JESSICA GREENWELL, HOST: In the year since the Temecula Valley School Board voted to ban critical race theory, the controversial decisions have continued. The board's conservative Christian majority has attracted national attention and pitted itself against the state, along with a handful of other school boards in the Inland Empire and beyond. Here to discuss it all is KVCR reporter Madison Aument.
GREENWELL: Hi, Madison.
MADISON AUMENT, BYLINE: Hi, Jessica.
GREENWELL: So you mentioned band and critical race theory. What other decisions did Temecula’s school board and others in the region make?
AUMENT: You know, it was really a year where the school boards delved into the culture wars over what's taught in classrooms and what's tolerated in schools. So after critical race theory, the Temecula school board wanted to ban the state social studies textbook because it mentioned gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Ultimately, Temecula’s board relented when the governor threatened to find them $1.5 million. Then the Chino Valley school board adopted a policy that requires school staff to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender. It rippled through the state in Temecula, Murrieta, and even in some northern California districts. Then Temecula and Chino also banned flags in classrooms besides the American and California flags. Critics called that a ban on gay pride flags. And then both districts pass policies to ban sexually explicit material, although it's not clear what that means.
GREENWELL: That's a lot. What's the reaction to all of this been?
AUMENT: Well people have been really riled up. The board meetings throughout the year have been wild, and a lot of them have gone on until the middle of the night. Just to give you a sense, in Temecula, the board president often threw people out, including the entire audience sometimes. He's actually facing a civil rights lawsuit for that. And in Chino, Sonja Shaw, who's the board president, got into a shouting match with California Secretary of Education, Tony Thurmond. Here we can have a listen.
SONJA SHAW: You're in Sacramento, proposing things that pervert children.
AUMENT: You can hear the crowd going crazy. It’s total chaos.
SHAW: You are the very reason why we're in this.
TONY THURMOND: May I have as a point of order as the board?
(SOUNDBITE OF CROWD YELLING)
SHAW: This is not your meeting…
AUMENT: Security actually escorted Thurmond out of the meeting. But Shaw was articulating what a lot of people who support these policies think… that they don't really feel represented by state government. But they feel like they have a voice at these local school board meetings. Still public comment at these meetings has been pretty evenly split.
GREENWELL: So some people feel like they're not heard on the state level. Is there a broader context here?
AUMENT: You know, it's largely a continuation of groups that formed during the pandemic to oppose mask and vaccine mandates. And after seeing the curriculum, their kids were being taught on Zoom. They want to restore what they call parental rights at schools here that's meant transgender notification policies and restricting the curriculum. I also think it's worth noting that many of the school board members pushing these policies have gotten a lot of support from evangelical megachurch pastors in the region. Now, the policies have drawn a lot of lawsuits. California's Attorney General is suing Chino over its forced outing policy. He says it violates students rights in his discriminatory and a group of teachers and parents is suing the Temecula school board too.
GREENWELL: So what's next here?
AUMENT: Well, in Temecula. There's a recall underway for the Board's president, the registrar certifying the signatures, and one of the Conservative members Danny Gonzalez quit earlier this month. That leaves a two to two deadlock until they appoint somebody, possibly in February. And in Chino, three board seats are up for election in 2024, including two held by conservative members. And Shaw, who we heard from earlier in Chino, changed the rules to give herself another year as president. And those various lawsuits we discussed earlier…we'll see how those play out.
GREENWELL: I'm Jessica Greenwell in conversation with KVCR reporter Madison Aument Thanks for your time, Madison.
AUMENT: Thanks, Jessica.