The board adopted a motion to recommend May 28 as voting deadline for President Komrosky’s Recall
Jessica Ussher, Investigative Reporter
At the regular Feb. 6 Temecula Valley Unified District (TVUSD) school board meeting, the board adopted a motion to recommend May 28 as the deadline for submission of votes recalling President Joseph Komrosky. Following the school board meeting, the recommendation is now under consideration by the Riverside Registrar of Voters and residents will likely cast their votes via mail.
Prior to agreeing to the recommended deadline of May 28, board members were divided. Jennifer Werisma initially suggested June 10 as the voter deadline, while Trustee Allison Barclay and Trustee Steven Schwartz recommended May 28. Wiersma stated “In my opinion as graduation is on June 6, it would be great to get through the full school year… a June 10 deadline gives board members the opportunity to go to graduation and enjoy that,” to which Barclay responded saying, “I’d like a May date..
President Komrosky did not contribute to the discussion concerning the recommended date for his recall and said, “I will excuse myself from the vote because I have a financial interest…I will pull out of this conversation other than [to say] I look forward to reintroducing my values to our community.”
The decision to recall President Komrosky came after the ban on Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Temecula schools, as well as the introduction of a flag policy limiting the flags flown on school grounds to the American flag and the California flag – unless prior approval is given by the Superintendent and the additional flag is for educational or instructional purposes.
Public comments regarding President Komrosky’s recall were also divided. Some residents stood in solidarity with Komrosky and reaffirmed their commitment to his leadership, while others drew reference to the alleged conservative policy agenda enacted by Komrosky.
“I was hoping that you would realize the harm you are causing and mend your ways. Unfortunately, my optimism was misplaced,” stated a Temecula community member. “You still haven’t put any policies in place that help students succeed academically, instead you have fostered a negative and unsafe environment within our community that consistently displaces and disrespects teachers, while you spend time on promoting personal political agendas” concluded the resident.”
Another community member said, “I am here in support of Dr Komrosky……His campaign platform very clearly states that his three top priorities are to defend parental rights, fight for excellence in education- through a proper curriculum, say no to CRT and CSE, and reduce harmful radiation and excessive EMF exposure to students and staff. He did exactly what he campaigned for and exactly what the people who voted him in wanted him to do.”
The funding of the recall campaign also came under scrutiny by community members who felt there was inappropriate bias within the TVUSD board itself. One resident stated, “I have an issue with Steven Schwartz donating to the recall, I think that that’s a little biased. I have an issue with him walking and knocking on doors and campaigning.” Another community member highlighted funding for the recall coming from institutions that have been previously critiqued by the TVUSD board majority. “The teachers union is funded by taxpayers and has financially donated to the recall, contradicting taxpayers’ votes. The Teachers Curriculum Institute (TCI) [which supplied the] curriculum imposed on the school district after our majority board questioned it, also financially contributed to the recall, $10,000 to be exact, and you Mr Schwartz have also donated and supported this recall.”
The community member went on to pose a rhetorical question to the board saying, “In contrast, who is against this recall? Parents and community members who desperately wanted to see a change in our district. Parents and community members who desperately want our schools to go back to basics, to stick to just academics, and to keep politics, propaganda, and filth out of our schools. As the recall moves forward I implore voters to conduct thorough research and become informed on the matter. Only then can you decide whether to support or oppose Dr. Komrosky. Upon discovering the facts, I am confident that many will be aware of how much our community stands to lose if the recall succeeds and many will recognize the recall as a deceptive scheme perpetrated by extremists.”
Other residents urged Dr Komrosky to reflect on the methods he has chosen to implement the policies that have been scrutinized. “I ask you to consider the concern that has been raised about the broad-stroked policies of flag banning. These policies have violated laws and have been found to be discriminatory. This isn’t the right platform to be fighting laws and playing politics.”
While fact-checking for this article, Valley News couldn’t find any laws that were violated by the new TVUSD flag policy.
Jessica Alexander, councilwoman for the city of Temecula thanked President Komrosky for his courage and boldness and said, “I am not representing the City but am representing myself and the constituents and the residents and the kids of this city. You have passed everything you have promised since your campaign. You have stood against profanity, obscenity, vulgarity, pornography, and erotica that are only destroying our children’s minds, hearts, and souls. I endorsed you last year along with Chad Bianco and several other people within this community. You have plenty of support and I truly believe that you have the support of this community. I know that God and his people put you there for a purpose, I know you are going to remain in that seat for the next 3 years, so I will support you no matter what.”
Directly challenging Alexander’s comment was another resident who stated that their support for the recall was due to bad governance. Challenging Komrosky, the resident said, “You proudly proclaim you kept your campaign promises, but keeping campaign promises that are illegal is wrong and counter-productive especially when those promises negate the very existence and discriminate against minority community members”. The resident continued, comparing Komrosky to Adolf Hitler stating that “Hitler promised to create a race of racially pure Germans in a campaign to racially cleanse the world. You don’t realize that you’re the bad guy. In your capacity as the president, you have tried to erase the contributions of people of color and the LGBT community. You have created a policy that denies freedom of speech with your flag policy”.
While fact-checking, Valley News couldn’t verify any illegal campaign promises by Dr. Komrosky.
Many audience members reacted to a resident’s public comment stating that “Not only should Dr Komrosky not be recalled, he needs to be cloned,” said a community member “We need one of him across school districts in California…a man bold and brave enough to hold the line, protect children and stand for parental rights and keep the destructive ideology and inappropriate content out of the classroom.”
Although there was clear polarization among the audience attendees of the TVUSD board meeting, the TVUSD board reached a recommended deadline of May 28, 2024, for the Riverside Registrar of Voters to consider. Their position will be confirmed in due course.
