That’s not the case at all, said EGUSD board member Michael Vargas, who was elected in 2022.

“These clubs are not a secret,” he said. “They’ve never been a secret.”

Stone Lake Elementary School, also in Elk Grove, started a Rainbow Club last year, and a story about it was featured in the school’s newspaper, the Stone Lake Gazette.

“Members eat lunch together and talk about ways they can improve our school,” according to the story, published in Nov. 2023.

“Members are expected to be kind to everyone and be welcoming to diversity. They spread anti-bullying messages, and they talk about growth-mindset and ways to handle stress.”

One project the Stone Lake Rainbow Club undertook was raising money for a “buddy bench” at the school.

“What happens at those lunchtime club meetings is that kids play games,” said Vargas. “They play board games, they eat their lunch, they sit and talk ... Different schools take a different tack on how to inform students and the community about these clubs, but they are not new, and we are not hiding them.”

EGUSD encompasses more than 20 elementary schools, nine middle schools, and 14 high schools, and the district has different policies for elementary schools and secondary schools. School clubs, for example, are listed on secondary school websites. But because elementary students often start lunch clubs on a whim, schools don’t routinely update the community about what those clubs are.

“It wouldn’t make a lot of sense administratively to send an email to parents every time a new club popped up,” Vargas said.

But that doesn’t mean the district doesn’t want parents to be informed.

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