Approximately 200 youth, parents, educators, and community members in Long Beach attended the Voices and Visions School Culture and Climate Town Hall on Saturday, April 4, in partnership with our Long Beach Building Healthy Communities partners. The town hall focused on the importance of positive school environments that nurture learning, growth and success in every student in advance of school board elections on April 12. We urged candidates to look beyond the status quo and shift to student-centered, asset-based, and racially just approaches that challenge and encourage every student academically, socially and emotionally to reach their fullest human potential. Even though suspension numbers have dropped, LBUSD has not yet addressed disparate impact based on race, leaving Black students six times more likely to be suspended than White students; nor are restorative practices and student supports fully accessible at schools. This town hall was an important opportunity for community to illustrate their visions for school climate to fully realize [^OurSchoolsOurVoices](http://fixschooldiscipline.org/civil-rights-at-risk/)! CDF-CA youth leaders Sarai McKenzie and Brianna Moore addressed the audience and shared their stories while others gathered pledge forms, facilitated small groups, greeted community members, and collected stories about school culture and climate from impacted members of the community.
