendaal was identified as the vice principal at Sunnyside High School. He has been at the school since 2015.
Schrubb’s mother asserted that while the girls themselves do not live in the subdivision, they have access to it via a friend’s residency there and have utilized it as a shortcut to avoid busy streets when walking to stores. However, her daughter and Lewis live in the area.
The Sunnyside High School vice principal is currently on administrative paid leave as the school investigates the incident.
The district issued a statement on Veenendaal’s ghetto behavior.
“The labels used in the video do not align with the high standards we have for our Fresno Unified leaders and staff. Because this is a personnel matter, we will not be able to disclose any resulting information from the investigation. We want to assure our families that having respectful, inclusive, and loving adults serving in our school is of the utmost importance to Sunnyside and our district as a whole.”
Sunnyside High School has a consistently higher rate of expulsions for its Black students compared to other students. Suspensions for Black students was higher from 2017-2019, according to the Education Data Partnership.
