Pardue sets deceptive tone for first meeting as MVUSD board president

The newly-formed MVUSD School Board was seated at the Dec. 17, 2024 meeting. Youtube/MVUSD

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MURRIETA — The tone was set early by the leaders of the Murrieta Valley Unified School Board as new members were sworn in and officers were elected at the Dec. 17 meeting. New board members Christine Schmidt and Eleanor Briggs quickly fell in line with trustee Nick Pardue to elect him president. Pardue openly campaigned for both Briggs and Schmidt prior to the election.

Pardue’s first order of business was to call for the election of board clerk and his first action as president quickly revealed his governing style. As new board member Yvonne Munoz nominated trustee Nancy Young, Pardue immediately voiced his objection. 

“At CSBA (California School Board Association conference) we did make an attempt to get our governing team together and on no occasion did Ms. Young attend,” Pardue stated. “For me, that is a significant problem. The lack of willingness to work together as a team is the reason I’m against this particular vote.”

It quickly became clear that Pardue’s objection was lacking important context. 

“To my knowledge, there was a conversation between Mr. Pardue and Nancy Young,” Munoz said. “Maybe not in the forum that he would have liked, but that did occur. So let’s be honest. Let’s be transparent. The community deserves that.”

Pardue also failed to mention Schmidt did not attend CSBA events. Young later confirmed Pardue’s initial objection to her nomination was not accurate.

“I will confirm that Mr. Pardue and I did meet at CSBA,” she said.

Munoz, who nominated Young for the position, referred to her experience as the reason she should serve in the leadership role. 

“We should be making decisions in the best interest of the community, which would be putting people in positions that are qualified to undertake the responsibilities,” Munoz added.

Pardue tried to clear up his previous statement by specifying Young was not able to meet during a particular timeframe of the CSBA conference. 

“We had two opportunities as a governing body,” Pardue said. “To be able to meet each other and have cordial relationships, to get to know each other and that did not happen.”

It should be noted, Pardue’s first two years of service on the school board was rife with personal attacks toward fellow board members and community members from his seat on the dais.

He failed to clarify how Schmidt’s absence at CSBA would have made this possible. Pardue also made a point to clarify that experience does not matter for board positions.

“Everyone is qualified to serve as a clerk or as a president,” he added. “There is no requirement to be here for two years.” 

With the help of Schmidt, Pardue was able to get his politically-aligned ally Briggs elected to the board clerk position. 

Even as Munoz stressed the importance of demonstrating good-faith leadership, Pardue was determined to reward his allies with key board positions. 

“We should come forward in the best interest of the community and not relegate ourselves to political corners or ideologies, but instead work to the best interest of the community,” Munoz said. “I think if the first decisions that this board make are made by relegation to ideological corners it’s going to set a sad tone and give a poor example to the community of what they have ahead of them.”

With Pardue’s leadership style established, the board prepares to navigate upcoming decisions, some of which will have a long-lasting impact on the Murrieta community. Pardue’s tone for the first board meeting does not instill confidence that those decisions will be made with the community’s best interests in mind.

The first test will be the next board meeting, Jan. 23 at 5 p.m., as the board considers the first reading of the proposed redistricting boundaries.