The Coronado Unified School District is postponing its freshmen Ethnic Studies class requirement after lack of funding from the state, according to the district. While the class remains a state requirement for all 2030 high school graduates, CHS freshmen will not have to take it just yet; they can take a new personal finance class instead.
At the February 20 school board meeting, Dr. Megan Battle, CUSD Director of Learning, shared that there is language in the ethnic studies bill—AB101—which states that the district isn’t required to offer the class until it’s actually funded by the state.
“As recently as last month, we saw that the governor’s new budget proposal did not include funding for AB101,” according to Battle. “Now we are waiting to see what the governor does in May, to see if funds will be appropriated or not.”
In the meantime, the district will continue to offer the ethnic studies class as an option as part of the two-year pilot program, according to Battle. The class is expected to become a requirement for freshmen in the 2027-2028 school year, pending state funding.
Until it does, the district will continue to refine the course.
“The teacher is sending out surveys every nine weeks to students and gathering feedback,” said Battle. “We’re also updating the class based on feedback from community members. We did start with the model curriculum from the state, but now, locally, we can build something for our community that meets the needs of our students.”
But some community members aren’t happy about how the class is going so far. Mandy Pagon, a mom of 7th grader and a 9th grader at CUSD, said that teachers should be striving to foster a growth mindset in students, teaching children that their potential is unlimited.
She said that the course, as it stands, uses a fixed mindset approach, teaching students that because of their race, they’ve played a particular role in history and will continue to do so.
“I also find it particularly troubling, given the large population of military families on this island, that this course also demonizes the founding of our country and insists upon the students reading an apology to the Native Americans for stealing their land each week,” said Pagon. “The only reason you do a land acknowledgement is because you are saying that we are here illegitimately which undermines the entire foundation of our nation.”
Community member Ann Sonne questioned the goals of the course. She suggested it should discuss all factors relating to racism, not just colonialism.
“Or do you want to critique white supremacy, racism and patriarchy, never mentioning some of the brutal traditions that exist even today that are practiced by different cultures?” she asked. “Every culture has its own historical and religious blemishes.”
Carolyn Rogerson said that students are learning about the “Wheel of Power and Privilege” in the course, which she said focuses on characteristics like power, wealth and vulnerability, and how it relates to skin color. She said the exercise is designed to push a biased agenda and has no place in reality.
“Skin color? My sister and I are different shades, especially in the summer when she gets a tan,” said Rogerson. “Wealth? Define wealth. Define rich and middle class. It depends on where you live in this country; if you live in Southern California, it’s a totally different definition if someone lives in Iowa or Kentucky or Nebraska. Mental health? Vulnerability? What is vulnerable and mentally stable? At various times at all of our lives and various ages have we not felt vulnerable?”
Trustee Fitz Lee thanked Battle for the presentation on the ethnic studies course, and shared that he himself is part of a multi-ethnic family, as his wife is French. He thanked the public speakers for their comments, said he had spent at least 100 hours combing through the ethnic studies course materials, and acknowledged that the factual information the speakers shared was “spot on.”
“We can do better,” said Lee. “The big distinguisher is, I don’t want our kids thinking that because their skin color is a certain way, that they are destined towards some direction.”
Scot Youngblood acknowledged that the class is a “hot-button issue” and agreed that “more reflection” was in order. Alexia Palacios-Peters shared that, as a woman from South Texas and a descendant of migrant farm workers, she didn’t want kids to feel bad about their ancestry. But she said that history is what helps make people what they are, and she appreciated the ongoing discussion to make the class the best it can be.
“But I think the reality of where we are, racism still exists, sometimes even in our own district,” she said. “Privilege still exists.”
New Personal Finance Course on the Horizon
The State of California has another new graduation requirement coming up: a personal finance class. This class will be required for graduating seniors in 2031. Unlike the ethnic studies class, this is an unfunded mandate, which means that districts are required to finance the class themselves and are not slated to receive state funding.
According to Battle, the class will explore the fundamentals of personal finance. This includes money management, such as saving, borrowing, investing and budgeting. It’s designed to help students plan for a strong financial future and make wise spending, saving and credit decisions.
According to Battle, both the ethnic studies and personal finance classes are in line with the district’s long range plan and connect to the “Portrait of a Graduate.” Both classes, which are offered in conjunction with the Freshmen Islander Experience course, fulfill A-G requirements for California State and University of California schools. While all freshmen will take the Freshmen Islander Experience class, they will decide if they want to take it in conjunction with Ethnic Studies or Personal Finance.
Test Scores Trend Up for Village Elementary
Village Elementary School Principal Pete Kuhns shared the school’s annual report, noting that enrollment is up from 790 students in 2023-2024 to 822 students this year. Standardized test scores from CAASPP show growth in English Language Arts across all cohorts; scores show similar gains in math.
But the biggest celebration, according to Kuhns, is major improvement for English language learners. He said the goal is for as many English language learners as possible to be “reclassified,” which means that they are on the same level as their English-only peers.
Previously, the number of students who were able to obtain this designation hovered around 10%. Today, that’s at 51%. Kuhns attributed this success to the teachers, in particular Ms. Coker who works with English language learners.
“This is something we are particularly proud of,” said Kuhns. “It doesn’t happen by accident.”
Kuhns also noted that Village Elementary has been undergoing several ongoing facility improvements. This includes increasing safety measures, such as adding alarms and signage to “push gates” as well as physical barriers to create more boundaries. In addition, the school has adjusted their procedures in terms of monitoring students on campus.
Just last October, a seven-year-old student pushed open a gate, walked off campus and to the Coronado Bridge. While she was found unharmed, the incident prompted a hard look at campus procedures.
“In the event a student does become missing, we have a new sweep map that will help us sweep our campus much faster and more efficiently,” said Kuhns. “We will be able to work through a protocol to find them much faster.”
Simmering Tensions About Potential Change in School Calendar
The Joint Calendar Committee, which was formed to come up with two new instructional calendar options, shared it had failed to reach an agreement between district representatives and the Association of Coronado Teachers.
One of the driving forces of the committee, according to presenters, was to present two new calendars that would ultimately allow high schoolers to take their first semester finals before winter break while offering balanced terms. This would entail starting the school year earlier in August, and ending in early June/end of May.
The committee — which is made up of four Association of Coronado Teachers members, two students, four CUSD administrators and four parents — conducted weeks of surveys and collected data. Committee members said the advantages of a new calendar would allow high school students to complete Term 1 finals before winter break, and allow for more instruction in spring AP courses. The calendar would also better align with neighboring school districts.
But some teachers and community members surveyed expressed concern about the hot temperatures in August with the earlier start-time, and ACT president Jennifer Landry noted that there wasn’t much of a consensus among those surveyed: about half of students supported a new calendar, and teachers responses were also mixed.
Two district representatives, Strand Elementary Principal Jenny Moore and Coronado Middle School Teacher Ramona Loiselle noted that there were many “strong feelings” and lots of “diverse opinions” regarding a potential calendar shift.
“This was not an easy process to go through,” said Loiselle.
According to a district representative, CUSD is hopeful that there will be an agreement with ACT before March 13, but if that doesn’t happen, the calendar will remain the same: the first day of school would be the fourth Thursday in August and the school year will stretch into late June.
Either way, at the next school board meeting on March 13, the board will be ready to approve and issue next year’s instructional calendar. Community members can view the proposed calendars at links in this document.
In other board business:
- The board approved new Heat Release Guidelines, which would update when CUSD would declare a heat day. The new guidelines will take into account heat index, which includes outdoor temperature and humidity. The new guidelines lower the threshold to declare a heat day from 90 degrees to 87 degrees. It will change the notifications for families from 7am the day of, to 7pm the day prior. The new policy also takes into account temperatures on weekend days.
- The board approved the agreement between the Coronado Unified School District and the California School Employees Association (CSEA), which would give classified employees a 4% raise, retroactive to July 1, 2024. There will be an additional increase of 1% on March 1, 2025. This is in line with the salary increase for district teachers.
- The board enjoyed a “spotlight presentation” celebrating the release of the CUSD Portrait of a Graduate.
The next regularly scheduled board meeting will take place on Thursday, March 13 at 4pm at district offices.
