Speakers at Sweetwater board meeting allege locker-room discrimination, claim video of meeting was altered

Public comment at the Sweetwater Union High School District board meeting on Nov. 11 focused on equity in course policies and access to campus locker rooms, with residents calling on the board to investigate and clarify district practices.

Vanessa Lucitano Jacobi told trustees the district’s messaging and policies create a structural bias against students taking AP and IB courses. “Students and parents are being told, take an IB and an AP class because such classes, even if you get a D, is the equivalent of a C,” she said, and argued that a D in an advanced course can block students from meeting A–G eligibility for California public colleges and that AP/IB students lack the same credit-recovery options as peers in standard courses. She asked the board to review and align district policy with college requirements.

Shortly afterward, Chad Baer addressed trustees to raise two distinct complaints: an alleged Brown Act violation and ongoing locker-room access issues at district schools. Baer said a Sept. 15, 2025 board meeting video posted to the district’s YouTube channel “was altered to remove nearly 2 minutes of me addressing the board” and that he has delivered a Brown Act demand letter to the district. He also described repeated incidents since August 2024 in which female students were denied or had restricted access to locker rooms while he said male athletes were granted access.

Baer said he had filed complaints up the chain of authority, including the school, district, San Diego County Office of Education, the California Department of Education (CDE), and the U.S. Office for Civil Rights. He cited a written CDE response to a Williams complaint and referenced Title IX and state education-code provisions in arguing the locker-room practices constitute unlawful discrimination.

The public-comment period in the transcript does not record a direct response from board members or staff addressing those specific allegations during the meeting. The matters raised—an asserted alteration of a public-record video and allegations of gender-based locker-room discrimination—were presented as requests for board review and enforcement of existing rules and statutes.

The board took no immediate action on the grievances during the meeting. Next steps were not recorded in the public record at the Nov. 11 session; the speakers requested the board examine policy and compliance with applicable state and federal rules.