BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — David Villareno, president and CEO of the Farmworker Education and Development Institute, also known as FIELD, spoke out against the institute's board members during a protest on Monday.
The nonprofit FIELD was founded by the famous Cesar Chavez and has been around since the late 1970s. Its mission is to help families and individuals overcome educational and social barriers through workforce and education programs such as EPIC.
According to Field's website, EPIC is a charter high school program available free of charge to adults seeking to earn a high school diploma.
At Monday's protest, Villareno argued that board members are making changes to EPIC that are not in the best interest of students and staff.
Eliminating some locations where classes are offered and changing class schedule times are just a few of the few actions the board has allegedly taken.
“Frontline workers who work during the day will have a harder time getting to class. This is a fundamental change,” Villarino said.
He said this came after he was placed on paid administrative leave on undisclosed charges.
“They failed and refused to provide comfort to teachers, students and staff as part of their money-making efforts,” Villarino said.
He also told Eyewitness News that anyone wanting to discuss changes made at a board meeting in early August was ushered into a small, non-air-conditioned room and greeted by armed guards.
Shortly before the protests, Field's board of directors responded to the accusations against them in a press release.
They wrote that the reasons for the schedule changes and removal of certain locations relate to concerns about educational programming.
The board alleges the organization was aware of the issues as early as spring 2022 but they didn't come to light until January of this year.
After being made aware of the issue through a survey, Field discovered that 80% of students wanted classes from 8am to noon and 5pm to 8pm.
Only 20% of students said they wanted to take classes between noon and 3 p.m.
This has led to the split schedule that is causing a stir.