Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) has been the center of contentious politics thanks to local Megachurch Pastor, Jack Hibbs, the senior and founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. Hibbs grew in popularity during the pandemic for defying stay at home orders and preaching conspiracy theories like “The Great Reset” , which warns it’s followers that “global elites” or “globalists” are plotting to destroy American sovereignty and prosperity to advance their own interests. Hibbs has close ties to TPUSA, the right-wing student organization founded by Charlie Kirk. He is more specifically involved with TPUSA Faith, the Christian Nationalist arm of TPUSA.
Hibbs has been quite successful in creating a mini-Christian theocracy within the CVUSD. He is well Known for handpicking candidates to run for local offices, and endorsing them from his pulpit. From 2012-18, his Calvary backed school board trustees dominated the school district by a 3-2 majority. Trustee Andrew Cruz was the worst offender. He often lead board meetings with prayer and would interrupt periodically with mini-sermons about accepting Jesus Christ, preserving traditional marriage, outlawing abortion and respecting the confederate flag, as reported here by CBS NEWS . One rant in particular resulted with angered parents seeking litigation with the help of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a non-profit educational organization that promotes the constitutional principal of separation of church and state
@mxrentfree Pastor Jack Hibbs has used the power of his pulpit at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills California to endorse multiple political candidates in recent years. His endorsed school board candidates have been elected in districts across California. Several are part of voting majorities including Orange Unified SD trustee Madison Miner & Chino Valley Unified SD Andrew Cruz. Telltale signs of a religious voting majority are 1) fire the district lawyer 2) fire the district superintendent 3) hire an expensive & conservative lawyer 4) install a new conservative superintendent 5) start banning things like CRT, Pride flags, pronouns, social & emotional learning, books and anything related to equity. This is part of a national movement to fully privatize public education. #schoolboard📚🧮✂️📐 #schoolboardtakeover #defenseofdemocracyca #publiceducationunderattack #separationofchurchandstate🇺🇸 #stopmomsforliberty #pastorjackhibbs #calvarychapelchinohills #transrightsarehumanrights🏳️⚧️ #madisonminer #orangeunifiedschoolboard #ousdrecall #chinovalleyunifiedschooldistrict #andrewcruz ♬ Suspense, horror, piano and music box - takaya
District Gets Sued
On November 13, 2014, a lawsuit was brought against the district by FFRF and represented twenty-two plaintiffs consisting of CVUSD families with students in the school or school employees that have had prayers imposed upon them. FFRF sought to eliminate the boards illegal proselytizing and stated that the school board business had begun to “resemble a church service more than a school board meeting”. On February 18, 2016, the Court ruled in FFRF’s favor, finding that “permitting religious prayer in board meetings, and the policy and custom of reciting prayers, Bible readings, and proselytizing at board meetings, constitute unconstitutional government endorsements of religion in violation of plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.” With the support of Hibbs, the board majority (James Na, Andrew Cruz, and Silvia Orosco) voted to appeal the lawsuit, unaware that Hibbs was making empty promises to help pay for the cost of the appeals.
By the time the lawsuit had been pushed to the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, voters, fed up with all of the distractions, ushered in a 3-2 moderate board majority in the 2018 election year. Three moderate trustees voted against pursuing this last appeal, and ended the appeals process for good against the FFRF win.
As a consequence, the district was left with over $300,000 in legal fees, none of which were paid for by Hibbs, as was promised, even after he had addressed the school board members and “urged the board to ‘stay strong’ and said the 10,000-member church would support a legal appeal financially” as reported in the Champion Newspapers of Chino Hills. It’s also reported that a Hibbs associate set up a GoFundMe account to pay for the district’s significant legal fees. A single anonymous donation of $143,000 was made along with a few other smaller donations. That account disappeared and never payed out, making it obvious the GoFundMe account was only a ruse. Hibbs left the district high and dry after his groomed district trustees aided in amassing hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and then blamed the district for voting to not pursue appealing the lawsuit all the way to the Supreme court.
The Board Gets Flipped, Again
In 2022, CVUSD elections yielded two new conservative Calvary Chapel backed school board members; board president, Sonja Shaw and trustee John Monroe. Shaw rose to popularity among far right conservatives fighting state COVID mandates with her group, ##CV Parents. Shaw was well known for interrupting school board meetings and personally harassing board members and district employees about mask mandates. Hibbs quickly exploited the chance to recapture the board amidst pandemic inspired controversy, and he heavily backed Shaw’s campaign. Sonja Shaw’s election victory was propelled by her exploitation of controversial pandemic circumstances.
Sonja Shaw caused a disturbance during a CVUSD meeting and left in a hurry while upset.
With the board now a 3-2 conservative Calvary Chapel backed majority, controversy once again commands the district. Anti-CRT, book banning and anti-transgender rhetoric dominates school board business.
Most recently, attacks on LGBTQ+ and transgender students in particular has increased with the now defunct conservative bill AB-1314. AB-1314 was written to end the confidentiality of California students’ gender status at school, which would have eliminated a transgender child’s chance of having a “safe space” if they are not supported at home. Recent CVUSD proceedings have discussed formally supporting a resolution of this bill, permanently adopting its language. These meetings drew hundreds of Calvary Chapel members, and radical extremists, such as Frank Rodriguez of Gays Against Groomers, and Adam Kiefer, a violent Proud Boys member. Rodriguez was actually invited to lead the pledge of allegiance by the conservative board, and posed for pictures with Sonja Shaw after the meeting.
Pastor Jack Hibbs’s history of destructive unrelenting power grabs on the Chino Valley have been exhausting for the community, and now he has vowed to launch a nationwide campaign to encourage all people to petition their school boards to adopt the language of failed California bill AB-1314. This move is to “push back against the ‘demonic and dark satanic powers’ that are supposedly ‘sexualizing’ and ‘mentally abusing’ public school students”. Not only is it in direct conflict with current California law, the language of AB-1314 could have dangerous consequences for transgender youth. This move by Hibbs mirrors similar actions of neighboring Calvary Chapel Pastors. For instance, Rob McCoy from Godspeak Calvary church and Tim Thompson of 412 Church have both encouraged opposition towards transgender rights. It’s obvious that there is an outright coordinated attack on LGBTQ+ youth nationwide.