Gilbert School Segregation

The Gilbert Public schools opened in 1891 as a rickety wooden cabin named Highland School and served mostly students of farm families. Originally, it was an integrated school, teaching Hispanic and immigrant children along with their White peers. However, in 1927, the district’s governing board decided to segregate it.

The governing board’s defense was the claim that segregation was the answer to helping Mexican children learn English. In theory, it was to help them become fluent in English so they could compete with the language’s native speakers in regular school.

The Mexican students were placed in what was called the Mexican School. This was a four room building on the south side of the school grounds. Kindergarten was taught in one room called 1C and 1B. Another room was 1A and the first grade. The third room held second and third graders. While, the last room taught fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. After the sixth grade, the students of the Mexican School were allowed to go to the high school building that taught seventh and eighth grade.

Most of the Mexican students did not go to seventh grade as they were 16 or 17 while the Anglo students were 12 or 13 years old. The reason for such a large gap in age is because most Mexican students stayed in the rooms of the Mexican School for several years at a time. A Mexican student could not pass the Kindergarten level until they stayed one year in 1C and another year in 1B. On the other hand, Anglo students only stayed in Kindergarten for half that time. It was often that the Mexican students would drop out by the time they were actually integrated with the Anglo children.

The classrooms were crowded, and at one point, there were 60 pupils stuffed into one room.

Mexican children were not allowed to speak Spanish on the playgrounds or else they had to stay inside for recess. If, on their way home for lunch, a Mexican student walked in front of the buildings where a White student was playing on the sidewalk, that student was beat with a paddle upon return by one of the Anglo teachers.

On September 12th 1947, a former student of the Mexican School, Anne Marie Rosales Hernandez, and her sister, Ray Benal, and Suzie Sotomayer attended the regular meeting of the board of trustees to present a petition. This petition was asking that the children not be segregated in separate rooms. The board gave them five minutes to make their presentation.

In 1949, segregation in the Gilbert Public Schools ended. All children of Mexican descent were integrated with the Anglo students. However, the discrimination still exists today and it is difficult to find information regarding Gilbert’s lone Mexican School.