These two candidates would restore order to the Rocklin Unified School Board | Opinion

Since the pandemic began, the Rocklin Unified School Board has made headlines around the state — and sometimes around the country — for embarrassing reasons. Two parents running for the board this November, Jen Brookover and Price Johnson, could help turn this board back to its educational mission.

The Bee Editorial Board endorses Brookover and Price because this district needs a reset.

There was the time School Board Trustee Julie Hupp put out a call on social media for “Christ-centered” parents to get involved in school committees. The time when the board failed to support and protect a Rocklin High School sophomore who told the board she was being bullied. School Board Trustee Tiffany Saathoff is supported by Moms for Liberty, named an “extremist” group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

What is Moms for Liberty? Here is how CNN described them: “Moms for Liberty, founded in 2021, expanded its mission to include efforts to ban certain books from schools, outlaw the teaching and discussion of gender and sexuality by teachers and halt the teaching of critical race theory.”

Rocklin Unified is also being sued by the California Department of Education after the board passed a parental notification policy that forces teachers to “out” transgender and non-binary students to their parents — despite hundreds of students, teachers and community members voicing opposition to the dangerous policy. (Now, the board has entered into a legal agreement with the Liberty Justice Center, a conservative legal group, to fight this legal battle.)

Enough is enough.

“There are students who have shared with me since 2019 that they don’t feel safe in their schools,” Brookover said. The children at Rocklin Unified deserve a board focused on student development and achievement, not polarizing politics.

Brookover and Johnson are up for the task.

Both are both running against board incumbents. The former faces Rachelle Price for Trustee Area 3 and the latter will square off against Hupp for Trustee Area 1 (both Price and Hupp, who declined interview invitations from The Bee’s Editorial Board, voted in support of the controversial parental notification policy).

Notably, the Rocklin Teachers Professional Association has endorsed both Brookover and Johnson over the incumbents. We agree with the teachers.

Brookover, a former English teacher and school counselor, owns a business that helps students with college admissions. She is also a parent of two young Rocklin Unified students. After unsuccessfully running for the school board in 2022, Brookover continued her fight, getting involved in the district to the best of her ability: serving as a member of Local Control Accountability Plan Parent Advisory Committee, the Diversity and Inclusivity Committee, site council and volunteering in the classroom.

Business Executive Johnson is a dad of two young Rocklin Unified students and a school site council representative who serves on a parent-teacher club. He and his family moved from Citrus Heights to Rocklin specifically for the region’s great school district. But he’s become disillusioned and increasingly frustrated with the school board. Thus, his decision to run for elected office.

Both Brookover and Johnson frequently attend and speak at school board meetings.

Brookover, who has worked as a school counselor in Pennsylvania and in Placer County, is a proponent for more professional mental health staff and resources for students. While the district did recently hire a few elementary school counselors, she believes the district needs to hire social workers and establish wellness centers.

“For our students to be successful academically, they need mental health support,” she said.

If elected, Johnson said he wants to bring a greater level of “accountability and transparency” to the board, and bring the role of a school board trustee back to being non-partisan.

Brookover wants to be a voice for students.

“Student voices are ignored,” she said. “We don’t talk to students enough. My whole career has revolved around talking to students and hearing their needs.”

For Rocklin Unified to uphold its reputation for academic excellence, the board must focus back on education and what’s best for students and district families. Brookover and Johnson will help the district get back on track.

This story was originally published October 3, 2024 at 5:00 AM.