LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $1.5 million fine against the Temecula Valley Unified School District less than a day after conservative board members voted to reject the state-backed curriculum. which includes a brief biography of gay rights leader Harvey Milk.
In addition to the fine, the district will have to pay the $1.6 million shipping costs associated with shipping the materials to the district, something he previously promised to do if the board did not approve the material.
“After we deliver the textbooks to the students and their parents, the state will deliver the bill, along with a $1.5 million fine, to the school board for its decision to willfully violate the law, subvert the will of the parents and forcing children to use an out-of-print textbook from 17 years ago,” Newsom said in a statement Wednesday.
School board president Joseph Komrosky previously said he would reject such shipments, but school board members who voted in favor of the learning materials say they support the governor’s actions.
“It was a mistake to reject the curriculum,” board member Steven Schwartz said Wednesday. “When you play with fire, sometimes you get burned.”
Board member Allison Barclay said “it is devastating to hear of a fine of this magnitude.”
“Our students deserve the best, and I believe this new curriculum that has been tested by 47 teachers and 1,300 students is an excellent resource for our district,” he said in an email. “It is my hope that we can work with the state to comply and avoid any undue financial burden on our district that will only hurt our students in the end.”
None of the three conservative school board members responded to requests for comment.
But Newsom didn’t hold back from sharing his disapproval of Komrosky, Jennifer Wiersma and Danny Gonzalez.
“The three school board political activists have shown once again that they are more interested in breaking the law than doing their job of educating students, so the state will do their job for them,” Newsom said in a statement.
“California will ensure that Temecula students start the school year with access to parent-reviewed and teacher-recommended materials from across the district,” he added.
Tuesday night, during a nearly six-hour meeting that turned at times chaotic, three school board members backed by a conservative political action committee with ties to an evangelical church voted to reject supplementary materials for students. children from first to fifth grade.
The school board president called Milk a “pedophile,” while dozens of attendees, many from outside the school district, made impassioned speeches against teaching anything that references sex or homosexuality to elementary school students.
Opponents countered that Milk was an important California figure and advocate for underrepresented communities whose legacy is worthy of being taught in schools.
Many also argued that any mention of Milk would be limited to a short biography available only in supplementary materials and that changing the curriculum just four weeks before classes resumed would lead to confusion among teachers and their lesson plans.
“The fact that the state has to step in to provide curricular materials that comply with state law underscores the fact that the extremist majority on the board is unfit to govern and only listens to outside agitators rather than parents and local teachers,” said Jennee Scharf, a Temecula high school student. English teacher at school.
Scharf is among several educators and residents backing the removal of the three conservative school board members six months after they took office.
