Latest news with #ClovisUnifiedSchoolDistrict
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
California town rallies behind Trump as it hosts track and field championship amid trans athlete controversy
Clovis, California, will be the epicenter in the political battle over trans athletes in girls' sports this weekend. The town is set to host the state track and field championships, which has been thrust into the national spotlight amid a trans athlete competing in the girls' category after President Donald Trump called out the situation on Truth Social this week. Dianne Pearce, the town's mayor pro tem, told Fox News Digital she has been actively lobbying to make Trump aware of the situation for weeks and got her fellow local officials involved. "I've been in touch with the White House legislative affairs office to kind of see what would be needed from this community, from the Clovis area to show our support for the Trump administration's efforts to get California to comply with Title IX and his ["Keeping Men out of Women's Sports"] executive order," Pearce said. Pearce said her path to getting the White House involved was to "amplify the voices" of the town's residents, who only support female athletes competing in girls' sports. Pearce succeeded in that goal, which culminated in a press conference involving state and local leaders speaking out in support of Trump's executive order and against Democrats for enabling trans athletes to play in California girls' sports ahead of the championship meet. Pearce says Trump's post was a driving factor in driving enthusiasm for the cause. The press conference featured statements from Pearce, Clovis Unified School District board trustee Tiffany Stoker Madsen, state Assemblyman David Tangipa, who represents the district where Clovis is based, U.S. House Rep. Vince Fong, who also represents the district where Clovis is based, and Fresno County supervisors Gary Bredefeld and Nathan Maxson, all speaking in support of Trump's agenda on the issue. "We must stand for what is true and what is fair, especially in areas where biological differences make a difference," said Stoker Madsen. "What is happening in women's sports is wrong. These female athletes deserve a level playing field… I urge Governor Newsom and our California state legislatures to protect the women of California." Other residents and local officials, including Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua, stood behind the speakers in solidarity with the pro-Trump stance. While Mouanoutoua and Pearce are both Republicans, Clovis as a town has leaned left in recent years, albeit less left than other parts of the deep-blue state. The town's county of Fresno voted in favor of Trump in the 2024 election by a margin of 50.9% to 46.5%. However, the county voted Democrat in every prior presidential election dating back to 2008. Now, the issue of trans athletes appears to be potentially pushing the town, or at least its leadership, even further into Trump's corner. And residents will get an up-close look at the impact of the issue at this weekend's title meet. The state title meet will take place at Buchanan High School's Veterans Memorial Stadium, with the preliminary round on Friday and the finals on Saturday. The event is expected to feature protesters and security. In Trump's Tuesday Truth Social post, he claimed he would be "ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State Finals." Pearce said she has no knowledge of this being communicated to the town's police force. "As far as I know that has not occurred," she said. A Clovis Unified Police Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that they are also unaware of any communication with Trump involving security procedures for the event. Still, Pearce is expecting a vigilante police presence at the event. "They are prepared to make sure that this weekend's state championships are a safe environment for our athletes and their families and those who choose to come out and support them this weekend," Pearce said. Once the competition begins, all eyes will be on the trans athlete, AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High School. Hernandez has dominated in girls' long jump and triple jump this postseason, taking first place in both events at the Southern Sectional finals on May 17 and the state qualifiers on May 24. Hernandez has garnered scrutiny during the athlete's dominant postseason run, often getting heckled by spectators at the meets. Pearce hopes that spectators treat Hernandez with respect during the events on Friday and Saturday. "I expect people to treat this athlete with compassion. I think, unfortunately, the failures of the adults who set this policy created this situation. They have allowed this particular athlete to be in a position where controversy surrounds him wherever he goes, and I think that's unfortunate," Pearce said. "I don't think anybody should do anything to make him unsafe while he's here in Clovis competing, but again, it's unfair for him to be in the girls' division." Pearce said her "worst-case scenario" for this weekend's meet would be a lack of respect and security for any of the competitors involved. "If there is anything that isn't respectful and challenges the safety and security of the environment and the atmosphere, that would be terrible," Pearce said. "These kids deserve better than that. They've been failed by the adults already at the legislative level and the policy level by the CIF, I hope those attendants don't fail them as well." What Pearce does hope to see is the female athletes emerge victorious in their respective events. However, she is also prepared for more potential fallout from the meet after helping to summon Trump's attention to the situation. Trump's insistence on enforcing his executive order has already resulted in a months-long feud between his administration and the Democrat-controlled state of Maine. The feud has resulted in multiple funding freezes, which have already been reversed, and a lawsuit against the state by the U.S. Department of Justice. With the Justice Department launching an investigation against California this week after Trump's post, Pearce knows that her state could very well be next in line for funding cuts on the issue. Additionally, as a public employee, she knows that it could affect her and her colleagues, but Pearce would fully support any funding cuts to her state over the issue anyway. To her, it is not a hard decision to support. "It's not a hard decision to come to, because more important to me is that our girls and that their spaces are respected and protected," Pearce said. "If they have to threaten that type action against CIF, Governor Newsom and state legislature that they would pull federal funding from the state, again, the decision rests with those leaders. They can do the right thing and we don't even have to talk about this." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Sorry, Clovis students. No graduation ceremony if you break the rules
Two of my close friends in high school got in big trouble the last week before our graduation. It was 1977 in Santa Barbara, and we seniors were attending class with as little effort as possible. We suffered from 'senioritis,' and were already done with San Marcos High School, even if the diplomas still had to be handed to us. In a moment of boredom one of those final school mornings, my friends decided to skip class and do something more fun. They hopped into one guy's dune buggy — a souped-up Volkswagen Bug — and drove the bright-yellow, loud vehicle up hallways on campus. They got caught. Their rule-breaking stunt disqualified them from many activities planned for seniors before graduation. The memory came back to me in light of some students at Clovis North and Buchanan high schools who got busted for having alcohol on a party bus headed to their May 3 prom. A Bee account by staff writer Nick Fenley said about 30 students were involved in the alcohol caper. Of those, about nine students took responsibility for their misdeeds after Clovis Unified School District officials encouraged the youths to admit to their involvement. An attorney representing the students told Fenley that the seniors who came clean won't be able to take part in their graduation ceremony. The other kids did not admit to any wrongdoing and don't face the same penalty, said lawyer Steve Smith. One of those who self-reported expressed remorse to the Clovis Unified school board. 'I made a huge mistake being on a limo bus that contained alcohol. I felt lost and pressured to do things that didn't align with what actually happened that night. But at the end of the day, I went and stood in the line that I understood was admitting to alcohol being on the bus,' one student said in a statement read by Smith. Some of the students pleaded with the school board to be allowed to take part in graduation by saying they had high grade-point averages, participated in extracurricular activities and boasted a history of attending Clovis Unified schools. But Kelly Avants, the chief communications officer for Clovis Unified, said Tuesday that the district would not relent on its stance. Students sign a 'Senior Expectations and Graduation Ceremony Contract,' which makes clear that violating its terms results in being denied the chance to take part in the graduation ceremony. Clovis North also has a dance contract that makes clear disciplinary action awaits any student who is found to have used drugs or alcohol before a school dance. High school seniors have been getting in trouble ever since graduation ceremonies began. That is why districts came up with specific rules governing acceptable behaviors. The Clovis Unified students who got disqualified from graduation are suffering right now — both Buchanan and Clovis North hold their ceremonies next week. But they are also learning a final high school lesson: Rules are not made to be broken, but followed. From a yellow VW bug to a limo bus, that instruction is always the same — and that's a good thing.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Major change coming to how Clovis residents decide City Council races. Here are the details
Starting in 2026, Clovis residents will vote for City Council members who live in their neighborhoods based on a map that divides the city into five districts bordered by major roads and riverways. The creation of new districts marks a major step in Clovis' reluctant shift from at-large to district-based elections. The five-person City Council selected the map at a public hearing Tuesday night out of more than dozen options. Map 502, as it's called, mostly keeps neighborhoods intact and resembles the Clovis Unified School District's trustee areas, said Jeff Tilton, senior consultant for National Demographics Corporation. Besides District 1 in southwest Clovis, which has the largest Latino population at 44%, the remaining four areas each comprise about 50% white residents. District 3, located in the southeast, has a larger proportion of the city's Asian-American population, at about 22%. Most council members favored options that had clear boundaries along main roads and did not separate neighborhoods. With strong support from Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua, the council chose Map 502 since Districts 1 and 2 are divided at Clovis Avenue, where Old Town Clovis is situated. 'I think it gives two council members to our most struggling areas, and more is better when it comes to representation,' said Councilmember Drew Bessinger. Mouanoutoua said Map 502 put Old Town and southern Clovis in the same districts, and 'Old Town keeps the south alive and valuable,' he said. Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce cast the lone vote in favor of Map 508 because it maintained an 'at-large feel' for the city, with each of the areas having a boundary at or near Shaw Avenue. 'The core of Clovis is met in every single piece of those districts,' she said. The current members of the City Council will complete their full terms serving the community at-large. In future elections, candidates must reside in the district they run to represent. No incumbent council members live in District 1, Mouanoutoua told The Bee. Two council members, Matt Basgall and Pearce, live in District 4, according to their 2022 election forms. With roughly 125,000 residents, Clovis is one of the last California cities of its size to change to a district voting system. The transition started after Malibu-based law firm Shenkman & Hughes threatened in August to sue the city for its at-large system, alleging it potentially discriminated against communities of color by denying them an equal opportunity to elect officials to represent them. The five-member council reluctantly voted last October to replace the voting system, saying they would not spend millions of dollars on a lawsuit they were likely to lose. 'All of us as council members didn't like the idea of having to go to districts, but this is where we're at, and let's make the best of it,' Basgall said last week. 'The concern is that it becomes territorial, 'I just concentrate on my area,' as opposed to the entire city.' Bessinger told The Bee that he thinks the district voting will make it easier for candidates to win because they only need to focus on one geographic area rather than the whole city. 'When I ran for City Council in 2017, I didn't have any development money, I didn't have any union money. I got out there, I knocked on probably 2,500 doors city-wide, and I got 68% of the vote,' said Bessinger. 'Assuming that this is the case, the districts will be obviously smaller. Somebody could run a one-person campaign out of their garage.' At the early stages of the mapping process, the council also considered dividing the city into four districts with a mayor elected by voters from the whole city. Council members ultimately abandoned the idea and retained the mayor rotation within the City Council.
