Temecula Valley USD Sued By Teachers, Union, Parents, Students

TEMECULA, CA — A lawsuit was filed Wednesday against the entire Temecula Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees over moves by three of its members to "censor" education by banning subjects that conflict with their personal viewpoints.

According to the complaint filed in Riverside Superior Court, actions taken by the board of trustees "to censor Temecula educators and infringe on Temecula schoolchildren’s fundamental right to an education" caused them "irreparable harm."

The suit was filed on behalf of the Temecula Valley Educators Association union, students, parents and individual teachers by the public-interest law firm Public Counsel and the law firm Ballard Spahr.

The catalyst for the complaint was a 3-2 vote on Dec. 13 to ban any discussion of Critical Race Theory in district classrooms. The board recently followed that up with a weeks-long debate on how to keep any mention of "sexualized topics" — namely, gay rights in California and the movement's leaders — out of elementary social sciences curriculums.

Referring to the CRT ban drafted into a TVUSD resolution, the suit alleges the district's adopted language "prohibits the teaching of a sweeping and ill-defined range of content referred to as Critical Race Theory or other similar frameworks. The vague resolution hinders Temecula educators’ ability to teach State-mandated content standards, prepare for the coming academic year, and support rather than stifle student inquiry. In turn, Temecula students are deprived of the opportunity to engage in factual investigation, freely discuss ideas, and develop critical thinking and reasoning skills. While harming all schoolchildren, the resolution in particular injures children of color and LGBTQ children, stigmatizing their identities, histories, and cultures."

CRT examines racial inequality and racism and suggests they are systemically embedded in American institutions.

TVEA joined the lawsuit to guard against the negative impacts in the classroom, to educators and students, according to a released statement from TVEA President Edgar Díaz.

“In the months following the resolution’s implementation, we’ve seen its broad and vague language used as a weapon against educators," Díaz said. "Educators are identified on social media and targeted through their profiles and classroom voicemails with horrible accusations that go against the nature of our service to the students of Temecula. Teachers have had their reputations irreparably harmed; one for incorporating a school library book in a project, others for serving as student advisors to clubs and guiding students to focus on school attendance while balancing students’ First Amendment rights. Educators need a strong foundation to stand on when providing a classroom environment for students to learn and succeed.”

During the Dec. 13 TVUSD board vote on CRT, Trustees Joseph Komrosky, Jennifer Wiersma, and Danny Gonzalez voted in favor of a ban while Trustees Allison Barclay and Steven Schwartz voted against it. During discussions on teaching about California's gay rights movement in elementary classrooms, Komrosky, Wiersma and Gonzalez maintained the subject was inappropriate for grades 4-5, despite state law mandating LGBTQ inclusion, while Barclay and Schwartz aligned with 47 district educators to allow the subject via a state-approved curriculum. All five trustees and 20 "Does" are names in the complaint.

Read more about the votes:

• Critical Race Theory Banned In Temecula Schools By Newly Formed Board
• Amid Feud With Governor, Temecula Approves Social Studies Curriculum
• Temecula Valley USD In Legal Peril, Special Board Meeting Announced
• State Responds To TVUSD's Decision To Use Outdated Textbooks For Kids

In a joint Aug. 2 news release from the plaintiffs, Temecula Valley High School teacher Dawn Sibby said, “As a teacher, my role is to introduce my students to a broad range of viewpoints so they can learn to think critically and form their own opinions about the world. This ban has created a climate of fear in our classrooms, and it is preventing my students from learning about the history and diversity of our nation. I’m proud to be a plaintiff in this case to fight for my students, who deserve an education not censored by Board members’ ideological beliefs.”

Supervising Attorney of Public Counsel’s Opportunity Under Law project Amanda Mangaser Savage said, "A healthy democracy depends on classrooms that serve as a marketplace of ideas. The Board’s censorship is antithetical to the constitutional values of free speech and freedom from discrimination that are the foundation of this nation’s civic life. The resolution deprives Temecula’s students of the ability to think critically, act empathetically, and distinguish fact from fiction.”

On Thursday, the district released "a personal statement" from Komrosky, who serves as board president.

"While I and the Board will address and respond to the suit in due course through the Board’s counsel and the judicial process, I will simply note for now that, in my view, this suit effectively represents an effort by those behind it to secure the ability to use CRT and its precepts of division and hate as an instructional framework in our schools," Komrosky said. "As one of three trustees who voted for the resolution and who prioritizes the interests of our students and the rights of parents and legal guardians, I do not believe that CRT or any racist ideology is a suitable educational framework for classroom instruction at the elementary and secondary level."