Dear CalMatters reader,

The Redland Unified School District Board approved a resolution to enforce “fairness in girls’ interscholastic sports,” placing the Inland Empire district in the middle of escalating conflicts over transgender students’ rights.

In a 3-2 split vote last week, the board approved a statement  “ensuring fairness, safety and equal opportunities for all student-athletes.”

While the resolution doesn’t specifically mention transgender students, it states that “biological differences between male and female athletes can create inherent advantages in sports, particularly in categories designated specifically for girls.”

That language appears to slip through the cracks between California law — which protects the rights of transgender student athletes — and federal policy under President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order in February banning transgender women and girls from women’s sports.

Redlands School Board Member Candy Olson voted for the resolution, saying that as a student athlete, she was “far behind the boys” while training for a triathlon.

“You would have to be an absolute science denier to say that the boys and the girls are of equal strength and of equal speed,” she said.

Christine Stephens, a spokesperson for the school district, said the resolution was a statement of opinion and wouldn’t affect how the district’s athletic programs operate. 

“A board resolution expresses a viewpoint or intent through a formal statement,” Stephens said. “They do not change how the district operates or impose enforceable rules. Regardless of the action taken by the board … the district’s legal responsibility to follow all applicable state and federal laws remain unchanged.”

A 2013 California law requires public schools to ensure that students can participate in all school activities and sports teams that match their gender identity.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a statement to CalMatters that it will monitor the situation and noted that Redlands Unified already has a track record of civil rights complaints.

Last May, Bonta obtained a court order directing the district to address “allegations and complaints of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse of students.” A month earlier, the district reached a $45.5 million settlement of 16 sexual abuse lawsuits from former students.

Kel O’Hara, a senior attorney for Equal Rights Advocates, a San Francisco-based gender justice organization, said that even if the resolution is never enforced, the intention to exclude trans students will be harmful. 

“Discriminating against trans students has really negative implications for their mental health and academic outcomes,” they said.

By framing the resolution as an injunction against boys in girls’ sports, O’Hara said, the board quietly invalidated transgender girls’ identity: “That rhetoric that these are just boys and men trying to get into women’s spaces is not accurate and is so harmful.”

About 3.3% of high school students identified as transgender in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only a small number of students of any gender are elite athletes.

O’Hara said the few transgender students who play school sports are usually looking for teamwork and social connections, rather than seeking competitive advantage. Moreover, the focus on trans girls in women’s sports obscures more prevalent issues, such as unequal funding and resources for girls’ teams, they said.

But transgender athletes have become a political lightning rod. A week earlier Chino Valley Unified School District in Ramona unanimously agreed to ask the Trump administration to intervene against California’s protections for trans students.

And in January Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, a Rancho Santa Margarita Republican who represents Temecula and Murrieta, introduced a bill that aimed to “prohibit a pupil whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls interscholastic sports team.” That bill was killed in committee earlier this month.

Even Gov. Gavin Newsom, who gained support among LGBTQ voters when he issued marriage licenses to same sex couples as San Francisco Mayor 20 years ago,  recently stirred up controversy when he said during a podcast that it’s “deeply unfair” for transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports.

Assemblymember Corey Jackson, a member of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, denounced the Redlands decision, saying it goes against California law and longstanding policies of the California Interscholastic Federation, which regulates school sports.

“The CIF has long held inclusive policies that align with California’s values and legal standards,” said Jackson, a Moreno Valley Democrat, in a statement to CalMatters. “These recent local decisions, including the one made by Redlands Unified, are not grounded in good faith or meaningful community dialogue. Instead, they are political in nature and designed to sow division and fear in our communities.”

At the Redlands board meeting, Olson addressed audience members who protested the resolution, denying that it expressed prejudice against trans students. 

“I see all of your signs,” she said. “It’s not discrimination whatsoever. It’s about common sense, it’s about safety and it’s about fairness.”

The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office has charged four people, including three from the Inland Empire, alleging they targeted Spanish-speaking workers in a $14.5 million worker’s compensation fraud scheme.

The defendants include Antony Gluck, 55, of San Bernardino; Michael De La Garza, 41, of Fontana; Juan Leal, 57, of Riverside and Arely Franco, 42, of San Diego, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara stated in a press release.

The charges allege a call center operating in Mexico contacted Spanish-speaking workers and persuaded them to complete workers comp claims paperwork, which was illegally sold to Southern California attorneys.

“This is a disturbing case of alleged fraud that preyed on vulnerable, hard-working people,” Lara said.

Former Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet and real estate developer John Wessman are scheduled for trial on bribery charges Thursday, nearly a decade after the FBI and local authorities raided City Hall in 2015 to investigate allegations of corruption.

The two were first charged in 2017, and a grand jury later indicted them in 2019, the Desert Sun reported. Prosecutors alleged Pougnet received $375,000 to lend his support for Wessman's development projects.

Pougnet pleaded not guilty to 21 felony charges including bribery, conspiracy to commit a crime and perjury. Wessman also pleaded not guilty to nine felony bribery charges and one charge of conspiracy to commit a crime.

A special election for the 63rd Assembly District in Riverside County will take place Aug. 26, with the primary election for that seat scheduled for June 24. 

The seat, which represents parts of Riverside, Corona, Lake Elsinore and other Inland Empire communities, became vacant this month when former Assemblymember Bill Essayli stepped down to take an appointment as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.

Lake Elsinore City Councilwoman Natasha Johnson, a Republican, and Democrat Chris Shoults, a high school English teacher who challenged Essayli in November, have announced campaigns.

Thanks for reading. While you are here, please sign up for the Inland Empire newsletter and let me know what kinds of stories you’d love to read.

And please add my email to your contacts:  inlandempire@calmatters.org

Thanks for reading,