Three of the Temecula Valley Unified School Board’s five seats will be up for grabs during the November election, meaning the political leaning of the board could change.
The board made headlines last year for several controversial decisions made by its conservative majority, until Trustee Danny Gonzalez moved to Texas and stepped down from the board in December.
Mr. Gonzalez’s seat currently remains vacant but will be up for election in November, along with the seats of trustees Allison Barclay and Steven Schwartz, who often voted in opposition to the board majority.
Both Ms. Barclay and Mr. Schwartz, however, plan to run for reelection.
If he is recalled in a special election on June 4, board President Joseph Komrosky’s seat could also be up for grabs in November.
One Temecula Valley PAC, the group behind the recall campaign, gathered 4,884 signatures on the petition to recall Mr. Komrosky—just over the required 4,280 signatures needed.
The Riverside County Registrar of Voters certified the petition Jan. 22, according to a post on One Temecula Valley PAC’s Instagram page.
The PAC’s co-founder, Jeff Pack, told The Epoch Times in a previous interview that the group initiated the recall because of the board’s controversial decisions last year.
The board gained statewide attention last summer when it twice rejected, then ultimately approved, an elementary social studies textbook that Mr. Komrosky deemed inappropriate for its inclusion of LGBT activist Harvey Milk, whom the board president called a “pedophile” due to reports that Mr. Milk had a sexual relationship with a minor as an adult.
Mr. Komrosky’s comment riled up Gov. Gavin Newsom, who threatened to send copies of the contested “Social Studies Alive” book to Temecula students and to enact legislation that would fine the district $1.5 million if the board didn’t approve the textbook.
Ultimately, the board voted to approve the curriculum, with the recommendation that teachers swap the material that includes Mr. Milk with something more “age appropriate.”
Mr. Komrosky said the vote was not in response to Mr. Newsom’s threats, but to avoid a costly lawsuit for the district.
Even with the board’s about-face on the issue, the governor called for a civil rights investigation into the district in July.
Last December, the board voted to also ban critical race theory in the district.
