Recall election succeeds in ousting Temecula school board president

Voters in Temecula Valley have ousted school board president Joseph Komrosky in a recall election.

Komrosky joined the board in November 2022, after which he formed a conservative majority alongside two other newly elected members. Together, they implemented a number of policies that drew national attention, state ire, and local division.

Just over 9,700 people cast votes in the recall. Komrosky lost by just over 200.

That leaves the Temecula Valley Unified School Board with just three members, after another conservative member, Danny Gonzalez, resigned in December to move to Texas.

Komrosky said that, given the narrow margin, he will likely run again in November.

If it doesn't work out, "it has been an honor to serve the Temecula community, and I am proud to have fulfilled all of my campaign promises as an elected official," he told LAist by email. "My commitment to protecting the innocence of our children in Temecula schools remains unwavering."

What the board's done

In the last two years, the board majority has:

• Fired the superintendent;
• Restricted classroom instruction about race;
• Passed a “parent notification policy” that required schools to notify parents if a child goes by a different gender at school than what’s on their record; or experiences bullying or shows intention to do self-harm.

A group of community members sued TVUSD for both the race and parent notification policies, which a judge has let stand for now.

The district also found itself without a social studies curriculum after the board rejected state-backed textbooks that included LGBTQ+ content. That set off an investigation from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to ship textbooks to the district anyway, bill them for the cost, and fine them on top of it.

Just weeks before this past school year started, the board adopted most of the original curriculum, in order to satisfy a state law that requires having "sufficient textbooks or instructional materials" in place, at risk of legal action.

All those moves unsettled many Temecula Valley parents, leading to the recall petition.

"Komrosky’s rule is littered with financial mismanagement, intentionally divisive behavior, state agency investigations — in short, he is driving TVUSD off a cliff," the recall measure's backers wrote in their voter guide statement.

How can I stay informed about the school board?

The TVUSD school board meets Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. throughout the school year.

Past meetings are also available online.