SYVUHS FAIR

*We strongly encourage you to take a few minutes to formulate your own email or comment in your own words, based on your own concerns and experience. Elected officials often disregard or disparage letters they consider to be template or form letters. That being said, we have included some sample letters written by our partners below. Please feel free to use them, but try to use your own words, embellish, and/or swap in info from the fact sheet below.

SYVUHD Email Addresses:

Superintendent Andrew Schwab [email protected]

SYVUH Board president Chris Johnson [email protected]

SYVUH Board member Sheri Noble [email protected]

SYVUH Board member Kathy Grace-Velazquez [email protected]

SYVUH Board member Jose Juan Ibarra [email protected]

SYVUH Board member Susan Shehab [email protected]

SAMPLE EMAILS

Superintendent Schwab and School Board Members:

I am writing pursuant to SYVUHSD Board Policy 9322 (Agenda/Meeting Materials) to request that the following item be placed on the agenda of the regular Board meeting scheduled for December 5, 2023 and discussed for immediate withdrawal of the contract:

Termination of the contract with Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism, pursuant to Section 5 of that contract.

I am concerned about FAIR’s history of anti-minority actions that include:

Partnering with extreme right-wing groups to challenge students’ participation in history courses that include elements of critical race theory
Opposing legislation that would require schools to implement anti-racist policies and teach about implicit and unconscious racism, claiming that the policies “endorse racism against white people”
Opposing school district efforts to hire diverse teachers, specifically supporting teachers who claim that school districts’ efforts to recruit diverse staff lead to discrimination against them based on their whiteness

I do not believe this type of disguised hateful rhetoric and positioning has any place in our school that should be focused on education for all and encourage the Santa Ynez Valley School Board to cancel their contract with FAIR and not spend over $11,000 on mandatory training by this questionable outside group.

Thank you for your consideration and action,

(Insert Name)

Superintendent Schwab and School Board Members:

I am writing pursuant to SYVUHSD Board Policy 9322 (Agenda/Meeting Materials) to request that the following item be placed on the agenda of the regular Board meeting scheduled for December 5, 2023 and to be discussed for immediate withdrawal of the contract:

Termination of the contract with Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism, pursuant to Section 5 of that contract.

I am concerned about FAIR’s history of anti-trans actions that include:

Challenging students’ right to be referred to by their preferred pronouns, through letters, lobbying, and legal action, and across the country--in Illinois, New York, Vermont, Virginia, etc.
Opposing gender-affirming health care
Opposing licensing standards that require teachers to acknowledge the various backgrounds and gender identities of their students

I do not believe this type of distorted rhetoric or resultant climate of intolerance is legal in the State of California, your board should understand Education Code section 220, nor does it have any place in our schools. I encourage the Santa Ynez Valley School Board to cancel their contract with FAIR and not spend over $11,000 on mandatory transphobic training by a dubious outsider organization.

Thank you for your time,

(Insert Name)

Superintendent Schwab and School Board Members:

Termination of the contract with Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism, pursuant to Section 5 of that contract.

I am concerned about FAIR’s history of anti-trans and anti-minority actions as well as the fact that the District’s contract with FAIR is illegal in the following ways:

It violates students’ civil rights and Education Code section 220 by promoting discrimination against them based on race and gender identity.
It violates the Education Employment Relations Act because it requires unionized employees to participate in professional development, which is a mandatory subject of bargaining that should have been negotiated.
This contract might have violated the Brown Act, to the extent it piggybacks on a prior agreement to deliver workshops during Spring 2023, which does not appear to have been voted on by the Board in open session.

I do not believe that an organization full of agenda driven, politicized rhetoric like FAIR has any place in our school and encourage the Santa Ynez Valley School Board to cancel their contract with FAIR and avoid spending the $11,000 on mandatory racist and transphobic training as well as enter into an agreement that is illegal in nature.

Thank you for your action,

(Insert Name)

FACT SHEET:

*Developed by students and parents with the help of an education attorney


Anti-Minority Actions	FAIR's history of anti-minority actions includes: Opposing the teaching of diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools • Partnering with extreme right-wing groups to challenge students' participation in history courses that include elements of critical race theory • Threatening to sue school districts over their anti-racism curriculums • Opposing federal grant programs that encourage history courses to "incorporate racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse perspectives" • Opposing the University of California's proposal to add a semester of ethnic studies as a requirement for admission, stating that the proposal "promotes divisive and radical ideas that pressure students to become activists to foment a political revolution" • Opposing legislation that would require schools to implement anti-racist policies and teach about implicit and unconscious racism, claiming that the policies "endorse racism against white people" Opposing affirmative action • Filing an amicus brief in the case Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, arguing that affirmative action is inconsistent with equality and individual rights Opposing school district efforts to hire diverse teachers • Supporting teachers who claim that school districts' efforts to recruit diverse staff lead to discrimination against them based on their whiteness • Opposing school districts' policies committing to equitable allocation of funding, diverse hiring practices, and a "culturally responsive" curriculum and training for staff about historic achievement inequities between white and nonwhite students Denying the existence of achievement gaps along racial lines • Criticizing audit that found gaps in student achievement between students of color and white students, describing audit as "a quest to justify a predetermined ideological conclusion" Opposing race-conscious policies in health care • Suing New York State and City health departments based on guidance listing non-white race or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity as risk factor for COVID
Anti-Trans Actions	FAIR's history of anti-transgender actions includes: • Challenging students' right to be referred to by their preferred pronouns, through letters, lobbying, and legal action, and across the country--in Illinois, New York, Vermont, Virginia, etc. • Opposing gender-affirming health care • Opposing licensing standards that require teachers to acknowledge the various backgrounds and gender identities of their students
Contract Illegal	The District's contract with FAIR may be illegal • It may violate students' civil rights and Education Code 220 by promoting discrimination against them based on race and gender identity. • It may violate the Education Employment Relations Act because it requires unionized employees to participate in professional development, which is a mandatory subject of bargaining that should have been negotiated • And it may violate the Brown Act, to the extent it piggybacks on a prior agreement to deliver workshops during Spring 2023, which does not appear to have been voted on by the Board in open session.

Anti-Minority Actions

FAIR's history of anti-minority actions includes:

Opposing the teaching of diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools

• Partnering with extreme right-wing groups to challenge students' participation in history courses that include elements of critical race theory

• Threatening to sue school districts over their anti-racism curriculums

• Opposing federal grant programs that encourage history courses to "incorporate racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse perspectives"

• Opposing the University of California's proposal to add a semester of ethnic studies as a requirement for admission, stating that the proposal "promotes divisive and radical ideas that pressure students to become activists to foment a political revolution"

• Opposing legislation that would require schools to implement anti-racist policies and teach about implicit and unconscious racism, claiming that the policies "endorse racism against white people"

Opposing affirmative action

• Filing an amicus brief in the case Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, arguing that affirmative action is inconsistent with equality and individual rights

Opposing school district efforts to hire diverse teachers

• Supporting teachers who claim that school districts' efforts to recruit diverse staff lead to discrimination against them based on their whiteness

• Opposing school districts' policies committing to equitable allocation of funding, diverse hiring practices, and a "culturally responsive" curriculum and training for staff about historic achievement inequities between white and nonwhite students

Denying the existence of achievement gaps along racial lines

• Criticizing audit that found gaps in student achievement between students of color and white students, describing audit as "a quest to justify a predetermined ideological conclusion"

Opposing race-conscious policies in health care

• Suing New York State and City health departments based on guidance listing non-white race or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity as risk factor for COVID

Anti-Trans Actions

FAIR's history of anti-transgender actions includes:

• Challenging students' right to be referred to by their preferred pronouns, through letters, lobbying, and legal action, and across the country--in Illinois, New York, Vermont, Virginia, etc.

• Opposing gender-affirming health care

• Opposing licensing standards that require teachers to acknowledge the various backgrounds and gender identities of their students

Contract Illegal

The District's contract with FAIR may be illegal

• It may violate students' civil rights and Education Code 220 by promoting discrimination against them based on race and gender identity.

• It may violate the Education Employment Relations Act because it requires unionized employees to participate in professional development, which is a mandatory subject of bargaining that should have been negotiated

• And it may violate the Brown Act, to the extent it piggybacks on a prior agreement to deliver workshops during Spring 2023, which does not appear to have been voted on by the Board in open session.

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