In the News
California Schools Magazine
The Melting Pot: Student diversity in California presents challenges and important opportunities for growth
The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2044, the U.S. will no longer have a single ethnic majority. Recent analysis shows California ranks first for cultural diversity, having the highest linguistic diversity and the second-highest racial and ethnic diversity in the country. The Golden State also ranks third for socioeconomic diversity, fifth for household diversity and eighth for political diversity, according to Wallethub, which analyzed each state’s diversity level by evaluating and ranking six categories.
While the word “diversity” has become something of a flashpoint term, research shows that students in highly diverse schools tend to exhibit higher self-esteem, have reduced feelings of loneliness, report feeling safer in school and experience less peer-to-peer harassment — social-emotional and school climate factors that are all associated with increased academic achievement.
Sac School Beat - August 22, 2025
Elk Grove Unified strategizes to address Trump administration changes to federal Department of Education
As Donald Trump returned to the presidency and became the 47th U.S. president, thing began to change for public education.
Trump and his administration have advocated dismantling the Department of Education. The department can change existing policies and alter rules school systems must follow, including directing programs receiving Department of Education funds to not advance diversity, equity and inclusion efforts or gender ideology.
Members of the Elk Grove Unified School District administration have addressed the proposed changes regarding Trump’s second term and how it’ll affect schools in the area.
Sacramento Bee - March 14, 2025
Education department chaos is already affecting Sacramento students. Will it get worse?
…The problems aren’t impending — they’re here, according to local leaders. Elk Grove Unified School District Board President Michael Vargas said that their district has already been impacted by the lack of workforce at the federal level. Elk Grove Unified’s family communication department used to rely heavily on support from an equivalent office at the DOE, but that resource has disappeared.
“At the administrative level, trying to connect and communicate with families and keep families in the loop of everything that’s going on is a huge priority for the district,” Vargas said. “And so not having that support from the federal level is a big deal, right? That’s a big pain point for us.”…
Sacramento Bee - January 16, 2025
The Sacramento Bee’s Latino Change Makers: Meet the Top 20 pioneers transforming the community
Now, as president of the EGUSD Board of Education, he prioritizes ensuring that all students feel accepted and safe, a feeling he wasn’t always afforded.
He often felt isolated as a LGBTQ+ kid attending a conservative high school. As he grew older, he made it his goal to make sure no one felt the same way he did. This led him to law school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and later to the University of Minnesota, where he finished his degree. “I just wanted to focus and enjoy the kind of peace and quiet of reading law,” Vargas said.
But when Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, Vargas knew he wanted to get involved in politics. As a Mexican American and a LGBTQ+ man, the results hit him hard. “It motivated me to say I need to get more involved, because stuff like this can’t happen,” Vargas said.
KCRA 3 - September 17, 2024
Elementary students in Elk Grove Unified need parental permission to participate in extracurriculars
…There were some concerns among board members about how the policies would be implemented.
"If a student shows up to a rainbow club with their friends, unaware that they do not have their parental permission, will they be turned away? What is that going to do to the child's mental health, their self-esteem or self-worth, their feelings of connection to our campuses? As we implement this policy, we should know how we plan to handle these difficult situations where a student wants to be part of a club, but their parent has ideological opposition to it,” Michael Vargas, Elk Grove Unified Board Vice President, said…
Sacramento Bee - June 20, 2024
Elk Grove middle school hosts Smithsonian exhibit on prejudice and discrimination
…The traveling exhibit has been shown at institutions across the country, but this is the first time it has been held within a K-12 school district. Elk Grove Unified School District worked in partnership with the city of Elk Grove to bring the exhibit to their district, which ranks as the second most racially and economically diverse district in the state and sixth in the nation.
“I’m just excited that we get to have this here,” said Michael Vargas, vice president of the district’s Board of Education. “This opportunity for our district and our city, both of which are among the most diverse cities and school districts in the country, is such a great reflection of all of the work that we’ve done to embrace that to celebrate diversity and to help our community understand why there’s so much incredible value in that diversity.”…
CapRadio - March 20, 2024
Sacramento County’s LGBTQ+ school board trustees celebrate equality award
…Noel Mora, a trustee for Natomas Unified, and Michael Vargas, a trustee for Elk Grove Unified, are the first openly LGBTQ+ school board members in their respective districts and the only two LGBTQ+ trustees seated on the school board dais in the county. Both were elected in 2022.
At the end of last month, they were awarded the 2024 Sacramento Equality Award for their work in local education from Equality California, an organization that champions LGBTQ+ rights and policy. Vargas and Mora’s work is being celebrated by the organization at a time when nearly 70% of teachers report that they don’t cover topics related to gender and sexuality as part of their curriculum, according to Pew research.
Vargas and Mora have both championed LGBTQ+ training for staff, inclusion in the school curriculum and created safe spaces for students on campus, while being subject to criticism from community members in the region…
Comstock Magazine - July 21, 2023
Young Professionals: Meet the 10 young professionals who are rocking it in their careers and community
As a newly elected member of the Elk Grove Unified School District — one of the largest in the state — a partner in a law firm representing high-tech companies and a molder of young legal minds as a professor, it’s important for Michael Vargas to give back to the community.
Vargas’ path to public office was not a linear one. Growing up, he developed a strong sense of community service, which continued through his high school and college years. After transitioning into a 9-to-5 job, he felt the need to immerse himself in public service opportunities, ranging from nonprofit boards to local commissions. “Pretty much anything I could find that I said, ‘Hey, this sounds fun and interesting,’” Vargas said. “It’s a way to kind of give back to my community, whether that was the legal community or the local community.”…
“When we bought our house, we benefited from all of the hard work of community building that other people had done. And so we now have an obligation to pay it forward and an opportunity to pay it forward,” Vargas said…