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This article was produced by Capital & Main. It is published here with permission.
For weeks, residents in Temecula have gathered signatures for a recall in an effort to break the far-right majority on the local school board, whose conservative edicts have left students, parents and teachers in turmoil.
This week, Danny Gonzalez, a member of the conservative majority, did it for them when he submitted his resignation, effective Friday. The board had typically split 3-2 as it enacted its policies.
Gonzalez listed his Temecula home in October, and sold it this week. Gonzalez told The Press Enterprise in a text that he is moving to Texas “for the next couple years.”
“We have decided to live out on our 40 acre ranch and raise cattle and horses.” In a letter to district staff, Gonzalez said, “It was a privilege to serve the Temecula community.”
Gonzalez did not announce his departure at the board’s most recent meeting this week. However, he gave remarks that resembled a farewell speech at the conclusion of the meeting .
“I am really proud of the accomplishments of this board this year,” Gonzalez said. “It’s rare when a community elects somebody to do something and they do exactly what they said they were going to do, down to the letter, and this community elected three of them.”
He also accused fellow board member Steven Schwartz, who is Jewish, of having “vile contempt” for Christians.
“I don’t know how people who claim to be Christians can have so much hate in their hearts,” Schwartz said in response.
Gonzalez did not respond to Capital & Main’s request for a comment.
The resignation comes just a week after volunteers from the One Temecula Valley PAC submitted more than 5,200 signatures calling for a recall of the school board’s president, Joseph Komrosky. Gonzalez and Jennifer Wiersma, another member of the conservative bloc, were also targeted for recall but the PAC elected to focus on Komrosky instead. Neither Komrosky nor Wiersma responded to a request for comment.
The conservative trio enacted bans of critical race theory; created a forced outing policy for transgender and nonbinary students; and recently changed board policy to ban “pervasive pornography,” profanity and vulgarity from district learning materials. The recent ban stems from a parent’s complaint that her daughter was assigned to read the play Angels in America, which examines the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.
Gonzalez’s resignation comes as a blow to the conservative effort to push the school district to the right, a trend in many suburban school districts across the nation.
This week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a brief in support of a motion by Temecula students, parents and educators to halt the enforcement of policies that forbid instruction about race and gender and force teachers to out students to their parents.
The motion is part of a lawsuit that was filed by a coalition of parents, teachers and students in August. A hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction, which would prevent the board from enforcing the policies while the case proceeds, is scheduled for January.
“The attorney general’s message is clear. Every student in California deserves a secure and inclusive school environment, which is critical to the health of our democracy,” said Amanda Mangaser Savage, a senior attorney at Public Counsel who is representing the plaintiffs. “They’re being denied essentially for preparation for college, for careers, and then maybe even most importantly, for participation in a diverse and multiracial democracy.”
The board will hold a special meeting Dec. 18 to consider appointing someone to fill Gonzalez’s seat. The appointment process would include advertising the post and creating a subcommittee made up of two board members to confirm the eligibility of any applicants. Prospective school board members would then be interviewed at a public board meeting. A board majority would need to approve the appointee, which may be difficult given the board’s new 2-2 split.
“This year has been part of our community, and the school board has been chaotic and contentious. This news means that we can breathe a sigh of relief,” said David Matics, co-founder of One Temecula Valley PAC. “But the work isn’t done. A 2-2 split board can still prevent our students from having textbooks at the start of the year or delay paying teachers the cost of living adjustments they’ve earned.”
If the board does not make an appointment, a special election will be held.The winner would serve the remainder of Gonzalez’s term, which runs until December 2026.
Schwartz said a special election could cost up to $200,000. “I don’t want to call a special election. The board has already wasted enough money.” Since the conservative members were elected, the district’s legal costs have risen from roughly $17,000 in 2022 to more than $81,000 this year — an increase of about 377%. “I want to get back to focusing on the children.”
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