SoCal school district vetoes social studies curriculum over LGBTQ

TEMECULA, Calif. - A contentious and at times acrimonious Temecula Valley Unified School District School Board meeting ended with the board vetoing the social studies curriculum proposed for the district’s elementary schools. At issue was pushback on LGBTQ+ issues by the three conservative members.

Board Member Jennifer Wiersma, is one of the three backed by the Inland Empire Family Pac, a far-right group that opposes LGBTQ+ rights, transparent sexual education curriculum, and so-called ‘Critical Race Theory’ although that material is not taught in K-12 schools anywhere in the United States.

During the discussion, Wiersma told other board members and the audience: “I don’t want my rd grader studying an LGBTQ issue. I don’t want them going into gender ideology.” Wiersma, supported by the other two conservatives, Danny Gonzalez and Dr. Joseph Komrosky, signaled that they were also opposed to any curriculum that included lessons or information about former openly gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk.

Milk along with LGBTQ+ ally, George Moscone, the 7th mayor of San Francisco, were assassinated by a homophobic former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White in their offices at city hall on November 27, 1 78.

“My question is, why even mention a pedophile ” asked Komrosky, referring to Milk.

Curriculum that deals with LGBTQ+ history is mandated under California’s FAIR Education Act, which was signed into law on July 1 , 2011, and went into effect on January 1, 2012. It amends the California Education Code to include the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful reference to contributions by people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ community in history and social studies curriculum.

Voting against the proposed elementary school social studies curriculum due to its inclusion of Milk will leave 11, 7 students without a social studies textbook for the next academic school year.

The frustration was evident in the testy public comments, many taking aim at the conservatives on the board. In a video of the meeting, one audience member can be heard shouting “ ou’re not qualified ou’re not qualified ’ at the board.

In a statement, Edgar Diaz, the president of the Temecula

Valley Educator Association said:

“We’ve never experienced this before. I’ve never heard of a top performing district or any district say you know what we are going to withhold these materials.”

The pilot social studies program, which included material approved by the California Department of Education, was approved by 7 Temecula Valley Unified Schools teachers who had taught the material in 18 elementary schools.

During the discussions, Board Member Allison Barclay, who voted to approve the new curriculum, told fellow members and the audience: “It was piloted, we followed every policy, and procedures. The options were out there for parents. Thirteen-hundred family’s kids learned from this curriculum. We did not receive any complaints.”

The California Education Code has been updated over time to ensure that the contributions of members of underrepresented racial, ethnic and cultural groups to the economic, political, and social development of California and the United States are included in history and social studies lessons.

To this end, California Education Code’s Social Content statute requires that instructional materials: Portray accurately and equitably the cultural and racial diversity of American society

Demonstrate the contribution of minority groups and males and females to the development of California and the U.S.

Emphasize people in varied, positive, and contributing roles in order to influence students’ school experiences constructively

Not contain inappropriate references to commercial brand names, products, and corporate or company logos

The three member conservative majority also alleged that district parents lacked having had sufficient opportunities for input into the new curriculum. In the mission credo of the Inland Empire Family PAC, it states the group was created to ensure parents are the final decision maker in the education of their children, not the Government.

School Board Member Steven Schwartz, who joined fellow board member Barclay said: “Parents didn’t respond. Whose fault is it that parents didn’t respond It’s their fault. Not our fault and not the teacher’s fault.”

The Temecula Valley Unified School District released the following statement:

“The district is currently extending the window for viewing and feedback on textbook materials that were piloted and recommended by our teachers. We will continue to gather additional community and parent feedback for the board.

At this time, we are not looking at changes with the publisher since TCI is a CDE approved curriculum that complies with the FAIR Act. TCI is also our approved Social Studies textbook at the middle school level.

We are working with TCI and our pilot teachers to provide additional parent community nights to share the materials again and provide an opportunity for additional questions. We want to ensure that parents and community members have as much information as possible and are able to provide even more feedback.

We are also working with the Riverside County Office of Education and CDE to explore next steps if the curriculum is not adopted. Our goal is to ensure we are compliant with the Williams Act and ensure the high quality instruction for students in TVUSD continues.”

A spokesperson for the Temecula Valley Educator Association said that there will be rallies On June 6 and June 1 to support the the new social studies curriculum.

Requests for comment from Dr. Joseph Komrosky, Temecula Valley Unified School District School Board’s president went unanswered.

By BRODY LEVESQUE