OPINION: Extreme Leftist Trustees and Surrogates Bully Lone Conservative at Temecula Board Mtg

The questionable and dangerous practice of extreme leftists, that of gender transitioning children without their parent’s knowledge, raised its ugly head again at the Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) board meeting on August 27, 2024, in Southern California. At issue was an already passed board policy that would have parents notified, the legal issues that surround the policy, and the Superintendent’s blind obedience to the California Department of Education (CDE) without notifying the board of his unauthorized actions. 

It was a perfect opportunity for leftist board members Steve Schwartz and Allison Barclay to team up with their extreme leftist political operatives in the audience to chide and condescend lone conservative (and voice of reason) board member, Jen Wiersma. In other words, they bullied Wiersma to the point where the leftists took their ball and went home rather than give Wiersma time to speak—after spending an entire meeting berating her at every opportunity.

Board policy 5020.01, which required parents to be notified if there was an attempt being made to secretly gender transition their children, was passed by the TVUSD board in August of 2023. Although the California Duma, sometimes called the legislature, reacted to California citizens wants and needs at the local level by passing a law to prevent schools from notifying parents of the life-altering (and at times ending (LINK BRAD) trauma their children are suffering, that law (AB 1955) does not go into effect until January of 2025. Even then, legal challenges to the law have been filed and an injunction against implementation of the law has been requested in the courts.

Before the law even went into effect, the CDE began “investigating” TVUSD for “violating the law”. Due to the legal challenges yet decided, and a court decision in favor of the board policy, Wiersma ignored the CDE actions. The CDE’s “investigation” had violated the law and demanded that the TVUSD at once send out a notice that the district would not enforce the board policy. 

The CDE communications were being received by TVUSD superintendent, Dr. Gary Woods, who decided to take unilateral action against a duly passed board policy and change it without notifying the board.

On July 25, 2024, Woods sent a letter to all TVUSD stakeholders, using the language and format demanded by the CDE, that the TVUSD board would not enforce board policy and would not notify parents of secretive gender transitioning at school.

On August 27, 2024, Wiersma, in her capacity as the clerk and presiding officer of the board, placed an Action item on the agenda in the form of an open letter regarding the board policy, the CDE findings, and the unauthorized action of the Superintendent. Wiersma clearly explained the board’s authority and why the CDE actions jumped the gun in its investigation as the law that the district supposedly violated has not even taken effect yet and is likely to be delayed by the courts until the constitutionality of the state law is decided.

In addition, Wiersma pointed out that in February 2024, a California Superior Court judge found:

“that BP 5020.01 did not violate students’ constitutional rights stating, “the District’s purpose in involving parents in the decision-making process and restoring trust is furthered by mandatory parental notification . . . The Policy is rationally related to legitimate governmental interests.” 

Thus, the court action trumps the CDE investigation and there was no reason to change the board parental notification policy at this time, stating:

“Regarding the prior communication from TVUSD about Board Policy 5020.01, I did not and do not agree with it. Neither the CDE nor the Superintendent of TVUSD has the authority to change or invalidate any aspect of the policy passed by the duly elected school board and upheld by a state superior court judge. Short of a court order, a valid and effective legal statutory requirement, or other valid and effective legal requirement, only the Board can make such an invalidation. Any future proposed Board policy, including changes to an existing policy, must be placed on the Board’s agenda, with public comment allowed, and passed by a majority vote of the duly elected TVUSD Board in open session. In addition, in this situation, all available legal options should have been explored, including seeking reconsideration of the CDE’s decision and challenging it in court, and second and third opinions from counsel should have been obtained, before providing communication to our families and community on such a complex, novel, and currently undecided set of legal issues that directly implicate fundamental parental rights. While I acknowledge that as an individual Trustee, I cannot override or prescribe a different action from the Superintendent’s letter published to parents and the community, technically and legally the policy still stands as written and passed by the Board on August 22, 2023.”

Leftist Meltdown

As per board policy and state law, the action item was open for public comment. There were seven members of the public that commented on the action item, most seemed to belong to the extreme leftist political organization One Temecula Valley PAC, and/or supporters of the board members Schwartz and Barclay. One commenter appeared to be wearing a campaign shirt for Barclay and Schwartz and was sitting with another commenter that sported a One Temecula Valley shirt.

The amount of vitriol, condescension, ignorance, and self-righteousness by Schwartz, Barclay, and their surrogates was as astounding as it was atrocious. A common theme was that Wiersma had no right to write her letter or place the action item on the agenda. Notably, one commenter did offer support to Wiersma and was a voice of common sense.

But Wiersma did have that right, and she even attached the underlying board policy to the action item that states:

“Any Board member or member of the public may request that a matter within the jurisdiction of the Board be placed on the agenda of a regular meeting.”  Which begs the question, are Schwartz, Barclay, and their surrogates willfully ignorant or simply intellectually lazy and dishonest?

Shut Down

At the conclusion of public comment period, before Wiersma could complete a sentence, board member Schwartz “called the question” and board member Barclay seconded it—the board is currently functioning with two empty trustee seats. “Calling the question” is a parliamentary procedure which is meant to be used to end endless debate and vote on an agenda item. Schwartz and Barclay used the procedure in an attempt to prevent Wiersma from expressing her opinions on the item. 

In any case, a simple brave search on “calling the question” will show that the presiding officer has the power to not entertain the procedure (calling the question) and proceed with discussion/debate—which Wiersma did. However, as ignorant petulant children tend to do, Barclay and Schwartz (with their surrogates clapping like seals at times, argued that since they called the question Wiersma had to move on. 

The amount of misogyny displayed by board member Schwartz as he incorrectly explained parliamentary procedure to Wiersma was inexcusable. Barclay too, dripped with condescension in her (also incorrect) procedure explanations.

After some arguments between the board members, the meeting broke down for a few minutes. Upon returning to session, Wiersma attempted to explain how she, as the presiding officer, had the right to not entertain the calling the question. Barclay and Schwartz, however, remained steadfast in their ignorance until they ultimately walked out of the meeting, which brought the meeting to an end.

Watch the highlights of the meeting here:

One Temecula Valley PAC

One Temecula Valley PAC is not really a PAC in the traditional sense, as it is not registered with the IRS or the California Department of Justice as a non-profit. The PAC is registered with the County of Riverside as a fundraising committee.

According to records, TVUSD board member Steve Schwartz has given a total of $120.00 to the fund-raising committee. Was there any coordination between Schwartz, Barclay, and their surrogates about how they handled Wiersma’s action item?

Many donations to One Temecula Valley PAC come from area teachers and others in education, both individually and as a group. For instance, in May of 2024, the Temecula Valley Educators Association donated $3,000. Records also show that the One Temecula Valley PAC treasurer, David Matics, himself a network technician for nearby Hemet School District, has given at least $6,000 to the committee. The CEO of Teachers Curriculum Institute, which sells curriculum, donated at least $10,000 in 2023. In addition, the committee received over $20,000 from the committee formed to raise funds for the recall of three Temecula school board members, which Matics also controlled. Matics also transferred over $6,000 from his Matics for Temecula City Council fundraising committee. The committee has about $40,000 on hand.

One Temecula Valley PAC lists two partners on its website, Temecula Has a Heart and Temecula Valley Unity. Temecula Valley Has a Heart links to the Facebook page of One Temecula Valley PAC, where it spreads disinformation, malinformation, and advocates for highly partisan and unconstitutional agendas in education that are destroying families across America. The Partner Temecula Valley Unity links to a Facebook page that seems nothing more than a fundraising page for board members Barclay and Schwartz.

The screenshot of Temecula One’s website above, which predominantly displays the hateful symbol of the LGBTQ+(12%$ and whatever else they have added)/BLM movements, which are closely associated with Antifa, tells you all you need to know about the damage that organization is willing to inflict on our society. What is not known, is if board members Barclay and Schwartz are collaborating and choregraphing meetings with their political activist associates.