Fall River Junior/Senior High School.
Welcome to the third installment of A News Café’s attempt to report on every school board race in Shasta County this election season. Previously we’ve covered the Shasta County Board of Education where four seats are up for grabs and the Gateway Unified School District Board of Trustees, where one seat is contested and voters must choose whether to pass a $65 million bond issue, Measure J.
As we move through the 25 districts, certain things are taking shape. In the Shasta County Board of Education story we felt comfortable making outright endorsements because four of the candidates for the open seats are well known MAGA conservatives closely affiliated with Moms for Liberty, including Anderson Union High School District board president Jackie LaBarbera, fascist provocateur Rich Gallardo, frequent BOS public speaker Teresa Roberts and Michele Tyson.
The end game of Moms for Liberty—funded by the Heritage Foundation, the same outfit that brought us Project 2025—is destruction of public schools via vouchers. A News Café advises voters who believe in the public school system to vote against anyone espousing the M4L agenda, which includes banning “woke” books, eliminating equality, inclusion and diversity programs and outing transgender students against their will. Under the false banner of “parental rights,” they use outrage to get their foot in the door. Calmly slam it shut instead.
While choosing endorsements for the Shasta County Board of Education was easy because the candidates are more familiar, that’s not necessarily so as we move into the individual districts. Rather than do out-and-out endorsements, we’ve designed a questionnaire to elicit answers that will hopefully provide voters with the information they need to make their own decisions.
Fall River Joint Unified School District (dotted red outline).
This time we take a look at the Fall River Joint Unified School District in far eastern Shasta County, where four candidates are vying for two 4-year seats on the board of trustees. In alphabetical order they are Megan Estes (incumbent), Jack Hathaway (incumbent), Debbie Mayer and Ignacio “Iggy” Venegas.The Fall River Joint Unified School District is comprised of 11 schools situated around Burney and Fall River, including Burney Elementary School, Burney Junior High School, Burney Junior/Senior High School, Fall River Elementary School, Fall River Junior/Senior High School and Alternative Education, which includes two continuation high schools and an adult day school.
According to US News & World Report, the district is home to 1,176 students, 50 percent of whom are minorities, including 27 percent Hispanic/Latino and 8 percent American Indian or Alaska Native. Nearly 56 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged.
As this series continues, more questions will be added, since many of the candidates haven’t filed statements or bios. Consider it a work in progress.
Megan Estes
Megan Estes
Incumbent Megan Estes was the only candidate to file a candidate statement:
“Having served a few years now, I have a better understanding of what is needed for this position,” Estes said. “I now feel more confident in my ability to help govern our school district. Above all else I strive for local control. The members elected from our community to our governing board know what is better for our district than politicians in Sacramento.”
That’s a fairly common sentiment in rural Shasta County, and Estes hints at our ongoing culture wars.
“There are difficult times ahead in public education,” she said. “These decisions are not going to be easy but with God’s wisdom and guidance and continuing to make the academic and personal success of students our goal we can excel despite the challenging cultural and academic landscape ahead of us.”
Estes provided long thoughtful answers to A News Café’s questionnaire.
A News Cafe: What do you believe Fall River is doing right? You can name more than one thing.
Megan Estes: I have been on the board for almost a full term and have had my kids in the district for 10 years—we are in our tenth year right now. In our district we have two elementary sites, two comprehensive high school sites, two alternative education sites, two community day school sites and a special day class site. There are basically two geographical ‘sides’ to our district—the Burney side and the Fall River side.
Speaking as a parent I can confidently say that, as a majority, our teachers and many staff and administrators are there for the right reasons at both ends of our district. They truly do want to make a positive impact in our student’s lives, and not only that but many of them are heavily involved in the community as well. Fall River High has a solid and incredible AG/FFA program and Burney high has worked very hard to build an AG program from the bottom and has been able to offer our students a more agricultural experience than we have had in the past.
I commend those who championed that effort, it has really grown into an awesome program. Both ends of our district are working hard to be relevant, looking at what the future will hold for the students we have now and preparing them for their future as best they can. In all honesty, it is the people who make our schools great. Kids have commented on their time in our schools once they graduated as being thankful for someone that took a little extra time for them to help them out or let them know they cared. To me, the relationship piece is key. If a student does not feel a sense of belonging in the school culture, the academic piece is a lot harder to accomplish for that student.
ANC: Where could Fall River use improvement?
Megan Estes: This question is just as important. A person or organization can’t grow without honest reflection. Though our staff may be working tirelessly on the relationship-building part of education there are still students that may not feel that sense of belonging I described. We are well aware of it as a district and there are many factors that contribute to this.
Our alternative education and how we are meeting the needs of the kids who struggle socially at the comprehensive sites is a focus for us this year. The people there now are incredible people, but the design of the program is going to get some updating. One of the challenges we have is the two different geographical locations for our district schools are very different culturally, with socioeconomic factors playing a big role.
There have been recent changes to address these issues, but public education everywhere is struggling with the socioeconomic and cultural differences of the communities we serve and making sure that there are adequate and effective programs in place. We are working hard to both reward and provide challenging learning experiences for those students that are advanced in their academic work but also provide support or alternative avenues for those who struggle more in a traditional classroom setting. Cohesiveness between both ends of the district is also something we are continually working on.
ANC: Do you support “parental rights” groups such as Moms for Liberty, that call for the outing of transgender students against their will and banning books with any sexual content?
Megan Estes: I absolutely support efforts that help maintain and foster a strong family unit at home. I am a big proponent of the fact that a child is more successful if the school and parents/guardians work closely together. And I can assure you our administrators feel the same way. The recent efforts by some CA politicians to elevate the importance of the school’s care of a child over the parents/guardians is outrageous.
We need to always be aware of those situations where children are attending our schools who do not have people in their lives taking care of them or even a home to go to after school. It is incredibly sad, but a problem that I think has grown over the years as a direct result of the attack on our culture, on the traditional nuclear family for decades now. We actually have some pretty good support systems in place for those students. Always looking at how we can help them. If a child is under 18 they are a minor and in my view the schools need to be transparent and to always communicate with the parents/guardians.
There is absolutely no place for sexual content in the literature of schools. That is something to be dealt with outside of the walls of academic education. The curriculum of the short health classes California requires for 7th and 11th graders is very transparent and accessible to any who wish to view it in our district, and there are opt-out forms for anyone who wishes to have their children sit out of that. Outside of that there is absolutely no need for any sexual content to be presented to our students. The community that I serve feels the same way.
ANC: Do you support diversity, equity and inclusion for staff and students in the Fall River District?
Megan Estes: The DEI agenda desires equal outcomes. This is the complete opposite of the founding philosophy of our form of government. So, no, I do not support any philosophy that eliminates merit as a factor. It erodes the individual liberty and pride of work and personal motivation which is detrimental to our society. I support equal opportunity. Give each person the same tools and give them multiple different avenues to use those tools. That is how we unleash American ingenuity.
As soon as we make equal outcomes the goal and sacrifice equal opportunity to meet that goal all decisions to that end are inherently biased! I have a passion for providing the best quality of education for every child, and public education is tasked with just that. I need to be cognizant of the differing world views of the students and parents/guardians and also our staff within our community. It can be a difficult balance.
I am proud that our district operates on the idea that it is our job to present many different avenues for a student to explore their academic and/or creative passions and what motivates them in life. That is what lays the foundation for them becoming a mature productive citizen in whichever community they live in once graduated. That should be the focus of every school. The moment we step outside of that and force certain world views on them instead of giving them the opportunity to be academically challenged, think critically and reach a conclusion on their own, there’s a problem.
Our societies flourish when our students graduate self-motivated with a goal to work hard to impact the community they live in whatever facet they have a passion for. Which is fundamentally a traditional American view of individualism and success. To circle back, DEI only creates a victim mentality and teaches our kids to categorize other people into boxes that they believe they should be in, which is the opposite of inclusion, and results in a citizen dependent on the government and the perceptions of those around them instead of fostering their own self-confidence.
ANC: What’s your strategy for balancing local control with state education mandates?
Megan Estes: This one is tough. The state wields legal action over our school districts like a wrecking ball. If we lose all of our funding to legal battles, our student’s experience and our ability to provide the best education we can for them with our resources is even more impacted.
However, there are many groups that provide support for this to help remind California politicians that each governing district’s community has different views and priorities. Their only job in the Legislature should be to set parameters to keep kids safe and lay an outline of academic standards to provide a cohesive guideline of what is required to graduate and be a productive citizen within our state.
I even have a hard enough time with some of the standards—but that is a whole other conversation and is a little more on the personal philosophy of education. Regardless, public education needs standards for the kids to meet to get their diploma. There is way too much overreach and bureaucracy in our state. To answer your question: staying as politically active as possible and joining other like-minded districts will give us more impact in Sacramento.
There is also the ability to make policies within our district about how to navigate the difficult situations the state puts us in when there is no clear answer because what the state is asking of us is contradictory. It is our critical duty as board members to keep the district fiscally solvent because that is the only way we can even provide an education. We are always searching for creative ways that allow us to maintain our local control while staying within our legal parameters and protecting the solvency of our district.
That is honestly what I spend a lot of my time thinking about. What do we do when a law is dangerous and unsafe for our students and in some cases opens us up to further liability by following said law? These are the consequences that California politicians don’t think about. It’s the most frustrating thing about being in this position.
To wrap up, I still have hope. I believe in the incredible work our people in the classrooms and on our campus are doing. They work tirelessly to build up the next generation. It is their efforts that encourage me and remind me that we cannot walk away from the difficulties our public education system faces right now. If good minded, common sense people don’t fill these positions, someone else with more radical ideas will take their place.
I’m not a bull in a China shop type of personality. I believe people like that certainly have their place to bring about change. I am methodical, steadfast, and grounded in my ideals. Christian ideals that I don’t force on anybody, but that I truly believe have the greatest benefit for the widest variety of people and allow me to appreciate what each individual has to offer to have a positive impact on those around them.
Jack Hathaway
Jack Hathaway
Incumbent Jack Hathaway didn’t provide a candidate statement, but as he explained in his answers to the questionnaire, he prefers to reply “raw and off the top,” one part Beat poet Allen Ginsburg, one part gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
“I self-identify as a political agnostic—as of right now,” Hathaway said. “I will vote for Kamala in this election—because I would like the opportunity to vote again after this election and I really do believe that having her in office is the only way that’s going to happen.”
A News Café: What do you believe Fall River is doing right? You can name more than one thing.
Jack Hathaway: I believe that Fall River Joint Unified School district is full of people who are invested in giving our students the best education possible. This is the biggest success we should celebrate.
We have a fantastic Chief Business Official who has guided us well through the always transitioning State Ed funding. For the years I have spent on the board, I have always known that the information she shares with us is directly related to best outcomes for students. So, I would love to highlight Teresea Spooner, our CBO, she is the best.
We also have a continuously working maintenance staff and IT department, we have dedicated teachers and paraprofessionals.
All of the individuals who make FRJUSD work—that is the biggest thing we are doing right. I am excited about our new Superintendent, Morgan Nugent, too. There is a lot to look forward to at FRJUSD.
ANC: Where could Fall River use improvement?
Jack Hathaway: Our people are the best of what we have. The biggest improvement we could make is to find additional ways to attract more fantastic people.
Living in Eastern Shasta County is a beautiful thing—I wish this was an easier thing to share around the state and country. Our beautiful area has so much to offer and so much space to share—I wish our district could find a way to showcase the amazing area we live in and find more people who want to bring their families here and share in what we get to call life.
ANC: Do you support “parental rights” groups such as Moms for Liberty, that call for the outing of transgender students against their will and banning books with any sexual content?
Jack Hathaway: This is a fun question! I support all rights that have been laid out in the Constitution (US and CA) and promulgated in legal decisions since then.
Folks have a right to speak their mind (keeping in mind the time, place, and manner of speech). As much as we may disagree with each other or see things differently as long as we can have real conversations with each other—and not be hateful—we should be ok.
I don’t know if all the “rights” people identify as things to build groups on, are found in the constitutions we live under but, whatever, Nazis can march, LBGTQ communities can march, BLM can march, pro-life and pro-choice can march, and on and on. As long as we can maintain our freedom to speak and advocate and support the ideas we love—and we can do that without trying to deny or harm other people or their rights—we will be ok.
Personally, I would rather focus on the things we all share in common and the things that make us all Americans than the things that we are conditioned to think make us different and incompatible. That’s really one of the biggest things I have noticed being lost in our current culture—the understanding that love and respect and tolerance for one another is required for our government to work. All the hate has to stop. (This is an “ought to be” kind of idea, utopian almost, but we can’t lose it).
One of the rights we have been blurring a lot lately is privacy. We need to leave people the hell alone—let them be who they want to be and love them for it. The penumbras and emanations of privacy rights have been infringed upon in ways I fear we won’t really understand until it’s too late, but as a people we should really just reject all of that noise.
ANC: Do you support diversity, equity and inclusion for staff and students in the Fall River District?
Jack Hathaway: I hate that the idea of DEI is a tension point—it has been since the beginning of time—we should love everyone as equal and respect them enough to let them be who they are, and not try to define them or deny them.
It’s not a thing to solve. People are all in a different place dealing with their individual lives. We all have been conditioned to think differences should be focused on—we should reject that. DEI is a hot topic and a complex issue but it’s an issue we created and made complex. We could forget it all and just love each other as equal and leave each other alone and we would be ok.
ANC: What’s your strategy for balancing local control with state education mandates?
Jack Hathaway: No need for strategy. Our system is based on the concept of supremacy of laws, federal, then state, then local. If only it was that easy, hahahaha!
We live in the best state in the union—I know most of our county is on the opposite side of that idea—I guess my only question for them is, if you hate Cali that much baby, why are you still here? It’s not like there aren’t 49 other fantastic states in this union.
The other option would be to have another 500,000 people move up here and we could get another congressional district …
Local control is good on some issues, state control is good on some issues, fed control is good on some issues. But none of those systems of control are good all the time. We all have to figure that out together—that’s all I can say about that.
Burney Mountain
Debbie Mayer
Candidate Debbie Mayer did not submit a candidate statement.
Debbie Mayer
A News Café: What do you believe Fall River is doing right? You can name more than one thing.
Debbie Mayer: Teachers. It is managing to fill teaching positions in a very challenging hiring environment. Engagement of the students in all kinds of activities. The students have the ability because of the small school to play on multiple sports teams and engage in a variety of other activities outside of sports.
ANC: Where could Fall River use improvement?
Debbie Mayer: The district needs more than a district nurse and we need to up the counseling for the students. Unfortunately, school districts across the state are seeing an increase in children with special needs from being exposed to drugs and alcohol in the womb. Fall River needs more support to deal with the issues that come with these children. We need a long term strategy to retain teachers.
ANC: Do you support “parental rights” groups such as Moms for Liberty, that call for the outing of transgender students against their will and banning books with any sexual content?
Debbie Mayer: Yes I support the rights of parents. I don’t support transgender students being removed from schools. I also support age appropriate books for our students.
ANC: Do you support diversity, equity and inclusion for staff and students in the Fall River District?
Debbie Mayer: The district does a good job supporting diversity, equity and inclusion. What I do not support is spending limited budget dollars on these programs. There are bigger issues to deal with, such as finding and retaining teachers. I think a lack of teachers is a state- and nation-wide problem but the rural areas have a harder time getting teachers.
The bigger issue for the district is hiring and retaining qualified teachers. We are in a rural area that is over an hour and a half from Redding. Teachers from outside the area that do not come with partners/spouses tend to leave after several years wanting a social life. I can’t blame them. The ones that stay bring a significant other with them. We lost an excellent Spanish teacher because his girlfriend lived in Sacramento. The other issue is a lack of jobs for teachers’ partners. There are only a couple of major employers in the Fall River School District and one of the big employers is the school district.
ANC: What’s your strategy for balancing local control with state education mandates?
Debbie Mayer: At this time I really don’t have a strategy. I know from being on site council that there are issues with some of the mandates. Some of the mandates cost money and there is no extra money for the mandates. Some of the mandates should not apply to small schools or rural schools but unfortunately our state uses the one size fits all approach. You have to work through the balancing act for each issue with local control versus state mandates because each issue is not created equally.
Ignacio “Iggy” Venegas
Ignacio “Iggy” Venegas
Candidate Ignacio “Iggy” Venegas is the former Ajumawi main council representative for the Pit River Tribe and former president of the Pit River Health Service. He’s also a former trustee of the Fall River Joint Unified School District.
A News Café: What do you believe Fall River is doing right? You can name more than one thing.
Iggy Venegas: I believe that Fall River School District is doing their best to hire qualified personnel from the yard duty people to the superintendent. The district also does its best to have A.P. courses available for college readiness. The district also works hard to keep after school programs running and inclusive for all kids.
ANC: Where could Fall River use improvement?
Iggy Venegas: I believe the district could use improvement searching out more grant opportunities to help with the budget. I would also like to see improvements in the Native Education department. I believe the district can improve on hiring qualified personnel for the benefits of our rural area students. The district also needs to improve their efforts following the “no child left behind act” and be more involved in the students’ academic careers, leading into their after high school futures. I believe the district can improve on holding both students and parents accountable for their actions.
ANC: Do you support “parental rights” groups such as Moms for Liberty, that call for the outing of transgender students against their will and banning books with any sexual content?
Iggy Venegas: I am a big supporter of “parental rights” and that group consists of my wife and I. I have never heard of Moms for Liberty before today. I do not believe the school system should be teaching our kids about these sorts of [sexual] topics. These sort of issues should be addressed at home in a safe environment for the child. I do not believe that any child should be outed as I see it as a form of shaming and discrimination
ANC: Do you support diversity, equity and inclusion for staff and students in the Fall River District?
Iggy Venegas: Yes I absolutely support diversity, equity and inclusion. I believe it is our responsibility to make sure everyone is included in all that FRJUSD has to offer.
ANC: What’s your strategy for balancing local control with state education mandates?
Iggy Venegas: When state education mandates come down I would take one mandate at a time and adjust them accordingly to meet the needs of our rural school district.
Conclusion
There you have it, your four candidates for the Fall River Joint Unified School District, Megan Estes, Jack Hathaway, Debbie Mayer and Ignacio “Iggy” Venegas. Remember if you live in the district, you can only vote for two.
Up next: Cottonwood Unified School District.
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