In an email sent on March 9 from Kinasha Brown, Deputy Superintendent of TUSD, Equity, Diversity and Inclusionparents were told that the formation of a faith-based advisory committee would help work with the district to achieve a list of results.

Have a say in any TUSD initiative, program, policy, or project.

Coordinate activities focused on literacy in grades K-2.

Synchronize and support registration and registration drives for TUSD.

Develop service-based learning opportunities for students.

Develop and coordinate an annual faith-based partnership symposium.

But on Tuesday, March 28, superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said the district has postponed that plan.

“This commission could give the impression that TUSD has strayed from its secular and religiously neutral stance. The school district wrote in a note emailed to parents Tuesday night after the committee meeting.

In the first email, 10 faith-based organizations, 3 members of the Interfaith Ministerial Alliance, 1 local school superintendent, 1 elementary school teacher, high school principal, 2 support staff, 2 It sought applicants for a 22-member committee consisting of two members, a parent representative.Equity and diversity teams

The committee will meet five times between April and August, but may add more dates as needed. The school district included a link for interested parties to apply to join the committee and an email for further questions.

“Our community strives to ensure that all students become responsible, ethical and active global citizens by creating relevant, dynamic and enjoyable educational experiences that embrace cultural diversity. We will be ready,” the email said.

According to information provided by email, the religious-based advisory board will be aligned with the goals of “Culture of Inclusion” and “Power of Community” in TUSD’s strategic plan.

However, the idea of ​​a faith-based advisory board did not sit well with some parents, including Kate Goldman and Ernie Bermudez, whose sons are at Davis Bilingual Elementary School, and was removed from the board at its March 28 meeting. I expressed my concern to the council.

“My son, we intentionally set up a public school where I felt there was a safe difference and distinction between church and state,” Goldman said in addressing the conference audience. . “And when I, of Jewish background, saw this email, so many things came to mind as to where this leads, where it comes from, and who is really benefitting.”

Speaking to the Arizona Daily Star on Thursday, Bermudez, who identifies as an atheist, said his main concern about the commission’s establishment was that it would discourage certain groups and people from practicing Christianity. He said it was a way to bring conservatism into public schools.

He notes that religiously-based groups have recently sought to influence school curricula on issues such as sex education and LGBTQ+ issues, and that the formation of this new commission will help ensure that these beliefs are on the road to public education. I’m afraid it will be another way to find the . system.

Bermudez also expressed concern about the lack of equal representation reflected in the kind of membership the district sought for this committee.

“TUSD is the largest school district in Pima County, allowing 10 (faith-based) organizations…but only 2 parents in the whole district? It’s not an expression,” he said.

Goldman and Bermudez said they had tried to apply to become members of the committee when they first received the email, but the link shared in the email did not work. An email address included for further questions also did not work, Goldman said.

Bermudez said the fact that the application link and email address provided did not work gave the impression that the members of the committee had already been selected before the public announcement.

“If they’re going to do this, I want to be in. I want to make sure things are on track and fair,” Bermudez said.

The district said it would postpone the formation of the committee, but the link to apply for membership was still active and working properly as of Thursday, and Goldman submitted the application.

Board members Sadie Shaw and Natalie Luna Rose said they had heard similar concerns from members of the community regarding the faith-based advisory board.

Luna Rose said, “As a worldly person for the most part, if I were on the other side of the pedestal, frankly, I’d be here as a parent.”

The two also said they, like other TUSD parents, only learned about the commission through a flood of emails sent by the school district.

“The TUSD Board would like to clarify that it has not been notified or consulted about the establishment of a faith-based committee,” Shaw said in an email Thursday, adding that he was pleased the plans were postponed. .

“It was also unclear to me as a member of the steering committee what role this committee would play given the need for public schools to remain secular,” she said. Told.

At a steering committee meeting, Superintendent Trujillo addressed Goldman and Bermudez’s concerns, saying the wording of the email may have led to misunderstandings about the committee’s purpose.

“While this advisory board has no decision-making powers in any area of ​​school curriculum, instruction, programming, or policy-making, at least it reaches out to faith-based communities where they are. I want to be able to contribute to the overall needs of TUSD children,” said Trujillo.

Some of these needs, he said, could include childcare, pantry assistance and donations.

Still, Trujillo declined to answer Starr’s questions about how the district came up with the idea for the committee or to provide details about what this committee would do. It refused to comply with public records requests for a list of religiously based organizations that had submitted applications to the Commission.

“Since the establishment of this commission is not underway at this time, I will refrain from further comment,” Trujillo wrote in an email. “Any further comment is pure speculation at this point that the Commission may never form.”

Shaw said he had asked for information on who proposed the creation of a faith-based commission on March 23, but had not yet received a response as of Thursday.

She said district officials said involvement with religiously based organizations would not be illegal or unconstitutional for TUSD.

Shaw, however, argued that “if the composition of the committee is not inclusive of all religious groups, or if the function of the committee actually violates the secular nature of public schools, the establishment of this I am interested in discontinuing the