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Teachers association president urges Glendora Unified to reconsider opposition to ethnic studies pilot
Summary
At the March 24 board meeting, teachers, parents and students urged Glendora Unified trustees to approve a pilot of a state‑mandated ethnic studies course for 2025–26; trustees agreed to bring the item back for reconsideration on April 28 amid procedural and pedagogical concerns.
Doug Granquist, president of the Glendora Teachers Association, told the board during public comment that teachers who developed the proposal have crafted a curriculum "designed for our students and our community" and urged trustees to reverse their recent opposition to the outline.
Multiple speakers backed a freshman‑year pilot, citing research and district experience. Peter Diaz cited a National Academy of Sciences paper and said offering ethnic studies in ninth grade “specifically significantly increased graduation rates,” while local teachers and committee members described multi‑year community input and a roughly $60,000 state stipend that paid teacher curriculum development.
Opponents did not argue against ethnic studies as a concept but criticized the proposed methodology and asked the board to clarify educational outcomes before approving the outline. Commenter Mike Baron said he supports ethnic studies in principle but objected to teaching methods he described as centered on “intersectionality,” and he urged the board to treat the outline as a history‑oriented course.
Board members acknowledged the competing concerns. Trustee Monica Garcia thanked public speakers of all viewpoints and asked community members to continue outreach; Trustee [Clerk] Cam and others clarified legal timing under AB 101 and how the law’s pilot and graduation elements interact. President Clifford said he would formally ask to put the curriculum back on the next appropriate agenda and a motion to reconsider was seconded; the board set the item for reconsideration at the April 28 meeting.
The meeting also included an unrelated and unproven allegation from a public commenter who said an unredacted $7,500 invoice showed a district contract had paid for reputation/marketing services rather than cyber‑security. That commenter, Jonathan Lane, urged termination of a contractor and said a local group co‑founded by Trustee Monica Garcia played a role; the board did not resolve those accusations during the meeting.
What’s next: The board agreed to return the ethnic studies outline to the agenda for reconsideration on April 28; speakers said they will provide research and implementation details ahead of that meeting.
