NAACP, LULAC Support Recall Of 3 Temecula Valley USD Board Members

TEMECULA, CA — An effort to recall three Temecula Valley Unified School District trustees gained support from local chapters of two national organizations, and a press conference was held Wednesday on the steps of City Hall to tout the alliance.

Representatives from the Inland Empire chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Southwest Riverside branch 1034 addressed a crowd of about 75 recall supporters.

Carrying signs and wearing t-shirts with slogans like "Save Temecula Schools," the supporters cheered when Anthony Noriega, director district 5 LULAC de Inland Empire, said, "I can’t stress enough the urgency of this moment, at this time and at this place of the critical importance of removing Komrosky, Wiersma, and Gonzalez from office. We must fight back as a community against the racism, discrimination, intolerance, intimidation, harassment and fear being promoted by them."

Joseph Komrosky, Jennifer Wiersma and Danny Gonzalez were elected to the TVUSD board last November with support from Inland Empire Family PAC, which has worked to "stop the indoctrination of our children by placing candidates on school boards who will fight for Christian and conservative values."

During their tenure, critics have blasted the three trustees over their critical race theory ban; their controversial critical race theory "panel" that many TVUSD teachers dubbed "indoctrination camp"; their censoring of instruction about California's gay rights movement; their attempted defiance of state education code; their firing of the district superintendent; the hiring of their own team of attorneys at taxpayers' expense to defend against ongoing lawsuits over their actions; their ban on pride and other flags; and their mandate that educators report to parents about transgender students.

Most recently, during the Sept. 26 TVUSD board meeting, Komrosky and Wiersma abstained from voting on an agreement between the teachers union and the TVUSD that would have seen an 8% compensation increase for union members along with a 1.5% one-time payment. The tentative agreement was reached Sept. 18 but required the board's final signoff.

Gonzalez was absent from the Sept. 26 meeting. Trustees Allison Barclay and Steven Schwartz voted to approve the raises, but the votes fell short of the board majority needed to authorize the increase.

Edgar Diaz, president of the teachers union — the Temecula Valley Educators Association — said Wednesday that the agreement is expected to come back before the board on Oct. 17.

It's unclear what will happen, however. The TVEA has officially endorsed the recall.

During Wednesday's event, several teachers were on hand, some carrying signs that addressed pay.

"TVEA bargained in good faith! Why won't the trustees govern in good faith?" one sign read.

Diaz addressed Wednesday's crowd. His support for teachers drew rousing cheers.

Myles Ross, president of the NAACP Southwest Riverside branch, was also on hand, but he adhered to the recall message, saying Komrosky, Wiersma and Gonzalez have shut down open dialogue and are infringing on students' rights.

"The recall is not just necessary, it's imperative," he said.

Noriega decried the three board members' "far-right ideologies ... that "are infiltrating our schools at an alarming rate. ... Let me be clear, their sole mission is to destroy the district as you know it.

"Far-right agendas and ideology have no place in our school system," Noriega continued. "We cannot stress enough how critical it is for you to sign the recall petition, and encourage others to do the same."

Recall supporters have until Dec. 8 to garner the required number of petition signatures. The effort was started by a group of Temecula mothers seeking to recall Wiersma. One Temecula Valley PAC, co-founded by Jeff Pack, joined the movement that was broadened to include the ouster of Komrosky and Gonzalez.

"A failed school district is a failed city," Pack told Wednesday's crowd.

LULAC member Martha Angelica, a longtime Temecula resident, said, "we cannot allow ourselves to be led blindly down this path. We owe it to our children to demand nothing but the best for their education and safety."

Brooklyn Anderson, a 17-year-old Chaparral High School senior who serves as president of the campus's Black Student Union, called on the board to "prioritize the needs of our diverse community."