Western Placer trustees review locally developed ethnic studies outline ahead of May 6 vote

Scott (staff member) presented a locally developed ethnic studies course outline to the Western Placer Unified School District Board of Trustees on April 1, saying, “Wegonna have a chance now to present the outline, of our ethics studies course. I just want to say before we get started that there's been a lot of people that are behind this and have done a lot of great work.”

The presentation traced the course's development to an April 2023 start and multiple teacher, parent and student review sessions in the 20232024 school year. Scott and other staff emphasized the district chose a local curriculum rather than the state model; the course will be offered as an elective next school year and AB 101 (the state law cited by presenters) requires ethnic studies to be a graduation requirement by 2030.

Mike Ball, who served as facilitator for the March 19 curriculum review committee, described the committee process and membership: “I was there but I was simply a facilitator.” Ball said the committee met March 19 with 14 members (eight teachers, one site administrator, one district administrator, two parents and two board members) and reviewed the outline page by page. He reported that the committee reached consensus on most items and held formal votes on four matters; recorded committee tallies included 8—6, 8—5 with one abstention, 9—5 and one 7—7 tie where the committee retained the status quo.

Trustees focused discussion on several items in the outline. Multiple trustees and committee members questioned a data chart included in the draft that showed lower rates of reported school safety, engagement and related measures among students of color compared with all students. Trustee April (board member) said the chart lacked context and called for a clear explanation of why the results were low before she could rely on it in the outline. “I don't like the chart at all,” another trustee said during discussion. The board and staff agreed the youth-survey narratives exist in the district's files but are not currently integrated into the outline and that more context would help.

Board members also asked for clarity about language in the outline and how certain terms were used. Ball explained the committee made targeted word changes to reduce misreading of intent (an example he gave was replacing "collective" with "community" in one spot). Scott and staff emphasized this document is an outline, not a full curriculum: if the board approves the outline, teachers will develop weekly lesson plans and pilot instructional materials in the coming year.

Several trustees said they supported the overall work but asked staff to remove or better explain the youth-survey chart, and to ensure local history elements are included in unit plans. Scott reiterated process and timing: the board will consider final approval at its May 6 meeting so the district can offer the elective next fall as required by state law.

Discussion vs. decision: No board action or adoption occurred at the April 1 meeting. Staff presented the outline for review and the board provided guidance. The board president and superintendent said a final adoption vote will be taken at the May 6 meeting.

Background and next steps: The work began in April 2023; the district chose a locally developed course rather than the state model curriculum. If the outline is approved, staff will pilot materials and schedule teacher training and lesson development before students enroll. The district also noted a state-level standards effort may produce additional guidance (a referenced bill proposing statewide ethnic studies standards with a possible effective date of January 2028).