ROCKLIN, Calif. — Parents are voicing concerns after the president of the Rocklin Unified School District school board made a controversial post on social media, which called out to Christ-centered parents.
Parents said the Rocklin community is known for being diverse, and they feel this is excluding a large portion of the families in their community.
This social media post was made by Julie Hupp, school board president, and it caused controversy among parents.
In it, she calls on "as many Christ-centered, family-focused parents" to apply for new curriculum and policy committees.
"I was alarmed when I saw the comment calling for people of a specific faith to join an advisory committee," said Jessica Martinelli, a mother of three.
Martinelli said it's sending the wrong message.
Price Johnson, a father of two, agrees.
"My concern is not that we have Christians in our school district at all. My concern is that we already have very active Christian leaders involved in our school board, and we don't need to be calling out one specific religion at the exclusion of other religions, other groups of people," said Johnson.
Johnson said the post comes after the school board paused a new science curriculum back in April. However, parents are now able to serve on a new committee to consider it for third through fifth grade.
In a statement, the Rocklin Unified School District said they are aware of the post, and "Trustee Hupp has always been proud of the diversity of our community and hopes to see it represented in all of our committees."
Parents are calling for more transparency as they choose who will serve in these committees.
"The board needs to disclose what criteria they will be using to fill these committees to ensure that we do have equal representation of parents. That has not been communicated in any way," said Martinelli.
"These issues are too critical for us to be allowing the board to stall due to a very niche but vocal demographic of parents that are trying to be too involved... we need to be relying on our community members and our teachers and our educated credential educators to make those decisions," added Johnson.
ABC10 reached out to Hupp but did not hear back from her. Rocklin's next school board meeting will be held Sept. 6 at the District Office. Parents say they plan to attend and voice their concerns.
On Aug. 25, Hupp posted a follow up to her post in response to a question she was getting.
"Yes, I asked for Christ loving individuals to join committees. I posted on many different sites. I also asked for family centered individuals and principle centered, loving people. All faiths and all child loving people are encouraged to sign up. The inclusion of one does not mean the exclusion of others. I also asked others. It is an open door. If you live in Rocklin and want what is best for children and have the time to commit, come join," said Hupp on Facebook.
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