Parent wants state review of Sequoia Union’s education code compliance

The district’s ethnic studies course has drawn criticism from parents since its implementation, but particularly since October 2023 due to alleged heightened antisemitism following the attacks by Hamas in Israel. Since then, parents have asked for the curriculum to be reevaluated, implementation to be delayed and most recently, for the state to double check the district is abiding by the law. 

The request for state review claims the district bypassed education code requirements when it certified “sufficiency” of instructional materials at its board meeting Sept. 10. 

The filer, Linda McGeever, is a part of a group called SUHSD Students First which has raised concerns regarding courses and curriculum within the district. McGeever filed the request for state compliance with the Department of Educations’ Curriculum Frameworks and Instruction Resources Division Oct. 6.  

McGeever said filing for state review is “not about opposing ethnic studies.” 

“This complaint is solely about governance and process and following state law,” McGeever said. “I won’t say the content isn’t without controversy … but that’s not what this complaint is about.” 

McGeever’s request for state review followed another attempt at a complaint she initiated with the district itself. In a complaint Sept. 15, McGeever alleged the district misrepresented its compliance with rules regarding curriculum and instructional materials for its ethnic studies course offering.  

McGeever’s concern was that a board ruling to determine “sufficiency” at its meeting Sept. 10 was incorrect because the ethnic studies curriculum has yet to be entirely completed and available for public dissemination. 

The district said its “sufficiency” declaration is only in regards to textbooks and instructional materials for mathematics, science, history-social science and English language arts courses. 

In an email response to McGeever from Dr. Elizabeth Chacòn, assistant superintendent of Educational Services, on Oct. 3, the district believes there are no educational code violations as alleged by McGeever. Even if ethnic studies were considered in the “sufficiency” declaration, it would meet the requirements, Chacòn said. 

“The District is confident that students enrolled in the Ethnic Studies class in the 2025-26 school year, and future years, will have all necessary instructional materials for the class,” Chacòn’s email reads. 

“The test is whether students enrolled in a class have the materials they need to learn in class that day and take home for work at home that evening; not whether a school district has materials in a storage room, months in advance of their use,” Chacòn’s email reads. 

After the district’s response was provided, McGeever opted to seek further review from a third party — the state’s Department of Education. 

The ethnic studies course at the Sequoia Union High School District has remained a focus of lengthy discussions and concerns from parents who felt the coursework was divisive. 

Criticism has grown from families over what they described as a classroom environment that cultivates fear from Jewish students, creates a binary of oppressor and oppressed, and burdens freshmen with too-intensive course material. 

In April, the district approved an updated ethnic studies curriculum, which aligns closely with the state’s model curriculum. The update also factored the past five years of experience teaching the course into consideration. The board was split, 3-2, in approving the curriculum. 

McGeever said she asked the state’s review to be done quickly, because the course will begin being taught on Wednesday, Oct. 15. The request asks to prohibit the district from beginning instruction “until the curriculum is fully developed, publicly reviewed and lawfully adopted.” 

“This is not just a technicality,” McGeever said. “It puts students currently in class having inconsistent curriculum taught, insufficiently trained staff. Building the plane while you’re flying it is risky.” 

The district has approved an updated ethnic studies curriculum, following complaints by students and parents about its content, in April. The updated curriculum closely follows the state’s model curriculum.

The course is set up for four units, the first of which will begin instruction on Oct. 15, Chacòn said. The instructional materials for the first units have already been finalized. Instructional materials for the next three units are slated to be complete by Nov. 5, Jan. 22 and March 6, respectively, Chacòn said. 

“This timeline, and the materials the District already has on hand, support the [sufficiency] determination made on September 10,” Chacòn said. “The District is confident that all students in the district, including those who will be taking the Ethnic Studies course later this year, will have the instructional materials they need to succeed in those courses.” 

In 2020, district trustees voted to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement beginning with the class of 2025, which graduated in June. Sequoia Union was one of the first districts in the area to offer the course, and made it a graduation requirement ahead of the state’s passage of Assembly Bill 101, which will make ethnic studies a requirement for graduation by 2030.