Anthony Victoria: In the nine months since two conservatives joined the Redlands school board, a series of controversial policies that have ignited chaos at meetings have ultimately been passed. The board follows in the footsteps of other Inland Empire school boards that have passed similar policies in years prior. Here to discuss it all is KVCR reporter Madison Aument. Hey, Madison.
Madison Aument: Hello.
Anthony Victoria: So what policies has the Redlands school board passed this year?
Madison Aument: The Redlands school board has joined others like Temecula and Chino in delving into these culture war-type issues—things like what should be taught in classrooms and what’s tolerated at their schools. And many of these policies are really similar, if not exactly the same, as the policies passed by Temecula and Chino in the past few years.
Redlands began discussing these policies back in January, and since then, they’ve passed them piecemeal over the summer. In July, they banned all flags besides the American and California flag, which critics say is an indirect ban on Pride flags. And then last month, they passed two policies that deal with classroom materials and books. One makes it easier for people to make complaints about books that they perceive as pornographic, and the other is a blanket ban on obscenity in classroom materials and curriculum—but they never defined “obscenity,” so it’s really not clear what that means.
Anthony Victoria: That’s a lot, Madison. What’s the reaction been like?
Madison Aument: Well, people on both sides of these issues are really, really passionate about them, and so many of these meetings have lasted late into the night. One even lasted till 1 a.m., and these meetings have been progressively getting more chaotic.
The audience is packed into this tiny boardroom, so there’s often a large overflow crowd in the parking lot. But in the tiny boardroom, tensions are super high, and verbal fights are common. In July, the audience was completely removed from the boardroom when an argument broke out over a man taking photos of people and a woman that allegedly called a middle school student in the audience.
CROSSTALK
The audience also takes their frustration out on the board. Last month, the board walked into the room and critics chanted “Shame,” while supporters chanted “USA.”
SOUNDBITE OF CHANTING
And that went on for a few minutes.
Anthony Victoria: Wow. So what’s next here?
Madison Aument: Yeah, so the Redlands Teachers Association, or RTA, just filed a labor complaint with the State Public Employee Relations Board. RTA President Steven Caperton says the school district failed to negotiate the flag ban’s language with the union. He also says the flag ban infringes on union speech, which is protected by state law, and he says the policy is overly broad—so teachers are afraid they’ll be punished if they enforce the ban incorrectly.
A Redlands Unified spokesperson said they, quote, “respect their decision to pursue this matter through the appropriate legal process.” And there is some precedent here. After Temecula passed its flag ban a few years ago, the teachers union there filed a similar unfair labor complaint, and in that case, PERB ruled in favor of the teachers, and it forced the Temecula board to rescind its flag ban.
So the decision in Redlands could take some time, but there is precedent. And then in these other districts that have passed similar policies, they’ve been sued for these culture war-type issues. Critics in Redlands have said that’s likely to happen too, though none of those lawsuits have been filed yet.
Anthony Victoria: Thanks, Madison.
Madison Aument: No problem.
