GALT, CA (MPG) - Galt Joint Union High School Board of Trustees got their first peek at the newly designed ethnic studies course that district high school students will be required to take come Fall 2026. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 101 in 2021, which required state school districts to create an ethnic studies graduation requirement by 2025, beginning with the class of 2030. 

The district had the opportunity to use a predeveloped curriculum but opted to compile a team of local teachers to design the coursework over a two-year period. The high school district approved the coursework in December. 

The new semester-long course will be taught in ninth grade and broken into three units. The first, “Who Am I? What Is Ethnic Studies?” will explore personal and social identity and provides students a opportunity to explore their own identities. 

The second, “Who are We? Social identities and Local Histories,” examines the community and local history, with a potential focus on Asian, Native, Latino and African Americans and the history of California, Los Angeles and the Sacramento Valley. 

The third unit, “Where Am I? Community Connections and Activism,” gives students learning about activism, solidarity and social change.  

According to the team that designed the coursework, the course will “promote unity, not division,” is “age-appropriate and fact-based,” “encourages critical thinking, not indoctrination” and “supplements” the already existing history curriculum. 

Board member Dennis Richardson, who said he comes from a multicultural family, said he was encouraged by the course subject and the discussion.  

“I hope that students really take it seriously and make great efforts to find out who they are and how they can become an active participant in our community and our world,” Richardson said. “It’s not just our community.” 

Board President Terry Parker said she was also pleased with the curriculum and requested the staff return to provide an update on the implementation. 

“I think it’s very cool that our talented staff was able to put together this curriculum,” Parker said. “It’s from the ground up, which is very exciting. It reflects our community and I’m sure it is evolving and will be changing.” 

Board member Mark Beck said he acknowledged the complexity and the work that went into the curriculum, but hopes that the coursework reflects the Galt community, as opposed to the four demographics that were highlighted during the presentation. 

 “When we say ‘we’, and we put certain ethnic groups as a reflection of we, I think as this evolves, this curriculum will be developed and evolve to reflect who we really are,” Beck said. “We were given by the state kind of a blank slate.” 

“I think you guys are great teachers and I think this will become something that is community first and it will be driven by really who we are as we are driven down the line,” he added.

Galt Joint Union High School Board of Trustees Approves Purchase of New Bus  

The Galt Joint Union High School Board of Trustees on Jan. 16 approved a resolution to purchase a new school bus to replace one that was put out of commission in a crash last year.

In November, one of the district’s buses was involved in an accident, which led to the district’s insurance company deeming it a total loss and the agreement to purchase a new permanent bus. 

The trustees voted unanimously to authorize the superintendent’s office to make the $228,190 purchase from the district’s general fund. The district will later receive $37,863 back from the Schools Insurance Authority. 

The bus purchase was not put out to bid due to a California code that allows public agencies to purchase equipment that was already competitively put out to bid by another agency, otherwise known as a “piggyback contract.” 

In this case, South County Support Services Agency purchased the same bus from Model 1 Commercial Vehicles, Inc.