State Representatives Urge RUSD to Abandon Discriminatory Draft Policies
(SACRAMENTO) — Senator Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Colton) and Assemblymember Robert Garcia (D-Rancho Cucamonga) issued the following statements regarding their coauthored letter to the Redlands Unified School District (RUSD) Board of Education. The letter urges the Board to abandon draft policies under consideration for approval.
Senator Reyes said, “The draft policies being considered by the RUSD Board – particularly those in the name of Title IX protection – are ironic, considering its recent and direct violations of that law. Very urgent and costly issues of student safety persist at RUSD schools, and I urge the Board to abandon its ongoing publicity and political stunts and immediately pivot its attention toward solutions that will prioritize protection of our community’s children.”
Assemblymember Garcia said, “Every student deserves to feel safe, seen, and supported at school. These proposed policies threaten that feeling by enabling censorship, forced outings, and exclusion, especially for our most vulnerable youth. I urge the Redlands Unified School Board to pause, listen to the community, and commit to building an educational environment grounded in dignity, not division.”
In addition to these proposed policies regarding LGBTQ+ youth and content, in the last two years RUSD has had numerous incidents and reports of sexual assault and harassment of students by staff, hate speech among youth peers, and most recently, discriminatory acts targeting LGBTQ youth.
The RUSD Board plans to discuss their draft policy proposals at a regularly scheduled meeting today at 6pm. The meeting will be livestreamed, but public comments can only be made in person.
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Senator Eloise Gómez Reyes represents Senate District 29, which includes the cities of Colton, Fontana, Highland, Loma Linda, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto, San Bernardino, Upland, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda, and the unincorporated communities of Bloomington and Muscoy.
Assemblymember Robert Garcia (D-Rancho Cucamunga) represents Assembly District 50, which includes the cities of Bloomington, Colton, Fontana, Loma Linda, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto, and San Bernardino.