Politixia
The Temecula Valley Unified school board on Tuesday night, Aug. 22, is discussing a policy to notify parents if their students are transgender, becoming the latest Southern California board to consider such rules.
Like earlier sessions, it was another crowded, contentious, school board meeting. By 5 p.m., 50 to 100 people waited in the parking lot outside the Temecula Valley Unified School District office and the crowd gradually grew. Half a dozen sheriff’s deputies looked on.
RELATED: Temecula schools could become latest to tell parents if child is transgender
Most of the crowd was divided into two groups. Those with rainbow pride flags and clothing were scattered across one. Those holding American flags, “Protect Family Bonds” signs and “Leave Our Kids Alone” T-shirts were mixed into the other.
Several people said entry tickets were to be handed out at 4:30 p.m., but were instead passed out about 3:45 p.m. The change resulted from the crowd’s early arrival, James Vickery, the district’s safety/security director, said.
“For safety reasons, we had to sign them up early,” he said.
The Temecula Valley Unified School District’s proposed policy is similar to those approved respectively in July and August by boards of the Chino Valley and Murrieta Valley school districts. Both those policies were part of the the agenda item as supporting documents. Also, last week, the Orange Unified School District board began discussing such regulations.
The policy, proposed by board President Joseph Komrosky and Jen Wiersma, would, among other things, require school staff to notify parents or guardians if their student asks to be treated or identified as a gender other than what’s listed on the student’s birth certificate or other official records, or uses facilities or participates in a sports program different from the one corresponding to their birth gender.
Komrosky and Wiersma, along with board member Danny Gonzalez, form a conservative board majority and were elected by voters in November. There is currently a recall effort underway seeking to remove the trio.
Discussion of the item has resembled what occurred in the other districts: Supporters spoke about parents’ rights, while those against the policy voiced concern for students’ safety and privacy.
Temecula resident Ryan Ramirez arrived about 4 p.m. to get a ticket, but they had run out. His kids attend district schools, he said, and he showed up to support the parental notification policy.
“There’s been a lot of added, extra things on top of just the parental notification that people are trying to make this about,” Ramirez said. “I think all it really is, is that parents just want to be informed of what’s going on in their kids’ lives. And that’s it.”
“To be able to tell us that we don’t have, we can’t be a part of something that might happen in our child’s lives is wrong.”
“A lot of people on our side get called homophobes, transphobic, and this phobic and that phobic, and that’s actually not the truth,” he said. “Many of us are Christians. We love everybody, and we have respect for everybody,” even if “we may not agree with someone’s lifestyle.”
A group of four district high school students sat amidst the crowd, doing homework and drawing LGBTQ+ support signs. They opposed the policy.
“It’s not fair to (students),” said Topaz Cook, 15, who is transgender. “We have a right to choose when we want to come out.”
Cook said their mother is supportive, but that’s not the case for everyone.
Cook considered speaking at the meeting, but said “if I speak, it’s not gonna make any difference.”
“They know it’s illegal,” Cook said of the policy and of board members. “They don’t care.”
Sophomore Zoe Sullivan-Douglass said “school isn’t about parents,” but “about students and learning.”
“I think teachers are pretty amazing people,” she said. “To feel like I can say anything to them and still feel safe, is a pretty big deal.”
Topa Black Calf, 15, said students’ mental health would be affected if they have to suppress “a very integral part of their identities.”
He said it’s detrimental to a school system that “supposedly wants the best for their students’ mental health.”
“It just kind of does the opposite.”
The public portion of the meeting began about 6:30 p.m., in front of a packed room of about 120 people.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
