Sage Creek High School to offer ethnic studies elective this fall

CARLSBAD — Sage Creek High School will offer a new ethnic studies elective course starting this fall, with approximately three dozen students already enrolled in the year-long class.

The Carlsbad Unified School District board approved the course in a narrow 3-2 vote on June 18, following months of development that were shaped by district staff with input from students, teachers, and parents.

While the course for students in grades 9-12 is not mandatory, a 2021 state law requires all California high schools to offer ethnic studies by the 2025-26 academic year. Students in the class of 2030 will be the first required to complete the course to graduate.

The curriculum, modeled on the California Department of Education’s Ethnic Studies framework, focuses on identity, underrepresented histories, civil discourse, and media representation. It includes four core disciplines: Black/African studies, Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x studies, Native American studies and Asian American/Pacific Islander studies.

“The course focuses heavily on developing civil discourse in progressively more complex ways throughout the course in order to help students develop empathy and understanding of those around them,” said Bryan Brockett, the district’s director of secondary education.

According to the course description, students will explore how race, ethnicity, identity and culture shape the U.S. by examining history and personal experiences across ethnic and racial groups. The goal is to foster a deeper understanding of the human experience.

District staff capped enrollment at 36 students, though approximately 45 expressed interest in the elective. The course is set to debut at Sage Creek High School, with possible future expansion.

School board members said they received significant community feedback — both in support of and in opposition to the course — including numerous emails and public comments at board meetings.

Supporters of the class said it would give students critical thinking skills, encourage empathy and provide a more honest look at U.S. history. Opponents raised concerns that the curriculum would divide students by framing history through a lens of oppression.

“It is not about fear, teaching ethnic studies is about teaching U.S. history,” said Leah Tsao, a parent in the neighboring San Dieguito Union High School District. “Our stories are part of U.S. history. It’s not something meant to be divisive, it’s simply our stories – we’re part of the fabric of this nation’s history.”

Brenda Harai, a Carlsbad resident and former district parent, said the course would help highlight the contributions of various ethnic groups that are often overlooked in the traditional curriculum.

“I worry that gains in civil rights are eroding, and hope that by teaching the past, this course will help our future citizens create a better community,” said Harai, a fourth-generation Japanese American whose uncle served in World War II while Japanese Americans were interned in camps on the West Coast.

Critics of the course included Cynthia Michael, who said the current curriculum is “deeply flawed” and “rooted in liberated ethnic studies movement,” arguing it categorizes people as oppressors or oppressed and narrows students’ understanding of history.

“By framing history with a single perspective of oppressor and oppressed, it risks a narrow student understanding versus expanding it,” Michael said.

Trustee Gretchen Vurbeff, who voted against the course along with Trustee Laura Siaosi, questioned the claim that the class excludes critical race theory or liberated ethnic studies, citing the lack of definitions for those terms in course materials. Vurbeff also noted the state has yet to fund ethnic studies classes and said there was “very little interest” from incoming ninth graders.

Carlsbad Unified officials have maintained that critical race theory is not included in the district’s instruction. The Association of California School Administrators defines CRT as a graduate-level legal theory that examines how racism can impact sectors such as housing and education.

District staff reported securing about $100,000 in grants to help implement the course.

“No one is saying we don’t want to have multicultural historical discussions,” Vurbeff said. “Teachers are to teach how to think, not what to think.”

Siaosi said she did not believe the course or instructors were prepared and described feeling “attacked” by teachers after previously raising concerns on behalf of constituents.

“Me pointing that out is not White fragility,” Siaosi said. “I’m just saying that’s the hate we say we have no place for.”

Board Vice President Michele Tsutagawa Ward, who voted in favor of the course along with President Kathy Rallings and Trustee Alison Emery, said the board had received “lots of emails” from current and former students urging them to approve the class.

“Our students deserve an education that equips them with tools to think critically, engage empathetically, and understand the diverse history that shapes our society,” Ward said. “Ethnic studies is not about blame, it’s about historical literacy. It is about showing how systems, even without malicious intent, have failed to adequately support all people. Acknowledging that certain groups have historically held disproportionate power is not an accusation but a recognition of context.”