On Monday, August 22, 2022, the Utah State Charter School Board (SCSB) took a vote that unlawfully discriminates on the basis of their membership or affiliation with the Davis County Cooperative Society with direct inferences to at least two protected classes. The adverse action to remove all members of Vanguard Academy’s School Board (VASB) and precursory adverse actions relating to an interim Director and a Finance director solely on the basis of the VASB's religious or familial connections to the Fundamentalist Christian Faith has torn the very fabric of Utah’s charter school community. The SCSB has also indicated it may force the school to close it's doors to students within 3 months. 

The Problem

According to UASCB, 82% of Vanguard's graduating seniors are first-generation college students. Deseret historians will assert that this educational divide was created as a result of the marginalization, discrimination and religious persecution going back generations since the time when Latter Day Saints were driven from Nauvoo. For many these issues are just trials documented in their church or family history, for active Christian Fundamentalists these injustices are a way of life.
    In the past, many fled the Unites States to Canada or Mexico to avoid religious persecution and those who stayed were forced underground and out of mainstream society. The lack of education is just one side effect of the unjust treatment of this minority Faith. The members of this Faith have spent their lives in fear of imprisonment for practicing their religious beliefs. Devout members of this Faith continue to report that governments continue to discriminate against them and their right to a lawful marriage, the last 7 years with Vanguard in operation have been a beacon of hope with this school serving these marginalized members of our community and granting them their right to state-funded high school education. 

Why this petition?

We are calling on all who stand for human rights, freedom, equality in education and peaceful coexistence to sign this petition indicating:

1. Your support for Vanguard Academy and efforts to reverse these blatant acts of unlawful discrimination.

2. Taxation without representation is tyranny. These parents and children have a right to representation on their public school board.

3. Your support for adding stronger legislative protections to Utah’s workplace discrimination statutes to further prevent this type of unethical discrimination.

4. Your support to End the systematic marginalization and exclusion of these people from society.

5. That discrimination on the basis of their connection to DCCS is unjust and unethical.

6. It’s time to stop infringing on the rights of this minority group of individuals to government-funded public education.

7. That you want 90 years of injustice to end.

8. That these children, their education and their future are not to be used as leverage to bargain with.

Who are Fundamentalist Christians?

In this context they are Christians with some religious belief’s that stem from the restoration. Their parentage is often composed of plural families who share an individual father.  

What is the Davis County Cooperative Society (DCCS)?

Newsroom articles on www.dccsociety.org describe it as a plural community who’s membership consists of both members and non members of the Christian Fundamentalist Faith. While other plural communities left Utah in the 1930s due to abuse the DCCS remained integrated with the community. 

Updates:

August 23rd, 2022 Statement from the UASCB:

Following the State Charter School Board’s unprecedented vote last night to replace the Board of Directors, School Director and Business Administrator at Vanguard Academy, Royce Van Tassel, executive director of the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, issued the following statement.

“Vanguard Academy is another excellent charter school. ALL of their seniors graduated last year. One quarter of them also earned an associates degree. 82 percent of their graduating seniors are first generation college students.

“The State Charter School Board’s action against Vanguard Academy is wholly unsupported and should be immediately reversed. Innuendo and religious bias simply cannot justify the actions taken last night. Neither the State Charter School Board nor its staff presented a single instance of Vanguard Academy actually violating Utah’s conflict or procurement laws. Because many of Vanguard’s board are affiliated with the Davis County Cooperative Society,  they assumed that Vanguard Academy is guilty until proven innocent."

“Such religious discrimination is simply inappropriate, particularly in a state founded by pioneers fleeing all too similar religious persecution. The action of this board – appointed by the Governor – does not reflect Governor Cox’s commitment to inclusion and academic excellence.

“The State Charter School Board needs to immediately revoke their decision from last night. If they as Vanguard’s authorizer want to investigate the media’s sensational allegations, they may. But investigating does NOT require the religious discrimination the SCSB displayed last night.”

Additional quotes from Royce Van Tassell, executive director of the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools:

”Vanguard Academy is an excellent school and that the charter school board is targeting the institution because of polygamy.”

"The message that they sent to the polygamist community in Utah is, you are not welcome in Utah’s public schools.”

“This is just religious discrimination."