Meet Camille King for Gateway Unified School District Board

Camille King during her interview last week, October 24, at the Redding library. Photo by Annelise Pierce.

This story is part of Shasta Scout’s ongoing citizen-powered election coverage. Our election reporting flips the script by asking candidates to answer questions from the community. The questions we used to interview King were drawn broadly from reader responses to Scout’s 2022 reader survey on elections. We’ll conduct another reader survey in 2024.

The Gateway Unified School District (GUSD) includes about 2,000 Shasta County students in grades K-12. The board’s Area 2 seat has been open since January 2023, when former Board President Cherrill Clifford, who was elected in November 2022, resigned. The seat will be filled during a special election held on November 7, 2023, and the winner of that election will fill the rest of Clifford’s term. King’s interview was conducted long-form and in person. Her responses have been curated and paraphrased for this format. Unsure what GUSD area you’re in? See the map, below.

Scout: What should we know about you as a candidate?

I am a mother of two and I’m someone who cares very much about all the kids, families, and teachers in the community. I grew up north of Olympia Washington and moved to Redding a little more than twenty years ago when a store manager position came up in this area. Since moving here, I’ve always lived in the Gateway district.

I’ve worked in retail management for 25 years which I think gives me a good background in dealing with a variety of people including customers, employees, supervisors, and corporate. That background has given me skills that will help me on the board including the ability to listen to different arguments and try to come up with the best solution for all. You’re not usually going to make 100% of the people happy. But as long as you’re doing the best you can, most people will be happy in the end. And you can often come up with good compromises.

Scout: You mentioned that you have kids. Are they in Gateway schools?

No, they are not in the Gateway School District. My children go to private schools. That’s where I want them right now because I feel like there are some dangerous school policies coming down from the state. But when it comes time for high school, I would love for them to have the opportunity to go to Central Valley High School within the Gateway District. They miss out on a lot by not being in the public schools.

Scout: Why did you decide to run for the Gateway Unified School District Board?

I’ve volunteered for the last few years with Catalyst mentoring and with Girl Scouts. I really like to give back to my community when at all possible. When I saw how much trouble Gateway was having finding the right board member I stepped up. This was one way I felt I could serve and bring what I have to come up with what’s best for the kids.

A map showing the various areas represented by the members of the Gateway Unified School District Board.

Scout: What do you think the Gateway District is already doing well and what could be done better?

I see a lot of boosts in morale lately among the staff. And the new superintendent Kyle Turner seems really really engaged. I also see the District’s human resources person making really intentional steps toward hiring and bringing on good staff.

One thing I’d like to see the district improve in is staff retention. I want to make sure we’re supporting teachers with the appropriate aides and also allowing parents to volunteer.

Scout: Do you think transparency needs to be increased within the Gateway District?

I believe there’s an issue of transparency throughout all the school systems right now. You can see that from the uproar that you’re getting from parents. If everything was transparent, they wouldn’t be as frustrated as they are. It can be hard to find out about your kids’ curriculum. I’ve noticed that the Gateway policy says if parents want to see the curriculum they can turn in a written request but that’s a stretch to think that unengaged parents will see that note in the policy and turn in a written form. If we proactively set up curriculum review nights I think that would be a better way to be transparent. Whether it’s sex-ed or critical race theory, let’s give parents an opportunity to sit through the same things their children will sit through at school and see how they feel about them.

Scout: How are you preparing for your role on the District Board if you win?

I’m attending the meetings and I’m researching what other school boards are doing. I’m also researching what’s coming down from the state, bills being passed across California. And then of course I’m reading the Constitution. I’m also talking to people to hear their concerns and what they think Gateway is succeeding at and I’m getting some great ideas as far as some things that the school board can actually do to help teachers, parents, and students.

Scout: If you win the seat you’ll be coming onto a divided board, split two to two on many issues. How will you navigate that?

I’m good at working in groups and I’m good at working with people that have different personalities than me. I know there’s a lot of conflict on this board currently, and moving into it I do see good in Phil (Lewis), Dale (Wallace), Eli (Haynes), and Lindsey (Haynes). It’s just about getting all their strengths together and then adding my strengths too. It’s a skill of mine to pull the good out of out of situations and pull the good out of people, even if there’s conflict, and even if there’s frustration.

I’ve worked in challenging environments before. My plan is to respect each person come in with a fresh mind and really listen to people. If I don’t like their ideas, I’m comfortable enough in my own convictions that I will speak for myself and stand up for what I believe in. But I also am not one who’s going to be engaging in yelling matches. My plan is to approach things with professionalism.

Scout: Some people have referred to you as an extremist, how would you respond?

I don’t consider myself an extremist, I consider myself a person of conviction. I’m a professional person with a twenty-five-year history in management dealing with vice presidents and presidents of companies, as well as, employees and customers. I think the word extremist is a trigger word and it connotes that someone is a bit volatile. And that’s not who I am. I’m someone who tries to keep things compassionate and professional, and who values diversity.

I do support parental notification. All three of the issues on the parental notification policy . . . . bullying, suicide, and wanting to socially gender transition . . . Those are all issues that if kids are keeping secret, can affect their behavior. Gateway’s policies say parents will be held responsible for their children’s willful misbehavior. And to me, it seems that anything that could affect their behavior is something parents should be notified about.

I was also against the COVID mandates. And I think we can all see now that there’s been irreversible damage in the kids learning and in their emotional health, as a result of those mandates.

Scout: Are you part of the group Moms 4 Liberty?

No, I’m not. I followed their page on Facebook to keep my finger on the pulse of what they’re doing but I’ve never attended a meeting and I’m not part of the group.

Scout: Would you push back against state laws as a board member?

I’m willing to challenge state law, or what I’m told is state law, if doing so is in line with the Constitution which was put in place to protect us. If we don’t push back against unconstitutional laws, then these issues will never get brought to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court will never be able to issue a final ruling. I read and reread both the federal and state constitutions. The federal Constitution doesn’t say much about education, but the state Constitution does. If there’s something that’s up for interpretation, I will be seeking out constitutional lawyers who can help me break those issues down. Unfortunately, there are going to be some tough calls to make as board members because of what’s happening at the state level. But while we should proceed cautiously it’s also true that once we lose the rights that we have from the Constitution, we’re not going to get them back. And our job as board members is to use the Constitution and protect it.

Having said that, I do believe that we need to proceed with caution. I’m not looking to get the school into any litigation, I respect what Phil (Lewis) says about avoiding unnecessary lawsuits. I know as far as the parental notification policy goes that a legal team has offered pro bono services which is great because it won’t cost the district money.

Scout: Is there anything else you’d like us to know?

I know some people are afraid that I’m just going to come in to wreck things, but I’m not. I want to see what we can do to ensure more people bring their kids to Gateway schools. There are reasons that people like me have their kids in other schools and I want to look at what we can do to make Gateway more enticing. I think there’s a lot of potential already. Central Valley has a great robotics program and the sports teams are well-supported by the whole town. I love to see the pride people take in that.

I want to see the Gateway schools be somewhere where I’m comfortable because if I’m comfortable, then I know that a lot of other parents are going to be comfortable.

Scout: What if some of the policies you’d like to see passed, like the parental notification policy, that would make you feel more comfortable would make other kids and parents feel less comfortable?

It’s a catch-22. It’s really about coming at it from the perspective of how you’re going to keep the majority of kids safe.

In my opinion, for the majority of kids, the safety risks are greater for kids if their parents don’t know about what they’re experiencing around gender and what they’ve expressed at school. There are kids who genuinely are abused at home and because of that, I am so grateful that there are mandatory reporters. But I can’t think of a single parent that I know where their kid would be harmed in any way, even emotionally, if their desires about gender came out. It will be scary to talk about probably, and not a fun conversation. But most parents wouldn’t be mad, they might just grieve because they are letting go of the one identity they had for their child to get to know another.

Resources:

Find data about the Gateway Unified School District here.

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