Racist taunting at Sacramento-area school: What are the demographics at Oak Ridge High?
A look at the demographic makeup of the El Dorado Hills high school where racist heckling interrupted a championship soccer game, might not be shocking: but it is stark.
At the Northern California girls’ soccer finals Saturday night, Black and Hispanic players from the visiting team of Buchanan were heckled from the Oak Ridge High School stands while taking their penalty kicks.
A video reviewed by the Bee confirmed the sound of gorilla noises when a Black soccer player from the Clovis school stepped up for her kick. Oak Ridge principal Aaron Palm, who said he was “heartbroken” by the heckling, said the school plans to investigate the situation and identify the heckler.
Race and ethnicity demographics
At Oak Ridge High School, white students make up about 66% of the school population. And according to National Center for Education Statistics 2020-21 data, only 25 out of the nearly 2,500 students are Black, making up only 1% of the student body.
Around 12% of students are Hispanic.
The high school’s demographics closely parallel that of the greater El Dorado Hills community, in which only 1.3% of residents are Black and 8.8% are Hispanic or Latino in the census designated place.
Here is the full breakdown of student demographics for the 2020-21 school year by race and ethnicity, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
- American Indian/Alaska native: 7 students
- Black: 25 students
- Asian: 351 students
- Hispanic: 308 students
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 12 students
- White: 1,636 students
- Two or more races: 152
How did the area vote in 2020?
Racial justice has been a centerpiece in a polarized political climate, and was a major deciding factor in the 2020 presidential election as hateful and racist rhetoric plagued the incumbent administration’s term.
The Sacramento region overall went to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, according to final election returns.
Most El Dorado Hills voters, however, cast their ballots for then-President Donald Trump. The precinct where the school is located went for Trump, according to election night results.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 3:30 PM.