Gloria Allred says if Hayward can’t find anyone
better to speak to students, she’ll do it herself.

HAYWARD SCHOOL DISTRICT | Well-known civil rights attorney Gloria Allred sent a letter to the Hayward School District this week that was critical of its decision to allow former 49er Ray McDonald, currently on trial for rape, to speak to at-risk students at Tennyson High School.

In the letter to Hayward Superintendent Stan “Data” Dobbs, Allred called the decision “highly inappropriate,” according to TMZ. Allred is representing the accuser in a Santa Clara County court next month.

Allred also speculated over the intent of McDonald appearance at the high school on Feb. 25. “It may be that Mr. McDonald through his appearance and speech to your students was seeking to have a positive impact on the potential jury pool in his upcoming criminal trial,” wrote Allred. “I wonder, however, why you would appear to be amendable to supporting him in this strategy if indeed that was his goal.”

Hayward Superintendent Stan Dobbs

Allred later asked for invitation to speak to Tennyson students about women’s rights, “if you would be willing to invite me,” she wrote. A source tells the East Bay Citizen that the school district intends to accept Allred’s offer.

Meanwhile, the background behind McDonald’s appearance last month is still sketchy. In the initial report, a spokesperson for the Hayward Promise Neighborhood, a $25 million federal program to help impoverished Hayward students succeed, unequivocally said Superintendent Dobbs knew of the event beforehand.

The school district, however, told NBC Bay Area that Hayward Promise was behind it. Last Friday, the same Hayward Promise spokesperson declined to make any further comment on the matter.

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