Temecula Valley USD Possibly Violating Students' Civil Rights: CA AG

TEMECULA, CA — The Temecula Valley Unified School District governing board majority adopted another policy Tuesday night that raises a red flag at the state level, but the TVUSD board president proclaimed that California leaders can't do anything about it.

In a 3-2 vote, with trustees Steven Schwartz and Allison Barclay dissenting, the board adopted a policy that requires the district to quickly notify students' parents if their child wants to be identified by a gender other than what is shown on official records. This includes students who want to use names different from their legal names or use pronouns that don't align with their biological sex per official records.

The policy is identical to one adopted earlier this month by the Murrieta Valley Unified School District, and also identical to one put in place last month by the Chino Valley Unified School District.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement Wednesday about the TVUSD vote. He said the new district policy is "detrimental to the well-being of LGBTQ+ students" and may be illegal.

A state investigation is underway into the policy initiated by the CVUSD.

“The rise in school districts adopting policies that target California’s vulnerable LGBTQ+ student population is of grave concern,” Bonta said Wednesday. “My office is closely monitoring the situation and will not tolerate districts compromising the safety and privacy of transgender and gender nonconforming students. We will remain committed to ensuring school policies do not violate students’ civil rights.”

During Tuesday's TVUSD meeting, Board President Dr. Joseph Komrosky taunted Bonta, Gov. Gavin Newsom and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

"If [the policy] was illegal, it would have been shut down by now," Komrosky said. "They [Bonta, Newsom and Thurmond] haven't done anything because they can't. They just want to troll our school district and I'm tired of it."

The policy opens the district up to another lawsuit, Schwartz said.

Requiring teachers to notify parents about their trans kids is a "slippery slope," Barclay added, explaining that the TVUSD is forcing educators to choose between adhering to state law or adhering to the district policy.

Komrosky, along with TVUSD Trustees Jennifer Wiersma and Danny Gonzalez, argued the district has an obligation to keep parents in the loop on all issues pertaining to their kids.

Barclay, Schwartz and several public speakers at Wednesday's meeting argued the policy lacks guardrails to protect trans kids who may not have support at home.

Not all kids have tolerant parents, they said.

Those kids need a safe place to turn, Schwartz explained of children who confide in teachers and/or school counselors.

Parents should know if their child is exploring another identity — "if they don't, they're not paying attention," one public speaker said.

She continued, "This isn't about parental rights, it's an abdication of parental responsibility."

The new policy comes after a string of controversial moves by the board majority — Komrosky, Wiersma and Gonzalez — which is backed by the Inland Empire Family PAC. The PAC works "to stop the indoctrination of our children by placing candidates on school boards who will fight for Christian and conservative values," according to its website.

Since their November election to the board, Komrosky, Wiersma and Gonzalez have banned any murmur of critical race theory; held a controversial and costly critical race theory "panel" that many TVUSD teachers dubbed "indoctrination camp"; they censored education about California's gay rights movement; have defied the state's education code; fired the district superintendent; hired their own team of attorneys at taxpayers' expense to defend against ongoing lawsuits over their actions; have sparked numerous TVUSD student protests; and put the district in a negative national spotlight.

The three board members are facing the threat of recall. Read more here: Recall Of 3 Temecula Valley USD Trustees Gains Local, National Support