Chino Valley Unified: A Christian Nationalist Puppet Board

The movement to weaken California schools has reached a crescendo in Chino Valley Unified School District these last few months, and Chino Valley Board President Sonja Shaw is spearheading this action with resolutions and policy adoptions that challenge California law, with help from Chino Valley MAGA Pastor Jack Hibbs , and large conservative Christian nationalist think tanks with deep pockets.

When you are hell bent on creating culture war controversy, chaos, and litigation in the district you are supposed to serve, it’s a hard sell to appear as an advocate for the families of that district, but this is exactly what Shaw has done. Under the guise of fighting for parent rights, Shaw and her board are gearing up to challenge California law, and push for a SCOTUS case. This is not the first time CVUSD has battled in court: With the help of Pastor Hibbs the district was left with over $300,000 in legal fees. Now the far-right Christian nationalist board majority is looking to sacrifice the education and safety of students in CVUSD to grandstand extremist views and potentially cost the district thousands in legal fees. The consequences of Shaw’s media tour are already negatively affecting the district, as they are facing the largest staffing shortage in 20 years. For more information on the history of CVUSD, please visit our Chino Valley USD page.

Harnessing the irrational fear conservative Americans have towards the LGBTQAI+ community, the CVUSD has weaponized the current anti-transgender culture war to whip up controversy around student rights in California schools, more specifically, a student’s right to the privacy and protection of their individuality while on campus. Failed California bill AB-1314 was written to end the confidentiality of California students’ chosen gender expression at school, which would have eliminated a child’s chance of having a supportive environment if they are not supported at home. Hibbs has a history of demonizing the LGBTQAI+ community, and declared he would ensure the language of this bill would be adopted by school boards across the state, starting with his local district, and his success has been made possible by his most ardent supporter, CVUSD board president, Sonja Shaw.

CVUSD School Board meetings that took place on June 15th and July 20th addressed this topic, and an AB-1314 copycat resolution was adopted by the board. These meetings were also in attendance by the same traveling circus of extremists that attend school board meetings across Southern California, parading as concerned parents, although a majority of them do not have children in the school district. For a comprehensive list of these extremists, visit SoCal Far-Right School Board Agitators.

Shaw’s ties to far-right, conservative Christian nationalist organizations are overwhelming. The situation in CVUSD has been advertised and aided by the California Policy Center (CPC), which advertised the new CVUSD resolution on their website, sent two representatives to attend the June/July CVUSD meetings, and even featured a support letter from their Vice President , Lance Christensen, to the CVUSD board. The CPC is a right-wing pressure group based in California, and an arm of the far-right think tank the State Policy Network. These organizations work to drive right-wing agenda in statehouses nationwide, and now it’s apparent that they are working to do so in local politics as well through people like Shaw. Shaw is also being boosted by the Family Research council (FRC), which is a conservative Christian organization that has a long history of dehumanizing LGBTQAI+ while working to suppress their progress towards a more accepting society.

Shaw appeared twice on Washington Watch With Tony Perkins, the head of the FRC who has falsely claimed that pedophilia is “a homosexual problem,” said that gay people “recruit” children. Gina Gleason, the executive director of Jack Hibbs ministry outreach program ‘Real Impact’ also appeared on Washington Watch along with Shaw. Real Impact is a program specifically designed to engage Christians in their local school boards and teach pastors to “contend for the public square” which has become a dogwhistle term for Christian nationalist action.

Shaw is also (suspiciously) close, to Greg Abdouch. Abdouch is an avid TPUSA advocate, and has started many TPUSA chapters in local schools with his children while also stating he can neither confirm or deny that he is being paid by TPUSA. He also organizes revival events with NAR pastors (New Apostolic Reformation, a Christian movement that seeks conquer the world for God by takimg hold of 7 societal mountains including Politics, government and education), and does press with the California Family Council (CFC), a copycat clone of the FRC that promotes biblical values and anti-LGBTQAI+ policy in California law and creates “watchlists” of bills in the California state legislature. The CFC deceptively claims it fights for religious freedom while promoting Christian nationalist policy and is also involved with CVUSD’s new parent notification resolution.

I know what you’re thinking… CPC, FRC, CFC, TPUSA, NAR… acronym exhaustion is real, but it’s important to define each group. These organizations are either directly or indirectly linked to the Council for National Policy (CNP), a highly secretive group of religious extremists and petro-chemical corporate barons that network to institute a Christian nationalist power structure that replaces democracy. 

All of these groups are trying to insert Christian nationalist ideology into law, a clear violation of what the constitution offers us all, freedom of religion by promising freedom FROM religion. These organizations are all working together and Chino Valley USD is the culmination of their ultra far-right conservative blood, sweat, and tears. The bills and resolutions that they support, craft, and financially sponsor have focused on dehumanizing the LGBTQ community and eroding their rights as Americans because it has proved to be a useful tactic. The end goal is to weaponize any movement that gains traction to take control of school boards, city councils, and local government positions and advance Christian dominionism over the nation. 

As of now, Sonja Shaw is still on her media tour garnering support for the parental notification resolution that passed in Chino. The resolution is also being flirted with for discussion in any school board meeting that will hear it, including 4 confirmed SoCal school districts, with the intention to gain publicity for future school board races where it is possible to pit conservatives against liberals. Currently, Murrieta Valley Unified School District has voted to adopt this policy, and it is has just been passed at Temecula Valley Unified as well, two school districts that are heavily influenced by local MAGA Pastor Tim Thompson of 412 Church. 

As the politics of Christian nationalism are at play, the mental health of real children are being sacrificed for conservative gratification. Teachers and staff in the districts that adopt this new policy will no longer be trusted adults to gender-queer students. Transgender youth face high levels of bullying, harassment, and yes, family rejection. Having at least one accepting adult results in a  40% reduced suicide attempt rate among transgender youth, and in California, this adult could be a school staff member without fear of being exposed in an unsafe environment.

The adoption of this policy does not present a balance of benefits and drawbacks to supporting transgender youth and affirming preferred pronouns, and it also has zero effect on students that do not fit the category of gender-queer. It is not far fetched to suggest that the elimination of LGBTQAI+ supportive environments will only have negative impacts, and so it can also be reasoned that the Chino Board Of Education has become a destructive force to children’s well being in California schools.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has officially announced a civil rights investigation into Chino Valley Unified School District’s Parental Notification policy.“Students should never fear going to school for simply being who they are,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Chino Valley Unified forced outing policy threatens the safety and well-being of LGBTQ+ students vulnerable to harassment and potential abuse from peers and family members unaccepting of their gender identity.” For now, one can only hope that Californians see this policy for what it really is, dangerous political theater with a fame hungry soccer mom in the middle of a larger Christian nationalist power grab at local politics.