Shasta County’s Community Schools: Part 1 A Marxist Trojan Horse for Universal Healthcare and Eroding Parental Rights?
Written by Katie Elizabeth Gorman
Shasta County has embraced Governor Newsom's Mental Health 4 All Initiative through California’s Community Schools Initiative, securing an estimated $45 million in funding through the Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP).
At first glance, the initiative appears to be a well-intended effort to support students by integrating social services, mental health care, and educational resources. However, upon closer examination, these programs reflect a Marxist-driven shift in public education, one that a) prioritizes state-controlled social services over academic excellence, b) replaces the role of families with government intervention, and erodes parental rights—especially when it comes to minors receiving controversial mental health services without parental knowledge or informed consent.
Marxist Ideology Behind Community Schools
Community Schools model is not a neutral educational reform—it is deeply rooted in Marxist thought, where the state replaces traditional family structures in raising children. The goal is to expand government control over social and economic systems by making public schools the central hub for healthcare, counseling, welfare services, and even identity-based social programming.
Marxism co-founder Friedrich Engels in 1884, argued in ‘Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State’ that education should not be controlled by families or religious institutions but by the state. He believed this would ensure that future generations adopted government-approved ideology and became reliant on state services rather than private or familial solutions:
“The care and education of the children becomes a public affair; society looks after all children alike, whether they are legitimate or not.”
This statement encapsulates the key Marxist ideological standard, that raising children must become a communal task rather than a parental privilege, in order to eliminate distinctions such as legitimacy that are historically tied to inheritance.
American Marxist intellectual Herbert Marcuse in his 1972 book ‘Counter-Revolution and Revolt,’advocated for Community Schools as key to the “long march through the institutions”—a gradual transformation of education, media, and culture to reshape society toward socialist ideals.
Community Schools fit this agenda perfectly by:
1. Turning public schools into government-run social service centers – Instead of focusing on reading, writing, and arithmetic, schools are now responsible for healthcare, mental health services, food assistance, and social work.
2. Undermining parental authority – By allowing children to access mental health treatment, reproductive healthcare, and gender-affirming care without parental consent, the state inserts itself as the primary decision-maker in a child’s life.
3. Expanding dependence on government-funded programs – Schools now rely on Medicaid reimbursements and grants to justify and expand social services, ensuring future dependency on government funding.
4. Prioritizing social justice and activism over academic excellence – Community Schools Framework, incorporate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), and activist-based education models, shifting students away from core subjects and job skills toward state-driven ideological conformity. Students and teachers are taught a new way to see the world through an equity lens.
Parents may be attracted to the opportunity for additional support for their children, but they are often unaware that Marxist educational theory is designed to increase government control over family life.
Participating Shasta County Schools
Participating schools are grouped into three cohorts:
Cohort 1 (2022-2027):
• Alta Mesa Elementary
• Lassen View Elementary
• PACE Academy
• Rother Elementary
• Shasta Meadows Elementary
• Buckeye School of the Arts
• Gateway Community Day School
• Grand Oaks Elementary
• Cypress Elementary
• Igo-Ono Elementary
• Juniper Elementary
• Sycamore Elementary
• Montgomery Creek Elementary
Cohort 2 (2023-2028):
• Anderson High School
• Bonny View Elementary
• Burney Elementary
• Burney Junior/Senior High School
• Excel Academy
• Fall River Elementary
• Gateway Educational Options
• Juvenile Court School
• Mountain Lakes High School
• North Valley High School
• Oakview School
• Mistletoe Elementary
• Parsons Junior High School
• Pioneer High School
• Shasta County Independent Study
• Shasta Lake School
Cohort 3 (2024-2029):
• Redding Achieve Community Day School
The Shasta County Office of Education (SCOE) is marketing these initiatives as enhancing the studentexperience through health services, counseling, and extended learning, are in reality mechanisms for shifting schools’ roles far beyond education.
Rather than prioritizing traditional academics, these grants funnel money into bureaucratic expansions and government-controlled social services, making schools dependent on external funding.
Local districts, eager to secure financial resources often don’t realize the long-term consequences—where schools become service providers first and educational institutions second.
SCOE by promoting these programs has prioritizedmoney and power over the integrity of our schools and the rights of families.
Medicaid and the Push for Universal Healthcare in Schools
The most underreported aspect of Community Schools is the use of Medicaid funding to sustain their operations.
Schools participating in the Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program are encouraged to maximize Medicaid reimbursements, which dictate what services are provided. Instead of schools choosing services based on student needs, gaming Medicaid billing codes reimbursement determine what services are prioritized.
California’s Medi-Cal (Medicaid) program has expanded its list of billable school-based services, allowing schools to reimburse for mental health counseling, reproductive health services, and gender-affirming care—even without parental consent.
This has created a dangerous precedent where the financial incentives drive schools to now offer services that align with state and federal healthcare priorities,rather than local community needs.
Abortion Services Available Without Consent
While many parents assume that school-based healthcare services are focused on basic medical needs, the reality is far more concerning.
Executive Director of Community and School Support Services Wendy Hall and Anderson High School District officials made the shocking revelation: A minor could potentially be taken off-campus during school hours to obtain an abortion—without parental notification.
California law allows minors as young as 12 to access reproductive healthcare, including abortion, hormone therapy referrals, and mental health counseling, all without parental consent. This effectively replaces parents with school administrators and government-approved unlicensed counselors as the primary decision-makers for children’s healthcare.
This raises several alarming questions:
• Who decides when a student can leave school for a medical procedure?
• Are school counselors and social workers replacing parental authority?
• What liability do schools have if a student experiences complications after receiving treatment without parental consent?
Community Schools are not just about supporting students—they are about expanding government control under the guise of education reform. The Marxist underpinnings of this model are clear:
1. Shift the role of schools from education to social engineering
2. Reduce parental influence by making the state the primary caretaker
3. Normalize government dependence through universal healthcare programs within schools
4. Replace academic instruction with social activism and political ideology
What Can Parents Do?
Shasta County parents must wake up to what is happening in their schools. If they want to retain control over their children’s education and healthcare, they need to:
1. Attend school board meetings – Demand transparency on what services are being implemented and how they are funded.
2. Ask direct questions about parental consent – Find out what rights you have regarding your child’s medical and psychological treatment in schools.
3. Push for alternative funding models – Reduce reliance on Medicaid reimbursements that dictate school services based on government priorities rather than local needs.
4. Raise awareness – Educate other parents about the implications of Community Schools and their ties to broader political and healthcare agendas.
What started as a promise of additional support has led to government overreach and a loss of parental rights. Shasta County parents must take a hard look at what they are signing up for before allowing schools to become full-scale social service hubs, instead of places of learning.