Is the Rocklin Unified school board more interested in education or politics?

The disturbing trend of far-right extremists and white supremacists targeting school boards around the country has come to Placer County. In Rocklin recently, anti-vax, anti-mask agitators derailed a school board meeting and threatened board members.

It’s a local example of a nationwide crisis. On Thursday, a group representing thousands of school board members asked President Joe Biden for protection from “rising threats of violence by members of the public,” according to the New York Times. The California School Boards Association has made a similar request to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

But Rocklin Unified’s school board also bears some responsibility for this unfortunate state of affairs. Too often, the board appears more interested in raising rather than lowering the political temperature.

Granted, the school board is in a difficult position, facing vocal criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Anti-mask parents and community members see board members as complicit in COVID precautions that they (wrongly) believe are ineffective and harmful to children. But parents and community members who support mask policies are also frustrated with the school board, which they blame for the rising tensions on display.

As one Rocklin Unified parent put it, board members are reaping what they’ve sown.

In June, for example, all five Rocklin Unified school board members sent a letter to state health officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom urging that the state’s classroom mask mandate be lifted immediately. The letter raised the dubious concern that “mandated mask wearing of children impedes learning.”

In fact, study after study has shown that mask wearing is a safe and effective way to slow the spread of COVID. As pediatric cases of COVID continue to increase with the rapid spread of the more contagious delta variant, Placer County interim health officer Dr. Rob Oldham has said it’s crucial that children not yet eligible to get vaccinated continue to consistently wear masks.

But Rocklin school board members sometimes seem more interested in politics than public education or health.

At the Sept. 1 meeting that verged on chaos, for instance, board members spent two hours debating district policy on staff email signatures, a subject apparently designed to generate controversy over whether people should be able to state their preferred pronouns and make other gestures toward inclusivity. The discussion was the result of a district staff member’s decision to include the LGBTQ Pride flag and the designation of their classroom as a “safe space” in an email sign-off.

At the Sept. 22 board meeting, a vague agenda item entitled “courses of study” turned out to be a not-so-vague attempt by the board to micromanage new curriculum — a proposal that appears related to countrywide discussions on ethnic studies curriculum.

The board’s politically charged objection to mask mandates doesn’t seem to have won it many friends even within the intended audience. Anti-mask community members have intensely criticized the board for not doing more to stand up to masking requirements, while those who support such precautions feel they’re not doing enough to protect students. The board should stick to state guidelines and stay out of unwinnable debates.

Moreover, Rocklin Unified already had to temporarily scale back in-person instruction due to COVID. In one August week shortly after school started, 50 students and one staff member tested positive for COVID. The next week, 62 students and five staff members tested positive.

At least two children in Placer County have now been hospitalized for COVID, and the rapidly spreading delta variant has infected close to one million U.S. children, and at least 500 children have died of COVID nationwide.

Regarding the raucous board meetings, Rocklin Unified spokesperson Sundeep Dosanjh stressed that the district “prioritizes providing a safe space for students, staff members and members of the community to attend board meetings and participate in the democratic process.”

But the district doesn’t seem to be doing enough to make everyone feel safe. Rocklin Unified lost 664 students from 2019-20 to 2020-21, about 5% of its enrollment, and with them $5 million in funding. Many of these students defected to Rocklin Academy, a group of local charter schools.

Playing politics with COVID is putting students in danger and the district at financial risk. Deliberately inflaming divisions in the community won’t help the Rocklin Unified school board retain the students who remain.