A fed-up Rocklin mom is running for school board. She wants the focus back on education
A grassroots school board campaign emerged from the collective frustration of one powerful Rocklin interest group: moms.
Mothers who believe in science, support public health measures and want decisions made about their children’s education to be based on principles, not politics, have grown increasingly disturbed by the Rocklin Unified School District’s conservative-leaning school board.
These moms are smart, diligent and involved. They balance full-time jobs with helping their kids with homework and attending every school board meeting.
They also decided they ought to do something about the board. One of them had to step up to the plate. Jen Brookover looked in the mirror and decided it was her.
A mother of 6-year-old twins who are students in Rocklin, Brookover knows the district better than almost anyone. She is a former Rocklin Unified staff member, having worked at Whitney High School as a counselor. A longtime educator, she also has a principal’s certification. And she currently works with a company that helps first-generation students get into college.
Any working mom of two first graders certainly has her hands full. But during the pandemic, as Brookover watched the Rocklin Unified school board jeopardize the health and well-being of her family and friends for the sake of a political agenda, she decided she had to act.
She had been thinking about running for school board — a position she is more than qualified for — before her mind was made up when, in June 2021, Rocklin Unified formally urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to lift a classroom mask mandate.
“I was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, wait a second. You don’t speak for me; you don’t speak for the hundreds of people I know who are in support of this,’ ” Brookover said. “You’re a school board; you don’t have any medical experience. They were focused on fighting this political fight versus (focusing on) education.
“I started thinking, ‘I should run. I could run.’”
Brookover’s friends in the district have been backing her campaign from the beginning. Recently, I talked with six Rocklin Unified moms who are all Brookover supporters fed up with the district. They met at school board and parent committee meetings, where it was easy to spot like-minded folks who support science and public health measures; they were the select few wearing masks.
The moms object to the villainization of teachers during the pandemic, by parents and other community members as well as the district itself.
“I feel like they are hostages right now, and that’s not a good place to be,” said Kim Dace, a former teacher whose children attend Rocklin High School and Granite Oaks Middle School. “Why would we not want to trust and hear our teachers? This is what education is!”
The group also said they think about transferring their kids out of the district all the time. Even Brookover has considered it. But it’s the excellent teachers who make them stay.
Few have supported teachers more than Brookover. Last September, Brookover was one of several community members who read statements on behalf of district teachers too afraid to attend school board meetings.
It’s a rational fear: Rocklin school board meetings have attracted members of the extremist group the Proud Boys; community members who have made veiled threats against school board members; and parents who have broadcasted the names of teachers they disagree with during public comment.
How did we get here?
To understand how the Rocklin School Board got to this point, it helps to go back to 2019. In May of that year, the school board narrowly approved a motion to update the district’s history and social studies curriculum to reflect the histories of underrepresented communities, including minorities, those with disabilities and the LGBTQ community, in accordance with state law (the 2011 FAIR Education Act).
Nearly 1,000 Rocklin residents signed a petition objecting to the updated curriculum, and 650 students were pulled out of school for a day in protest..
Then-board member Camille Maben, who voted for the new curriculum, was ousted in 2020. Her seat was filled by Tiffany Saathoff, an anti-vaccine, anti-mask preacher at Rocklin’s homophobic Destiny Church. Two other conservatives, Rachelle Price and Julie Hupp, who have also been sympathetic to anti-mask, anti-vaccine sentiments, also joined the board that year.
Brookover described the chaotic 2019 meeting which lasted until 1 a.m. as “a wake-up call.” Having worked in three other school districts, she recalled being astounded that a school board would even entertain the idea of refusing to abide by state law — a behavior that has persisted in the district, especially during the pandemic.
“I saw a lack of firm leadership,” she said. “If you have concerns and questions as a parent, you’re allowed to ask. But we’re a public school with public funding from the state of California.”
Brookover wants to make school board meetings boring again. She said returning civility to meetings starts with modeling good behavior.
“I’m trained in de-escalation,” she said. “I’ve been in crisis situations with students. I’m professional and calm in my demeanor.”
Brookover has indeed kept a cool head both at school board meetings, in which she’s been confronted and chastised for wearing a mask, and in her campaign, in which she’s been on the receiving end of smear tactics.
Student needs not being met
Brookover is a realist when it comes to the state of the district.
“We live in a community where everyone thinks everyone else makes $200,000 a year, (but) Jen (Brookover) understands there are students that have a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds,” said Rocklin Unified parent Brittany Thomas-Vestal. “She understands there are students that are homeless in our district. She’s a lot more grounded in reality and so much more aware of what’s going on.”
Thomas-Vestal has realized that parents who can’t afford expensive college planners are “floundering” when it comes to helping their children prepare for graduation.
Brookover’s counseling expertise also allows her to tune into the social and emotional needs of Rocklin’s students. At a time when more and more students are experiencing mental health crises, Rocklin Unified is ill-equipped to meet their needs. The district lacks social workers, and the few counselors it employs have huge caseloads, making it impossible to meet the needs of all of the students who are struggling.
“How can we expect students to be successful academically if their mental health is not being taken care of?” Brookover said. “Everyone agrees that we want to support our kids’ mental health. That’s the start.”
Another parent, Gemma Mrizo, noticed that her child was struggling with mental health during the pandemic. That caused her to realize just how much more mental health help is needed in the district.
“The lack of support is unacceptable,” Mrizo said. “We can all agree there are mental health issues going on right now, and we need professionals dedicated to our kids. Jen has a laser focus on kids thriving.”
Selfless leader
Rajia Mim knew Brookover in another context: as her ninth-grade counselor.
The transition to ninth grade was a difficult one for Mim. She had moved to the U.S. in fifth grade but nevertheless found middle school easy. High school is where things got difficult. It was a new, much bigger school, the classes were harder, and Mim struggled.
Brookover was the person who helped her navigate Pennsylvania’s Upper Darby High School.
“She cared for me not only as a student but as a person,” Mim said.
Mim got a new counselor in 10th grade, but Brookover stayed in touch, checking in on her and helping her with her resume. The next year, when Mim was applying to colleges, Brookover read through her college applications and talked with her about where to apply.
“I don’t have many people in my life who cared for me so selflessly that way,” Mim said.
Mim is now a clinical research coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania. It’s been 12 years since she was a freshman in high school, but she and Brookover are still in contact.
How many of us are still in contact with our ninth grade counselors? I know I’m not.
“I was just a teeny tiny part of the community she was living in,” Mim said. “If she gave me that much attention and care, I can’t imagine what she’d do for the entire community.”
This story was originally published September 17, 2022 at 5:00 AM.