Ideological divides dominate Conejo Valley school board race

ELECTION 2020



A single question about gender diversity instruction at a school board candidate forum highlighted the ideological divide and political alliances separating the four women vying for two seats on the Conejo Valley Unified governing board.

At the Oct. 7 forum hosted by the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Acorn Newspapers, candidates were asked if they would support instituting in CVUSD an anti-bullying program similar to the one adopted in Oak Park Unified last year that introduced ideas like gender identity and gender nonconformity to elementary school students.

The issue of gender diversity education was a contentious topic in CVUSD during the 2019-20 school year when the district sought to comply with a series of state laws, including the 2016 California Healthy Youth Act, which updated the requirements for health instruction to include discussions of gender identity and gender expression. While it is required at the secondary level, it is not required, though allowed, at the elementary level.

CA Parent Alliance

Patti Jones, who is running to represent Area 1 in Westlake, is a founding member of the California Parent Alliance, a conservative parents’ rights advocacy group that debuted on the school board scene in 2019 to share its concerns over the law’s requirements.

Jones

She said she helped form the group because she felt like the school board wasn’t listening to the concerns of parents like her.

At last week’s forum, Jones said her 28-year-old daughter is a “nonconforming bisexual non-transitioning transgender girl” who started experiencing gender dysphoria when she was 13. Jones said she asked her daughter what she thinks of the program in Oak Park.

“She always says, ‘Listen, if they ask you about this would you please tell them for me to please not stereotype gender dysphoric youth, that even among the gender dysphoric and the gender diverse, there is diversity of all kinds. And not all kids that are transgender want to transition, and not all kids that identify as the opposite of their birth gender stay that way,’” she said. “And so the curriculum needs to address your gender issues as they stand in the present, like ‘Is it bothering you, your gender?’ Let’s talk about it and let’s support them.”

During an Oct. 15, 2019, board discussion of the Healthy Youth Act, Jones spoke during public comments, stating she wanted the board to adopt a policy prohibiting gender diversity education in grades K-6. She said then that her daughter, who once was uncertain about her gender, “grew out of it and she is now married.”

“She is a woman. She identifies as a woman and she is married to a man very happily. And if she had been taught these things in K-6, it would have altered her life forever,” Jones said at the time.

Everett, the lone incumbent in the race, said she does not support the portion of OPUSD’ s program that teaches that gender is assigned at birth and that people get to choose their own gender.

Everett

“I think this is a very controversial issue and for young children grades TK-6; it’s not required. Gender identity instruction is not required, and for those reasons I also don’t believe it’s developmentally appropriate, ” said Everett, who is running to represent Area 5, which encompasses most of Newbury Park. “But what I do support is teaching children to respect and love each other, to understand differences, to respect each other no matter how they dress, look, act, what their religion is, what their values are . . . their race, any of that.”

Jones’ California Parent Alliance is aligned with Everett, who attended the group’s meetings in the summer of 2019, according to pictures posted online. CPA founding president Tim Cooley has used his time during public comments to pray and to read passages from “ The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” a 1995 document from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The document states that “gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”

Jones said she is familiar with Cooley through church circles; they are both LDS members, as is Everett, though the three attend different congregations.

Conejo Together

Candidates Lauren Gill, Everett’s opponent, and Karen Sylvester, running in Area 1 against Jones, are supported by Conejo Together, a progressive-leaning political action committee that backed the successful 2018 campaigns of three board newcomers: Jenny Fitzgerald, Cindy Goldberg and Bill Gorback.

According to its website, Conejo Together formed to support “good governance,” a knock on Everett and the former board majority. Conejo Together has donated $15,000 to date to the Committee in Support of Gill and Sylvester for Conejo Valley Unified School Board 2020.

Gill and Sylvester have both received $1,000 donations from the Democratic Club of the Conejo Valley and $200 donations from United Democrats for Progress of Ventura County.

At the forum, Gill said that as a trustee she would have not only a moral obligation to provide a safe and affirming learning environment for all children, but a legal one, as well.

Gill

“We’re really not talking about teaching gender theory. What we’re talking about here is supporting human beings, human beings in our classrooms in the LGBTQ+ community who cannot learn and grow unless we provide a safe, affirming learning environment for each and every one of them,” she said.

She did not state specifically whether she’d like to see Oak Park’s particular program brought to CVUSD.

Asked for clarification after the forum, Gill provided this statement: “Parents and teachers are telling me that there’s a need for training/professional development that will ensure a supported, affirming, safe learning environment for LGBTQ+ students. I think it’s wise to review models in use at neighboring districts, but we’ll need to develop a program that meets CVUSD’s needs.”

Sylvester said that for the past few summers her daughter has gone to theater camp, where she has made friends who are transgender and gay.

Sylvester

“Several of them have said to her that the only time they feel safe is the three weeks they spend at summer camp. That’s heartbreaking. We heard from a student last night at the board meeting who doesn’t feel safe in our schools. That should absolutely never be the case. Every single child deserves to feel safe and supported.”

She said the approach should be to look at Oak Park, evaluate what they did, how they rolled it out and what the feedback was, then bring it back to the CVUSD community to have the discussion.