A California school district recently organized a field trip that excluded white students and maintains several other race-based policies, documents reveal.
Albany Unified School District (AUSD) hosted the trip to Virginia for “young men and women of color” to visit Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and discuss issues such as “social justice,” according to documents obtained by parental rights group Defending Education (DE) and shared exclusively with the Daily Caller News Foundation. The trip was approved by the board of education and cost the district $42,845.
“This unique mentoring program encourages Albany High School young men and women of color to develop social, personal, and academic success skills,” the document from the board reads. “Students gather in a safe, supportive, and empowering environment to voice their needs and challenges. The students engage in enriching discussions on social justice, education, leadership, mental well-being, and self-awareness. This mentoring program is transforming the lives of young men and women of color to make a significant global impact in society.”
Along with college tours, students visited the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial and the Black Heritage Trail.
Julie Sen, executive assistant to the AUSD superintendent, claimed in her response to the Daily Caller News Foundation that the field trip for “young men and women of color” was “open to any student who expressed interest and met the District’s academic criteria to participate.”
“Our overarching goal is to provide each and every student with an excellent education in an inclusive environment where they feel seen, supported, and prepared for their future,” Sen said.
The district maintains several other programs geared specifically toward non-white students and staff, documents show.
AUSD’s 2025-2026 Local Control and Accountability Plan names “Young Men of Color and Young Women of Color Programs” that aim to “provide social emotional supports to most underserved students.” The programs are part of a $1,257,234 “social emotional/mental health” support effort.
The same plan details the district’s intention to provide staff with “professional development” programs centered on “culturally responsive/anti-racist pedagogy.” These teaching practices are necessary to support “student groups who are persistently and historically underserved,” the document states.
Another document from 2026 includes a goal of “Recruit[ing] and Retain[ing] a Diverse, High Quality Staff,” DE found. The Superintendent Report detailed plans to “strengthen inclusive hiring,” expand “equitable recruitment pipelines,” and implement “affinity-based supports.” The report mentioned a “Black Teacher Project” to help in these race-based hiring and retention efforts and suggested the district would track staff demographics as an indicator of success.
The district’s website also details a response plan for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity on campus, which instructs staff “NOT to provide any information.”
“Albany Unified School District serves a diverse and vibrant community of students and families, many of whom have deep ties to immigrant experiences,” the website reads. ” While we cannot control federal actions, Albany Unified is steadfast in its commitment to being a safe haven for all students.”
The district plainly states its goal of “Recruiting and retaining excellent, diverse teachers” on its website.
“Students and teachers are best served when opportunities are based on merit and individual need, not immutable characteristics like race and ethnicity,” Paul Runko, senior director of strategic initiatives at DE, told the DCNF. “Schools should focus their limited time and resources on challenging high-achieving students, supporting those who are struggling, and ensuring all students receive a high-quality education, rather than organizing programs and initiatives around racial categories. Great, hard-working teachers should be supported, mentored, and retained for their effectiveness in the classroom, not based on race or any other characteristic.”
In her comments to DCNF, Sen said that the district “does not use race as a determining factor in hiring decisions,” but that “our focus is on ensuring that we have highly qualified educators who reflect the broad range of cultures, identities, and lived experiences of the students we serve.”
“[W]e engage in broad and inclusive recruitment efforts to attract a strong and diverse pool of candidates. This includes outreach to a wide range of educator preparation programs and professional networks to ensure we are bringing in talented educators who can connect with and support every student in our district,” Sen said.
This post has been updated to include comments to DCNF provided by Albany Unified School District’s Julie Sen.
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