Religious Influence

We have two board members who openly force their faith into the policies of Rocklin USD:

Board President Tiffany Saathoff
Board Member Julie Hupp

Table of Contents

A Note About Religion

We want to be clear - we are not anti-religion or anti-Christian. If you review previous board meetings for some of these issues, you will hear from many Rocklin parents who are religious, many being Christians themselves. Regardless of your specific religious views, America is a country which does not elevate any religion above the other, rather it celebrates the strength our diversity brings us. This is a principle which is reflected in both our government and our schools, and holding to it helps strengthen our community.

Tiffany Saathoff and Destiny Church

Destiny Church is an anti-LGBTQ+, anti-democratic megachurch in Rocklin. Destiny has a history of preaching these un-American ideals during their sermons. Board President Tiffany Saathoff is former pastor and former employee of Destiny Church. Board President Saathoff has a clear history of forcing her faith into decisions for Rocklin USD.

Destiny’s Backers

Destiny has a long history of pushing an anti-gay, anti-trans, anti-equality agenda. Destiny is a large business in its own right with its gym, cafe, and private school. Even so, they are just a cog in a larger movement to enforce extreme religious ideals wherever they can. Their ultimate goal is distrust of public education leading to a school voucher system where taxpayer dollars will allow them to fund their religious schools without public oversight.

It might sound far-fetched, but this has been a long-time goal of CA Assemblyman Kevin Kiley. In unrelated news, Assemblyman Kiley was recently married to Chelsee Gardner, a former pastor and current employee of Destiny Church - and the sister of our own Board President Tiffany Saathoff!

Destiny’s culture war goals align closely with their political allies. They are not shy about their ambitions, or about using Rocklin taxpayer dollars to reach them.

The American Council for Evangelicals

The American Council for Evangelicals is a local Political Action Committee headed by Tanner DiBella, who is also member of the executive leadership team at Destiny.

During the 2022 school board election, three of the five of the current Rocklin school board members received campaign money and support from The American Council for Evangelicals, a local Political Action Committee (PAC) whose stated mission is “to strengthen the family, expand religious liberty, and better society.” That year, Rocklin school board candidates were the largest individual beneficiaries of the PAC, and the PAC made three-fourths of all its contributions towards boards of education in California.

More reporting from our own Rocklin High School Flash can be found here. They have donated to three out of four of our current Rocklin board majority.

They have attempted to rebrand to the more family-friendly The American Council. Some of us have our reservations about that; they sell e-courses on taking away the rights of Americans and $50 brunch tickets to hear speakers justify making life horrible for our LGBTQ youth.

As Tiffany Saathoff said:

The American Council gave significant financial resources, and in all honesty I don’t know I’d be where I am without the financial support they gave me.

Julie Hupp

Board Member Julie Hupp has been in the news several times in the last few years.

Calling Specifically for Christians

In August 2023 Board Member Hupp posted on Facebook asking specifically for Christian parents:

Now we need you. The advisory committee sign ups went out today. We need as many Christ centered, family focused parents as we can get on those committees.

After being called out she quickly sent another post specifying people of all faiths are welcome. This non-apology rang hollow for many, and as you’ll read below there was good reason to be suspicious. The district received several letters from local religious and legal organizations asking the district and board to be more inclusive in the future.

Union President Doesn’t Protect Teachers

In September 2023 Board Member Hupp was recorded disparaging the California’s Teachers Association and pleading for faith-based as “this is a very influential layer that we can stack with people.” She states that she is a member of the CTA Republicans, which is a group “inside CTA” that works to “make changes within the organization.” She says when providing help to teachers as part of her union duties, she can’t officially change the rules, so she “unofficially” change them. I wonder how many rules she’s “unofficially” changing at the board of Rocklin USD?

In her own words:

We need more faith-based site reps. Listen, it’s coming. It’s been coming for a long time. If we don’t keep it out of our schools, it’s only getting worse.

What’s coming, Julie?

More reporting from our own Rocklin High School Flash can be found here.