A student-government election at a mostly Hispanic San Francisco middle school turned into a debate about the democratic process when the principal delayed the results because the winners did not reflect the school’s diverse student body.
Everett Middle School Principal Lena Van Haren announced the winners Oct. 19, more than a week after the results were known. She said she had no intention of annulling the votes, but wanted to first engage all the candidates in a discussion about how to ensure underrepresented groups were heard.
The school is 56 percent Latino and 9 percent African-American. Van Haren said African-Americans and Latinos were underrepresented among the students who became officers.
