California School Board Terminates Superintendent Amid LGBT, CRT Debates

Attendees react to the Temecula Valley Unified school board's decision to terminate the district’s superintendent amid controversy surrounding critical race theory and school curriculum during a board meeting in Temecula, Calif., on June 13, 2023. (Micaela Ricaforte/The Epoch Times)

TEMECULA, Calif.—The Temecula Valley Unified school board terminated the district’s superintendent during a June 13 board meeting amid controversy surrounding the board majority’s crackdown on critical race theory and what they said was inappropriate content in curriculum.

Board president Joseph Komrosky, and Trustees Jennifer Wiersma and Danny Gonzalez voted to terminate Superintendent Jodi McClay’s contract, while Trustee Alison Barclay dissented and Trustee Steven Schwarz was absent.

The board also unanimously voted to appoint assistant superintendent Kimberly Velez as interim superintendent, effective immediately.

McClay served the district for roughly three decades, according to Komrosky, and has been superintendent since 2020. She earned $327,680 in 2021, according to public pay database Transparent California.

“We thank Dr. McClay for her long service to the school district, but the majority of the board determined that it was time for new leadership, with new ideas,” Komrosky told The Epoch Times in a statement.

The meeting—which was moved from its usual location to Temecula Valley High School’s theater in anticipation of a large crowd—drew hundreds of passionate parents, teachers, and community members.

Community Reactions

Many members of Temecula Valley Educators’ Association—the district’s teachers’ union—voiced their opposition to the board’s decision at the meeting.

Heather Smith, a kindergarten teacher at Barnett Elementary, said McClay was “one of the best superintendents we’ve ever had.”

“McClay has done so much good for this school district,” Smith told The Epoch Times. “This new school board ... came in with an agenda based on the fact that they didn’t like that the state shut schools down during COVID. And they vowed to oust ... McClay at that time.”

Members of the local teachers' union, Temecula Valley Educators’ Association, opposing the Temecula Valley Unified school board's decision to terminate the district’s superintendent amid controversy surrounding critical race theory and school curriculum attend a board meeting in Temecula, Calif., on June 13, 2023. (Micaela Ricaforte/The Epoch Times)

Some parents also said they opposed the board majority’s new direction, as well as their conservative stance on critical race theory and LGBT content in schools.

“I’ve lived here my whole life, and Temecula has been known to be a very good school district,” Andy, a district parent who preferred to use only his first name, told The Epoch Times. “I’m opposed to the direction that the school board is taking ... they’re bringing their religious slant and conservative views, which don’t have a place in education or in schools.”

Those who supported the termination said they were unhappy with McClay’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

District parent Stephanie Dawson said that in early 2022, some students protested the district’s mask mandate for students by refusing to wear them.

Those students were made to stand outside all day in cold and rainy weather, and when parents brought this to the board’s attention at a February 2022 board meeting, McClay said the parents were spreading “misinformation” and “disinformation,” according to Dawson.

“[McClay] showed no empathy,” Dawson told The Epoch Times. “From that moment on, it was clear that she saw our children as numbers rather than as actual human beings.”

Parents in support of the Temecula Valley Unified school board's decision to terminate the district’s superintendent amid controversy surrounding critical race theory and school curriculum attend a board meeting in Temecula, Calif., on June 13, 2023. (Micaela Ricaforte/The Epoch Times)

Steve Campos, a 6th-grade P.E. teacher at Vail Ranch Middle School, also noted his disappointment with the way McClay handled the student mask protest situation.

“McClay hid behind administration, saying it was a site decision. Meanwhile, the site said no, that was a district office decision,” Campos told The Epoch Times. “No one took leadership in that situation.”

Campos said the board majority was voted in because parents wanted change.

“The community voted these three school board members in office to change the direction of the school district and to look for true leaders in public education,” Campos said.

The termination comes as a local Temecula group is looking to recall Komrosky, Wiersma, and Gonzalez after the trio recently garnered national attention for blocking a textbook containing references to LGBT activist and politician Harvey Milk, whom Komrosky called a “pedophile” last month.

One Temecula Valley, a local political action committee, gathered the required number of signatures to initiate a recall, and during the June 13 board meeting, its representatives informed the three trustees of their intent to launch a recall.

Komrosky Clarifies Comments on ‘Pedophile’ Activist

In a June 14 statement, Komrosky said that his comment did not refer to Milk’s sexual orientation, but to reports that Milk had a sexual relationship with a minor.

“My comments have been misappropriated as an attack on the LGTBQ community,” he said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “Absolutely not. My comments were non-gender specific, non-sexual orientation specific … [In] my view, 33-year-old adults should not have sexual relationships with a 16-year-old minor, regardless of gender.”

Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta released a joint statement on June 7 demanding the board provide information regarding its process for rejecting the curriculum.

Komrosky said the district is committed to complying with all state laws regarding the adoption of the new curriculum—including compliance with the Fair Act, which requires districts to include the contributions of LGBT and disabled persons in school textbooks.

Temecula Valley Unified School Board President Joseph Komrosky speaks at a press conference in Murietta, Calif., on June 6, 2023. (Micaela Ricaforte/The Epoch Times)

“The district is also steadfastly committed to … discretion as to what curriculum to adopt to make sure that it is appropriate for the grade level and that it will be a compulsory part of the student’s education,” Komrosky also said in the June 14 statement.

The debate centers around a book called “Social Studies Alive,” a textbook recently piloted in district elementary schools that was brought before the board for official approval at a board meeting in May.

While the textbook does not mention Milk in its main text, its optional supplemental material features him.

Komrosky, along with Gonzalez and Wiersma, voted against the book’s adoption, while Barclay and Schwarz voted in its favor.

In December, the three newly-elected trustees, who campaigned on parent rights, also voted to ban critical race theory in the district.