‘This is not a theocracy’: Rocklin school board member blurring church and state
It’s easy to distinguish Rocklin Unified school board member Tiffany Saathoff from her colleagues at public meetings: She’s the one not wearing a mask. It’s a contentious gesture — one that signals Saathoff’s solidarity with those opposed to masks and vaccines.
Saathoff’s refusal to mask was a hot topic among parents and community members in attendance at a recent school board meeting. Saathoff mostly kept her head down during public comments, but she did flash a beaming smile at one community member who praised her decision to go maskless.
But Saathoff’s refusal to wear a mask is more than just a personal decision; it’s a violation of her own district’s requirement that adults mask up in the presence of students. It is also a glaring example of Saathoff’s problematic confusion of her public and private roles, allowing her decisions as an elected official to be guided by her personal views rather than the interests of the community she serves.
“We will soon have to deny students the right to an equal, in-person education, completely overstepping parental rights if they do not give in to the state coercion to vaccinate with a shot with virtually no data on long-term side effects,” Saathoff said at a recent school board meeting, ignoring the scientific evidence that COVID vaccines are safe and effective.
It’s worth noting that Saathoff is a community center director at Destiny Church in Rocklin, which has actively and openly handed out religious exemptions from COVID vaccines.
“I want to make sure our churches, our parents, our families feel heard,” Saathoff said in an interview with Rocklin’s 180 Church last October while campaigning for school board. “God, our country needs you, our city needs you, our students need you. Churches, we need you in this fight right now.”
Saathoff declined to comment for this column, but she has openly acknowledged that her religious beliefs and role in the community as a religious leader have guided her votes on the school board as much as the law of the land.
“I am often asked how I make decisions in a time of such polarization and confusion,” Saathoff said during a speech last month at an anti-vaccine rally at the state Capitol. “I reply by opening my purse and taking out two documents I carry with me to govern my decision-making. The first is the Holy Bible. The second is a handheld copy of the U.S. Constitution.”
While Saathoff does have a constitutionally guaranteed right to exercise her religious beliefs, the same Constitution she carries around in her purse also prohibits the conflation of church and state.
Of course, Saathoff’s religious convictions are one reason her supporters voted her into office. The problem is that she is an elected leader with responsibilities to the public, the school district the board oversees, and its students and staff — not just her congregants.
“This is not a theocracy,” Rocklin resident Hope Struck said during a recent school board meeting. “The separation of church and state is one of the foundations of our freedom. My question is, are your (Saathoff’s) religious and political convictions unfairly influencing our school board decisions? I’d ask you to take a look at that.”
Saathoff is inflaming tensions in the Rocklin community that have already reached a fever pitch.
“This is our state, our county, our cities … (and) our tax dollars paying for our schools,” Saathoff said at the Oct. 18 capitol rally. “Take action. Join your school site council. Run for your local school board. We need parents asking questions (and) standing for student rights.”
Unsurprisingly, impassioned parents and members of the public showed up at a Rocklin Unified school board meeting two days later ready to take the entire board to task. Josh Needleman, a parent in the district, said that if some unspecified harm comes of a student vaccine mandate, the school board had “better watch out.”
No doubt Saathoff’s decision to ignore basic health and safety measures is dangerous for another, more obvious reason: She is putting the health of students, staff and community members at risk by potentially contributing to further spread of the virus.
Saathoff’s failure to separate her private religion from her public position is an abuse of her elected office with dangerous repercussions. Her duty as a board member is to the Rocklin Unified community, but her service consistently falls short of that obligation.
If Saathoff cannot separate her personal and religious beliefs from her professional roles, she should reconsider her future in public office.