From: Palo Alto Parent Alliance <info@pa-square.org>
Date: Tue, Mar 11, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Subject: Concerns re January 23, 2025 PAUSD School Board Special Meeting
To: Don Austin <daustin@pausd.org>, <ssegal@pausd.org>, <rchiu@pausd.org>, <akamhi@pausd.org>, <jsalcman@pausd.org>, Shounak Dharap <sdharap@pausd.org>
Cc: Palo Alto Parent Alliance <info@pa-square.org>

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Dear PAUSD Trustees and Superintendent Austin,

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We write to you about the January 23, 2025 PAUSD School Board Special Meeting where the PAUSD Board of Education voted 3-2 to approve a required Ethnic Studies course's content and to accelerate the course's start date by a year, now set for Fall 2025's ninth grade class. 

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This decision came despite long-standing widespread opposition from parents, educators, and community members – including over one thousand four hundred local individuals who petitioned through the Palo Alto Parent Alliance (PA2) – pressing for greater transparency and an opportunity to give meaningful input on the course’s content.

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In addition, PAUSD has failed to respond to a Public Records Act (PRA) request for the Ethnic Studies course curriculum; provided the public with insufficient, inappropriate, and inaccurate course material; and appears to have violated the Brown Act's Open Meeting laws:

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Records. At the January 23 meeting, Board members approved the Ethnic Studies course despite PAUSD’s failure to fill a four-month standing PRA request for the piloted Ethnic Studies course's content and instructional materials, even after being put on notice a week before its vote that "this information is time sensitive, and intended to provide the public with sufficient information to inform the Board vote." PAUSD made it impossible for the public to fully participate in that vote, the very intention of the Public Records Act underscored by the California Constitution. This refusal to provide requested information, which obstructed public participation, deprived the community of a way to give meaningful input on an important educational decision.

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Course material:  Board members then approved the Ethnic Studies course "as presented" in the Board agenda packet. The Board agenda packet was comprised of a cursory course description and the very late addition of a 16-page document labeled “Curriculum and Sample Lessons,” which contained material Superintendent Austin said was “outrageous [and] would never be a part of a course in this district” and was expressly disavowed by teachers right before the vote.  Both documents were "presented" in the Board packet and so approved by the Board.

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Meeting agenda: The Board received a Brown Act complaint after that January 23 meeting alleging that:

(i) that meeting's agenda misinformed the public when it stated that official action that night would merely “confirm” the 2023 Board's desire for a Class of 2029 (Fall 2025 freshmen) start, and

(ii) Board President Segal and Vice President Dharap repeated this false claim in the meeting to garner majority support to accelerate the Ethnic Studies graduation start by a year. 

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The complaint points out that in 2023 current Board President Segal and current Vice President Dharap supported an Ethnic Studies graduation requirement start for the Class of 2030 (Fall 2026 freshman) both in their September 2023 recommendation (while they sat on the Board Policy Review Committee) and with their yes vote at the October 2023 Board meeting.  To excuse the January 23 agenda misrepresentation, Dr. Austin characterizes these 2023 events as "minor" background to justify their omission from the agenda description as an excusable "error."   In doing so, Superintendent Austin negates an official Board action highlighted in bright pink to ensure that the Board noticed what it was approving, accompanied by an explanation why the Class of 2030 was selected. The Brown Act requires a cure and correct by the Board or a nullification by a court of law.  

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As a community, we expect the Palo Alto Unified School District trustees to act in accordance with both the law and the values of our district, including responsiveness to all stakeholders.

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Yet on January 23, the Board failed these basic duties set out in the PAUSD Board policies they approve: "hold[ing] themselves to the highest standards of ethical conduct," "ensur[ing] that the district is responsive to the values, beliefs, and priorities of the community," and honoring compliance with the law.

 

For this reason, PA2 calls for the immediate nullification of the January 23 vote and a more transparent, accountable process moving forward, one that fully engages the public and upholds the constitutional rights of all individuals involved.

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Palo Alto Parent Alliance

web: https://www.pa-square.org

email: info@pa-square.org