Anderson, Barham step immediately into leadership roles, promise new way forward for TVUSD
From left, Melinda Anderson, Joe Komrosky, Emil Barham, Steve Schwartz (not pictured) are sworn into their seats on the TVUSD Governing Board of Trustees on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024.
New look board seeks to end chaos, focus on students
By 1TVPAC Team
TEMECULA — If you’re familiar with the atmosphere of Temecula Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees meetings over the past two years, the start of Tuesday night’s Open Session looked very familiar.
“I want to continue some discussion here,” Emil Barham said to Jen Wiersma during a vote on who would become board president for the current term. “You have assumed no responsibility for what has taken place here in the last two years … and I think that you are accountable for a lot of things, okay.
“I researched what took place with those two orders that we have to rescind tonight. I've talked to attorneys, lawyers speaking to the policies. They told me that they advised you to proceed with a certain path and that you and Dr. Komrosky ignored them and were reckless.”
The discussion became more contentious when Barham accused Wiersma of attempting to influence his vote.
“I'm going to be honest with you (Wiersma) right here in public, what you did in terms of calling every single person in town to try to sway and influence my vote and to have people call me and threaten me if I don't get in line with how things are supposed to be,” Barham said.
Trustee Wiersma responded by calling Trustee Barham a liar.
When asked by Barham if it happened, Anderson agreed that she had experienced the same threats.
“Saying two board members were reckless, I think it's unprofessional, especially for the first night,” Komrosky chimed in. “I'm just saying the truth and that's how you might have had perceptions of it, but we've had sound legal advice.”
“I just want to say I think it's really important that whoever is the president of the board (should) remove emotion and realize this is a professional setting,” Anderson said. “I know that we're going to have a lot of hot topic items that we're going to be discussing in the future and I think that becoming emotional makes it hard for all of us to communicate. I think it feeds over into the public, it makes the public emotional, and my goal is really to have civil debate in this boardroom and that is the reason that I'm willing to be the president.”
Ultimately, Anderson was voted into the Board President seat with a 3-2 vote, Wiersma and Komrosky voting against.
Barham was elected board clerk, with the vote 5-0.
Watch the Board Organization portion of the meeting at https://youtu.be/_I4F8CsmXrI?t=2109.
During the board’s CSBA delegate nominations, Wiersma and Schwartz engaged in another heated exchange.
Wiersma said she would not support Schwartz’s nomination, citing hearsay as her reasoning.
“I think at this point and understanding some of the things that he's communicated in an unprofessional way and I know it because I was at CSBA and people would tell me,” Wiersma said.
Schwartz shot back.
“Am I to understand that Mrs. Wiersma is spying on me again and making accusations about rumors that other people spread, how denigrating to me,” he said. “... It’s just so disgraceful.”
The situation was ultimately resolved by nominating both Schwartz and Komrosky as delegates to CSBA.
Watch the Board CSBA Delegate portion of the meeting at https://youtu.be/_I4F8CsmXrI?t=4706.
In other important actions:
The board was forced to rescind both the Parental Notification policy and the Flag policy after the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) ruled in favor of the Temecula Valley Educators’ Association (TVEA), the charging party.
TVEA had filed a complaint for unfair labor practices because the previous board majority had pushed these policies through without following proper process or negotiation — against sound legal advice.
“It does appear that the previous board missed some steps in this process and now we are having to possibly start over,” Barham said. “On January 1st, 2025, AB1955 goes into effect, making parental notification illegal. As a school board, we are an arm of the state and are compelled by our oath to the Constitution of the United States and to the state of California, that Constitution as well, to follow the law.”
The meeting continued with the First Interim Budget report for the district, which provided public information and resulted in a positive certification vote. The district maintains adequate reserves due to the foresight of previous boards — who insisted on maintaining double the state-required reserves — and the diligence of district staff.
As a result, no cuts to programs or layoffs are anticipated despite the state budget deficit. Watch: https://youtu.be/_I4F8CsmXrI?t=9713.
The board discussed their subcommittees, which is a group of two board members who work on a specific issue with district staff and bring their progress and recommendations to the full board. Existing subcommittees are Board Policy Review and Drug Awareness. Dr. Anderson offered to replace a previous trustee and serve on the Drug Awareness subcommittee with Wiersma. Barham and Komrosky formed an Accountability & Goals subcommittee. Schwartz and Wiersma formed a Student Board Member subcommittee.
One Temecula Valley PAC’s take:
Fresh start: We were pleased to see Anderson, Barham, and Schwartz take the position of moving forward with a fresh start and new school board officers. Anderson and Barham established themselves as prepared, properly researched the agenda and focused on “new board” and “students first” for the future, both identifying the chaos, lack of professionalism and lack of accomplishments of the last two years. All three showed a strong desire for things to change toward the positive.
Airing of past grievances: Unfortunately, Komrosky and Wiersma once again complained about perceived wrongs they claim to have endured over the past two years. Their unwillingness to use their seats for change and improvement over the chaos of the past two years speaks volumes about their inability to see beyond their personal, political agendas. Examples: Wiersma’s inability to leave her inappropriate Aug. 27 grandstanding speech behind, complaining about wanting it on the record; Komrosky’s repeated mentions of his recall, TVEA President Edgar Diaz, and what he perceives as personal attacks; both Wiersma and Komrosky attempting at every turn to slam fellow board member Schwartz.
Lawlessness? Not so fast: Three board members are committed to following the rules and laws; two are hellbent on breaking the law. In the last two years, both Wiersma and Komrosky violated the rules that govern their conduct as board members, circumventing established board policies and district processes in order to pass illegal policies. In contrast, Barham emphasized the need to follow state law, and Anderson studied policies and procedures governing board conduct. Both came to the meeting prepared and following the rules, just as Schwartz has done for his four years on the board.
The coronation that wasn’t: As pleasing as it was to see three board members aiming for a new start at creating a board that functions legally and professionally, Wiersma, Komrosky and their supporters seemed blindsided and angry that Anderson and Barham didn’t “fall into line.” In Public Comments, Komrosky supporters lashed out at the new board president and clerk, seemingly shocked that the voting block Komrosky and Wiersma wanted didn’t come to pass. They lashed out at voters who supported other candidates and at 1TVPAC members, saying they are all “satanists, pedophiles, and transvestites.”
The Final Word
While we are encouraged by the direction that three of the now seated members seemingly want to take this version of the board, and celebrate the good governance approach each displayed on Tuesday night, we know how low the other two board members will stoop in order to put their personal and political ideologies above all else.
Whereas Wiersma saw her service for two years as leadership, the truth is she was nothing more than a saboteur working to sink the TVUSD ship, and it was obvious to those who were paying attention, including incoming members. Komrosky’s narrow (less than 200 votes) return to the dais means he will continue to work to defund public schools in Temecula.
The mission stated by 1TVPAC since its inception — good governance for all our residents — is still very much in jeopardy at TVUSD. But we will continue to show up, engage with elected officials, and inform the public about our local government, reporting both the good and the bad that occur.
The next meeting of the TVUSD Board of Education will be Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
