Rocklin Academy
LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Primary Education

Client

Rocklin Academy

Sector

Education

Expertise

Crisis Management

Capabilities

• Strategic Planning
• Content Development
• Messaging
• Media Relations

Overview

Rocklin Academy, a charter school in Northern California, became the epicenter of a national media firestorm when a kindergarten teacher read a book to her class about a transgender child – anti-LGBTQ activists quickly twisted the story, pushing false narratives and stirring up a local and national frenzy in an attempt to pressure the school into adopting discriminatory education policy. FHA was called in to help guide school leadership through the crisis.

With misinformation already proliferating online, FHA quickly deployed a multi-pronged strategy that moved first to correct the record and insert the school’s response into the dialogue, focusing on establishing the facts behind the situation and asserting the policies and laws that supported the school, teacher and child before charting a course forward to move past the crisis constructively.

FHA turned the tide on the conversation, moving the narrative away from hot takes on polarizing national shows like Tucker Carlson to supportive and balanced narratives from the Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Bee, successfully turning down the heat before a critical community meeting where the school was able to defend its policies and resist pressure to adopt more restrictive and discriminatory policy.