Information and Professional Learning

We are educators who work with the Safe Schools Project in Santa Cruz, Ca. 

We provide customized professional learning for administrators, teachers and parents about LGBT History, Creating Safe Spaces in Schools, and Inclusive and Comprehensive Sex Education. 

Presentations / Workshops

• Salinas UHSD Professional Learning Evening - January 22 - March 1
• Pajaro Valley Unified School District Counselors Professional Learning Day
• Salinas Union High School District Professional Learning Cohort (8th Grade * 11th Grade) 
• Pajaro Valley Unified School District Professional Learning (8th Grade * 11th Grade)
• Cohort Model (Full day in fall; teachers teach lessons, quick check ins; full day in spring; curriculum guide)
• One Day workshop (include copy of LGBT History Curriculum Guide)
• Two Day workshops (include copy of LGBT History Curriculum Guide)

• CTA GLBT Issues Conference (Dec. 2017) - Presentation Slides 
• Equity CSUMB - Inclusive and Safe Spaces - Sexual Health Education (Sept. 2017) 
• CCSESA - Student Programs and Services Steering Committee "Creating Safe and Compliant Programs for LGBTQ Youth" (Sept. 2017) 
• The Intersection of Ethnicity, Gender and Sexual Orientation and Teaching LGBT History (Aug. 2017) 
• Teaching LGBT History in the 11th Grade American History Classroom (2017) 
• Teaching LGBT History in the 8th Grade American History Classroom (2017) 

• 2015 Report: Implementation of LGBT Inclusive School Policies in California (Darrow)

Timeline of Events in California

• 2017: State Board of Education adopts LGBT Inclusive Textbooks. Press Release. 
• 2016: State Board of Education adopted a new History/Social Science Framework that included LGBT history in grades 2-12. (See our Framework Analysis for Grades K-12)
• 2011: In California, the FAIR Act was passed by the state legislature and signed into law. This law amended section 51204.5 of the education code to read:  
• "Instruction in social sciences shall include the early history of California and a study of the role and contributions of both men and women, Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, persons with disabilities, and members of other ethnic and cultural groups, to the economic, political, and social development of California and the United States of America, with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society."

We provide professional development in the teaching of LGBT history in the history classroom for administrators and teachers. Included in the professional development is a copy of the curriculum book: 

Teaching LGBT History in Eleventh Grade U.S. History Classrooms: Five Themes and Lessons to Integrate with the California History / Social Science Framework.

Contact Info:

• Rob Darrow, Director of Research, Safe Schools Project, Santa Cruz County - robdarrow74 at Gmail.
• Ron Indra, Director of Safe Schools Project, Santa Cruz County - ronindra at Gmail.