Temecula School Board Drums Up New Angle On Controversial Policies

TEMECULA, CA — The Temecula Valley Unified School District governing board trustees met this week to summarily replace two controversial policies from 2024: flags in the classroom and parent notification, according to a recent article from the Press-Enterprise.

The proposals suggested by the board would direct school employees to integrate school counselors and principals into the loop when a student raises a question of gender or sexuality. The other, a policy on flags, would be to create a more "neutral classroom" to avoid division as was seen in college campuses during political and international conflict while "not stifling the ability of teachers to express themselves in their classrooms," according to Board President Melinda Anderson.

In December, the board decided to remove two "unfair labor practices" at schools at the behest of PERB. These included removing the teachers' task of notifying parents if their child wishes to be named a gender other than the one on their birth record and allowing flags of all kinds to be flown inside school classrooms.

That report states that the district violated the contract by implementing policies without negotiating "employee discipline." Trustee Steve Schwartz said in that meeting that the group's actions were "not necessarily illegal, but (policies) have to be negotiated if they affect the contract."

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According to this week's board meeting, those teacher contracts still need to be completed.

The discussions were forwarded to subcommittees, which will be determined later once administrators and the Temecula teachers' union "hammer out the details."

Commenters spoke, including teachers, a grandparent, and a parent. Read the full report on The Press-Enterprise here.

Watch the school board regular meeting here: