Election results plunge Riverside County classrooms into political discourse

After a Moreno Valley Unified School District history teacher was placed on administrative leave after discussing former President Donald Trump in a strongly worded rant in the classroom, News Channel 3 is taking a closer look at how political discussions are handled in Coachella Valley classrooms.

Dr. David Gustafson, Ed.D. senior director of secondary curriculum and instruction and assessment, said The Desert Sands Unified School District believes in engaging students in discussions centered around current events as well as civics education.

"Our Board of Education has our board policy 6144, which really gives our teachers some guidance and good reminders," Dr. Gustafson said. "Those include making sure that they understand that they're acting on behalf of the district where they have a responsibility to teach content standards and our district adopted curriculum."

He said teachers also have a responsibility to purposefully plan for their learning.

"When those types of conversations happen, it's important that our teachers set a tone really, of respectful dialog and expectations in the classroom and really creating a space where information can be presented and analyzed and then students can draw their own personal conclusions," Dr. Gustafson said.

Stay with News Channel 3 to learn more about Coachella Valley school district’s policies on political discussions in the classroom.