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  • One Temecula Valley PAC submits signatures for Joseph Komrosky recall 

    One Temecula Valley PAC submits signatures for Joseph Komrosky recall 


    Temecula Valley Unified School District board member Joseph Komrosky.

    Credit: Temecula Valley Unified

    One Temecula Valley PAC has submitted 5,236 signatures to initiate a recall election against Temecula Valley Unified School District’s school board president, Joseph Komrosky — surpassing the requirement of 4,280 two days before Friday’s deadline. 

    The Registrar of Voters in Riverside County will now formally count and verify the legitimacy of the signatures to determine if the recall campaign will lead to an election. Jeff Pack, co-founder of One Temecula Valley political action committee — which aims to combat “a very real and dangerous threat to local governance posed by political and religious extremist views” — anticipates that the process will take a couple of months. 

    “We’re looking … forward to being this organization that demands good governance, and I think this is a great start,” Pack said. “I’m really proud.” 

    In its initial stages, the recall campaign was also gathering signatures for board members Jennifer Wiersma and Danny Gonzalez, who, with Komrosky, make up the board’s conservative majority. 

    Since their election in November 2022, the three have together banned critical race theory in the classroom, temporarily barred the Social Studies Alive! curriculum because its supplemental material mentioned LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk, fired former Superintendent Jodi McClay without cause and passed policies mandating that school officials notify parents if their child indicates they are transgender. 

    However, Pack said the campaign eventually decided to focus on Komrosky because his recall seemed to be the most likely, based on the number of signatures gathered for his recall. And flipping his seat alone would be enough to tip the board’s current majority. 

    Meanwhile, some community members have speculated that Gonzalez plans to leave the state altogether, noting that his house is currently on the market for sale. 

    Neither Komrosky nor Gonzalez responded to EdSource’s request for comment. Wiersma, who stated she may be able to respond, did not provide a comment by EdSource’s deadline. 

    The road to recall

    The effort to recall Komrosky, Wiersma and Gonzalez began early in June when Pack met a group of moms at a local duck pond. 

    The moms, who eventually formed the organization EnACT Temecula-Equity in Action, wanted to initiate a recall against Wiersma.  

    “Well, why don’t we just do all three? he told them “We’ll back you. We have money. We can get all this stuff together, get all the paperwork together and let’s do it.”

    The moms questioned his idea to start a recall for all three. 

    “Which one deserves to stay? Which one do you want to leave there?” Pack said he responded. “And nobody can answer that question.” 

    The recall effort began to gain steam, he said. And in one day, they had gathered the 35 signatures needed to file a notice of intent to recall for each board member. 

    In the months that followed, teachers and community members went door to door, gathering more signatures. They also stationed themselves at the duck pond during weekends. 

    Eventually, the recall effort also garnered support from organizations including the Temecula Valley Educators Association, the League of United Latin American Citizens Inland Empire chapter and the NAACP’s Southwest Riverside branch 1034. 

    “As educators, we’re all just hoping that the focus of the district can return to student performance, supporting learning environments to maximize how teachers can do their jobs,” said Edgar Diaz, the president of the Temecula Valley Educators Association. 

    He added that he’s “glad the community came out and supported” the recall, showing “that this is actually a community issue, not a teacher- or a union-driven issue.” 

    Reactions to the recall

    The recall effort has been met with mixed reactions from members of the community and beyond. 

    While Pack said there has been enthusiastic support for Komrosky’s recall, they were unable to gather the 3,987 signatures needed to get Wiersma’s on the ballot. 

    Pastor Tim Thompson of Evangelical 412 Church Temecula Valley — who has consistently stood by the board’s majority — has said he doubts a recall election will take place. 

    “If they get their way and this goes to an election, what we’re going to find is the same thing we found in the election cycle last period, is that the vast majority of people in the Temecula Valley support these three,” Thompson said. “They’re happy that they’re in there. They’re happy for the changes that they’re making.”

    Thompson also commended the current board for fulfilling their duty to “protect the youth in our community.” 

    Temecula Valley district board member Steven Schwartz, however, disagrees, saying most board decisions have been “political and not educational.” 

    As a member of the board minority, Schwartz said he has received mostly positive feedback from parents and community members who he said feel the same way as he does. 

    Meanwhile, he said many of the speakers who have voiced their support for the conservative majority at meetings do not come from the community. 

    “When you have people coming from outside disrupting meetings … calling people names, what is that supposed to prove?” Schwartz said. “What is that supposed to do for our children and for schools?” 

    Regardless of the outcome, Pack said he is proud of the effort and that the recall’s advocates were able to make history in Temecula. 

    “This is entirely volunteers that are local, and it’s really, really something that I don’t think this community has ever seen,” Pack said. “It’s a big growing-up moment, I think, for the city of Temecula.”

    Editors’ note: This story has been updated to correct a name’s spelling and revise the number of signatures needed to file the notice of intent to recall.





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  • ‘There was a lot of fear’: Central Valley immigration raids drive up absences in schools, study finds

    ‘There was a lot of fear’: Central Valley immigration raids drive up absences in schools, study finds


    Credit: AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File

    Top Takeaways
    • Absentee rates in five districts cumulatively increased 22% after immigration raids in the Central Valley earlier this year.
    • Raids increase stress levels in school communities, making it difficult for students to learn.
    • Fewer students in class means less funding for schools, which rely on average daily attendance to pay for general expenses.

    Immigration raids in California’s Central Valley earlier this year caused enough fear to keep nearly a quarter of the students in five districts home from school, according to a report released Monday by Stanford University. 

    The study evaluated daily student attendance in the districts over three school years and found a 22% increase in absences after immigration raids in the region in January and February.

    Empty seats in classrooms impact student education and reduce districts’ funding for general expenses, which are tied to average daily attendance. The financial losses are especially difficult now because districts are already grappling with lost funding due to declining enrollment.

    “The first and most obvious interpretation of the results is that students are missing school, and that means lost learning opportunities,” said Thomas Dee, a Stanford professor of education and author of the report. “But I think these results are a harbinger of much more than that. I mean, they’re really a leading indicator of the distress that these raids place on families and children.”

    The raids in the Central Valley began in January as part of “Operation Return to Sender.” U.S. Border Patrol agents targeted immigrants at gas stations and restaurants, and pulled over farmworkers traveling to work, observers reported.

    All five districts analyzed in the study — Bakersfield City School District, Southern Kern Unified, Tehachapi Unified, Kerman Unified and Fresno Unified — are in or near agricultural regions that were impacted by the operation. The districts closest to the raids had the highest absentee rates, Dee said.

    It is unclear how many people were actually arrested during the four-day operation. Border Patrol officials have claimed 78 people were arrested, while observers say it was closer to 1,000, according to the study.

    Raids keep kids out of school

    But whatever the number of arrests, fewer students in these districts attended school in the wake of the raids. The results of the study also suggest that absentee rates in California schools could continue to increase if the raids persist.

    In the Stanford report, Dee cited studies, including one he co-wrote, that found that prior instances of immigration enforcement have negatively impacted grade retention, high school completion, test scores and anxiety disorders. The climate of fear and mistrust caused by the raids impacts children even if their parents are not undocumented, according to the report. 

    An estimated 1 in 10, or 1 million, children in California have at least one undocumented parent. And while most of the children of undocumented parents in the United States are U.S. citizens, approximately 133,000 California children are undocumented themselves, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

    Of the more than 112,500 students attending the five districts studied, almost 82,000 are Hispanic, according to state data. 

    Not all districts impacted by the raids were studied, however. Big Local News, a journalism lab at Stanford University, approached multiple districts to request data. These five districts responded, according to Dee.

    The school’s youngest students were the most likely to miss school because of immigration raids, according to the report. That trend is expected to continue because younger children are more likely to have undocumented parents, Dee said. Parents are also more protective of their younger children, he said.

    “I think it just makes sense that if you’re concerned about family separation, it is a uniquely sharp concern if your kids are particularly young,” Dee said. 

    Family separation has been a constant fear since the Central Valley raids, agrees Mario Gonzalez, executive director of the Education & Leadership Foundation. The nonprofit provides immigration support and educational services to the community, including tutoring in 30 Fresno Unified schools. 

    Gonzalez said the foundation saw a decrease in the number of families participating in onsite services, such as legal consultations, beginning with the first reported immigration raids in Bakersfield in January, and a decrease in school attendance. 

    High school students told the foundation staff that their friends were afraid to come to school.

    Fresno Unified attendance dipped

    Attendance in Fresno Unified — the state’s third-largest district — dropped immediately after the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Donald Trump, said Noreida Perez, the district’s attendance and social emotional manager. Based on internal calculations, a decline in average daily attendance continued until March, with attendance rates decreasing by more than 4% in one week in February, compared to the same time in 2024.  

    Families reported keeping their children home because they were afraid that immigration enforcement officials would be allowed on campus or that parents would be unsafe traveling to and from school for drop-off and pickup, Perez said.

    “There was a lot of fear during that time,” she said. “There’s a lot of stress that’s associated with the threats of something like this happening.”

    Families concerned about sending their children to school have reached out to the Education & Leadership Foundation to ask how their kids can continue to receive services, including bilingual instruction, reading and math intervention, and mentoring. Some wanted to learn about the district’s virtual academy, which Superintendent Misty Her had promoted during her home visits to address increased absenteeism. 

    The fear of immigration operations has also impacted the students who attend classes.

    “If a student is worried about this happening to their parents or to somebody that they love, it makes it really hard to focus on learning or to be present with their peers or with their teacher,” said Perez, who is also a licensed clinical social worker. “If it feels like I might not be safe at school, or I don’t know what I’m going to come home to, that supersedes my ability to really focus and learn.”

    Compensating schools

    Ongoing declining enrollment is causing financial pressure in many school districts. In the 2024-25 school year, enrollment statewide declined by 31,469 students, or 0.54%, compared to last year. The previous school year, attendance declined by 0.25%, according to state data. Immigration raids could make a bad situation worse.

    The issue is so concerning for school districts that the California Legislature is considering a bill that would allow the state to fund districts for the loss of daily state attendance revenue if parents keep their children at home out of fear of a federal immigration raid in their neighborhood. 

    Assembly Bill 1348, authored by Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, D-Delano, would allow the state to credit a district with the attendance numbers and funding they would have received had there not been immigration enforcement activity in their community.

    To receive compensation, a district will have to provide data attributing a decline in attendance in a school — of at least 10% — to fear of federal immigration enforcement. The district must also provide remote learning as an option to families who keep their children home for this reason.

    “When attendance drops, funding disappears, and when funding disappears, all students suffer — regardless of immigration status,” said Bains in a statement after the Assembly passed the bill 62-13 on June 2.

    John Fensterwald and Emma Gallegos contributed to this report.





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  • Temecula Valley Unified can continue enforcing transgender policy, CRT ban, for now

    Temecula Valley Unified can continue enforcing transgender policy, CRT ban, for now


    Community member Kayla Church stands in support of LGBTQ+ community and in opposition to Temecula Valley Unified curriculum ban.

    Credit: Mallika Seshadri / EdSource

    While litigation moves forward, the Temecula Valley Unified District can keep enforcing its transgender notification policy as well as its ban on critical race theory, which restricts instruction on race and gender more broadly, Riverside County Judge Eric A. Keen ruled Friday. 

    In what seemed to be a contradiction to this decision, Keen had ruled on Feb. 15 that the case — Mae M. v. Komrosky — filed on behalf of the district’s teachers union, teachers, parents and students, in August by Ballard Spahr and the country’s largest pro-bono law firm Public Counsel LLP — will move forward. The plaintiffs had asked Keen to temporarily block enforcement of the policies while the case was fought out in court, but did not get it.

    “We are deeply disappointed with the denial of the preliminary injunction, primarily for the students and teachers and parents that we represent,” said Amanda Mangaser Savage,  supervising attorney for Public Counsel’s Opportunity Under Law project. 

    “While these policies remain in effect, students in Temecula’s classrooms are being denied access to an accurate and fact-based education and, instead, are receiving an education that is dictated entirely by the board members’ ideological preferences.”

    Supporters of the board’s policy, including Joseph Komrosky, the Temecula Valley Unified school board president, have claimed that the policies do not discriminate against transgender students or students of color.  

    “The diversity that exists among the District’s community of students, staff, parents, and guardians is an asset to be honored and valued,” Komrosky said in a news release by Advocates for Faith and Freedom, a Murrieta-based law firm, “dedicated to protecting religious liberty in the courts,” that is representing the district for free.  

    “These policies were enacted by the school board to ensure our district puts the needs of students and their parents above all else,” adding that Temecula Valley Unified is committed to providing students with a well-rounded education devoid of “discrimination and indoctrination.”  

    A board guided by conservative values

    The turmoil in Temecula Unified started in December 2022, when the school board, with a newly elected conservative majority, banned critical race theory. The following spring, the board fired the former superintendent, Jodi McClay, without cause and temporarily banned the Social Studies Alive! textbook due to a mention of LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk in the supplemental material. 

    In August, the board passed a policy that percolated through about a half-dozen other districts, requiring that school administrators notify parents if their child shows signs of being transgender. 

    Since then, teachers have voiced concerns about more widespread curriculum censorship and negative impacts on students’ mental health — which have drawn attention and scrutiny from state officials. 

    Edgar Diaz, president of the Temecula Valley Educators Association, the district’s teachers union, criticized Keen’s ruling, stating that it “does not consider the ripple effects” of the district’s policies. 

    Diaz added that wooden blocks have since been placed on library shelves in lieu of books because teachers and staff fear “there may be some banned concept in them.”

    “We shouldn’t be banning anything; we’re an educational institution. If children are curious about something, they explore it; they talk to the teachers. And especially in high school, they’re old enough to form their own opinions about what’s real and what’s not real,” said Temecula Valley Unified school board member Steve Schwartz. 

    He added that if an LGBTQ+ student “doesn’t feel safe enough in their home to tell their parent but needs to share it with someone and shares it with a teacher, it doesn’t seem like a good idea for the teacher to have to tell that parent.” 

    Widespread divides over critical race theory 

    The transgender notification policies and critical race theory ban supported by the Temecula Valley board are part of a larger movement driven by conservative organizations like Reform California. These groups formed to counter widespread calls from the left for racial justice following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020. 

    Nearly 800 measures in 244 local, state and federal entities have been taken against critical race theory, according to CRT Forward, an initiative of the UCLA School of Law’s critical race studies program. 

    In California alone, 13 measures have been introduced at the local level, nine of which have been passed or implemented. 

    As of April 2023, however, 60% of anti-CRT measures were adopted in predominantly conservative states.

    “Today’s ruling unfortunately means that Temecula will continue amongst the ranks of Texas and Florida,” Mangaser Savage said. 

    “While California is obviously a liberal state, I think that the fact that this is happening in our districts demonstrates how pernicious this is.” 

    While the nearly 4,000 U.S. adults surveyed by researchers at the University of Southern California largely agreed on the importance of public education and the core functions of literacy, numeracy and civics, they are more polarized on topics about race and LGBTQ+ issues.  

    The survey specifically found that between 80% and 86% of Democrats support the idea of high school students learning about LGBTQ+ topics compared with less than 40% of Republicans. Introducing LGBTQ+ topics at the elementary level garnered less support on both sides of the aisle. 

    Over half of those surveyed also supported discussion of topics about race at the high school level. But at the elementary level, Democrats were much more likely to support the idea of students learning about slavery, civil rights and racial inequality. 

    Critical race theory is usually taught at the college level, and Schwartz said it has not been taught in Temecula Valley Unified. 

    “But if I were a teacher today, and a student came to me and said, ‘What do you think about CRT?’ my response would be: ‘Why don’t you do some research and see what you think about it, and then we can have a discussion,’” Schwartz said. 

    “My thought is not to tell kids not to investigate things that they’re interested in. That’s what learning is all about.” 

    The lead-up in Temecula 

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a court brief in support of the plaintiffs in December. According to Mangaser Savage, that brief marked the first time in recent history that the state got involved with litigation to limit ideological censorship in schools. 

    Following Bonta’s brief, more than 20 civil rights and LGBTQ+ rights organizations — including American Civil Liberties Union’s chapters in Southern and Northern California — have also filed briefs in support of the preliminary injunction.

    Those organizations include: 

    • Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California
    • California LGBTQ Health & Human Services Network
    • Equal Justice Society
    • Equality California
    • Family Assistance Program
    • Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network
    • GLSEN
    • Inland Empire Prism Collective
    • Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.
    • LGBTQ Center OC
    • LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert
    • Legal Services of Northern California
    • Los Angeles LGBT Center
    • Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest
    • Public Advocates, Inc.
    • Public School Defenders Hub
    • Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance
    • Sacramento LGBT Center
    • Safe Schools Project of Santa Cruz County
    • Transgender Law Center
    • TransFamily Support Services
    • Trevor Project

    Penguin Random House and PEN America have also announced their support for the preliminary injunction. 

    As pressure has mounted on the district to stop its enforcement of allegedly discriminatory and illegal policies, the school board’s makeup has also changed — and more could shift in the coming months. 

    In December, One Temecula Valley PAC, a political action committee, lodged a recall effort against the board’s three conservative members and gathered enough signatures to move forward with a recall election this spring against Komrosky, the board president. 

    Conservative board member Jennifer Wiersma, however, will remain on the board, while Danny Gonzalez announced his resignation in December with plans to move to Texas. 

    Temecula Valley Unified’s school board met on Feb.13 to appoint a replacement but was unable to and decided to move forward with an election. Whoever replaces Gonzalez in that seat will determine whether the board retains its conservative majority. 

    “Despite the small but vocal opponents that seek to rewrite history and indoctrinate students,” Komrosky said, “I am very optimistic for our school district.”

    Editors’ note: This story has been updated to add a statement from Public Counsel’s Opportunity Under Law project supervising attorney, Amanda Mangaser Savage.





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  • Chino Valley revamps parental notification policy; LGBTQ+ allies fear legal escalation

    Chino Valley revamps parental notification policy; LGBTQ+ allies fear legal escalation


    Chino Valley Unified school board President Sonja Shaw speaks at the parental rights rally in Simi Valley.

    Credit: Courtesy of Rebecca Holz / California Policy Center

    The Chino Valley Unified School District school board voted Thursday to adopt a revamped version of its transgender notification policy, which LGBTQ+ advocates fear would help the district withstand court battles and propel the case to the United States Supreme Court — a possibility previously expressed by Board President Sonja Shaw.

    Unlike the original policy adopted in July, the new policy does not use words like “gender” or “bathroom.” Instead, it broadly states that school officials should notify parents in writing, within three days, if their child requests to change any information in their official or unofficial record. It also cites previous decisions in favor of parental rights. 

    “These policies are rooted in distrust for our schools. And so you know, they’re breaking down these relationships that are essential to schools being successful,” said Kristi Hirst, a district alumna, teacher and parent, who also serves as the the chief operating officer of Our Schools USA — a national organization focused on protecting public education. 

    “What is unclear is what ‘unofficial records’ are, and my hunch is, that’s where…. targeting of transgender students is going to really be seen,” Hirst said.

    Thursday’s board meeting was packed with both supporters of the new policy, as well as members of the district’s teacher’s union, who wore matching red shirts in solidarity. 

    Supporters of the policy also spoke during public comment on Thursday with one of them claiming that the “initiative” would put an end to puberty blockers supposedly being administered and prevent “boys entering into women’s/girls’ spaces.” 

    One speaker told the board, “Safe teachers don’t lie to parents. Safe teachers don’t keep secrets from parents. Thank you for protecting our kids against unsafe teachers.”

    “Parents love and know kids best. Calling a parent abusive for wanting to get their child the proper psychological help is completely ignorant.” 

    Both the previous and new versions of the policy stress the district’s commitment to foster trust between schools and parents. They also share the same three statements of intent: to maintain trust between schools and families, involve parents in decisions about their child’s mental health and increase communication and build positive relationships that can positively impact student outcomes. 

    The older version of the policy which passed in July would have required school staff to notify parents within three days in writing if their child asks to use a name or pronoun that is different from what is on their official student record. Parents would also have to be informed if their child wishes to access sex-segregated spaces that do not align with their biological sex or request to change anything on their official or unofficial record. 

    Under the new policy, however, parents would only be notified of the following: 

    • Requests to change official or unofficial records. 
    • Extracurricular or co curricular activities their student is involved in.  
    • Physical injuries at school or during school sponsored activities.

    Both policies share the same guidelines in cases where a student experiences bullying, is involved in a physical altercation or has suicidal intentions. 

    “The updated policy strikes a balance between two important principles—prioritizing students’ well-being and upholding parents’ rights—and ensures that parents are kept informed every step of the way,” Shaw said in a Liberty Justice Center statement released Friday. 

    Chino community members have repeatedly claimed that such policies in Chino Valley Unified and beyond are detrimental to the mental and physical well-being of LGBTQ+ students. 

    A crisis hotline launched on Aug. 5 by Rainbow Youth Project USA and Our Schools USA has received nearly 650 calls since Chino Valley Unified passed its transgender notification policy, the Los Angeles Blade reported. 

    “All the students who have come to speak about this, they are hearing that rhetoric,” Hirst said, adding that the board’s decisions have fostered a climate of “mistreatment.”  

    “That is 100% going to filter down to schools, and it is. Your leaders, when they breathe that hate into the air, it spreads, and you can feel it.” 

    Hirst added that her daughter, who attends district schools, has also noticed an increase in physical fights and bullying against LGBTQ+ students. 

    Before the policy’s passage, “no one cared,” she said. 

    “There’s no teacher who has these nefarious intentions to kids and hides things from their parents. Nobody’s doing that. . . They [teachers] are constantly working to get parent volunteers and parent involvement.” 

    The lead up 

    In November 2022, voters elected a conservative majority to the Chino Valley Unified School District school board, with three members connected to Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, led by Pastor Jack Hibbs.

    The board voted in June to ban pride flags and in November passed a policy to have a panel remove books it believes to be “sexually inappropriate.” In July, Chino Valley Unified became the first district to pass a policy that would require school officials to notify parents if their child shows any sign of being transgender, which has since spread to other districts, and originated from Assembly Bill 1314, proposed by Assemblymember Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, which was denied a hearing at the state level. 

    The district’s board meetings have also drawn the attention of conservative groups such as Leave Our Kids Alone, a group that travels to various school board meetings to advocate “age appropriate curriculum” and to oppose curriculum and practices they view as indoctrination. 

    State Superintendent Tony Thurmond attended the board’s July meeting to speak out against the transgender notification policy during public comment but was kicked out of the meeting. 

    In August, California Attorney General Rob Bonta launched a civil rights investigation and filed a lawsuit against the district. Two months later, a San Bernardino County judge blocked the district from enforcing the policy, arguing it “treats otherwise similar students differently based on their sex or gender identity.”

    During the closed session of Thursday’s meeting, members of the board met with two law firms: The Liberty Justice Center and Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud, and Romo (AALRR) about the ongoing litigation. 

    Last September, the board hired The Liberty Justice Center — known for the landmark U.S. Supreme Court labor case Janus v. AFSCME — to provide them with pro-bono legal representation. 

    An argument for teacher support

    For teachers in the Chino Valley Unified School district, discussions about the transgender notification policy are inseparable from a push for better wages. 

    If the board has hundreds of thousands to spend on legal fees, it has the money to bargain in good faith and provide a Cost of Living Adjustment, the teachers union has argued. And on Feb. 22, the union declared an impasse. 

    “We can’t hire teachers; we can’t attract them. We have all these openings. We have parents coming to our board meetings complaining about violence in our schools that’s not being addressed. We have parents coming in complaining about rampant racism in our schools that’s not being addressed, bullying that’s not being addressed,” Hirst said. 

    “And so we have real issues that need to be addressed, and instead, all of our resources and time and energy is going on these culture war issues that don’t improve our schools.”

    In November, public records published by the Sacramento Bee and acquired by Our Schools USA found the district tripled their legal fees to AALRR since July, when they passed the first iteration of their transgender notification policy. In July, the Chino Valley Unified School District paid AALRR $30,903. 

    Those fees soared, amounting to $104,867 in August and $54,988 in September, in addition to the $307,000 spent during the 2022-23 academic year. 

    “We’d rather be home tonight grading papers, planning lessons, maybe trying to have some time with our families,” said Steven Frazer, the organizing committee chairperson for Associated Chino Teachers. “But it’s important that we’re here. It’s important that the board understands that we’re united in standing up for our rights, for student rights and just for what’s right.”

    Two weeks ago, hundreds of district teachers rallied for the cause — and made their voices heard again before Thursday’s meeting. 

    “I know this community really well. I love this community. And I’m watching the most beloved teachers just really struggling and wanting to leave,” Hirst said. 

    “There’s nothing in my kids’ educational experience that is as impactful as the quality of the teachers they have access to. And I’m really concerned that we’re not going to attract the best anymore.”

    This story has been updated to include a statement from Chino Valley Unified School Board President Sonja Shaw.





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  • Joseph Komrosky’s recall leaves Temecula Valley Unified’s future uncertain

    Joseph Komrosky’s recall leaves Temecula Valley Unified’s future uncertain


    Temecula Valley Unified School District board member Joseph Komrosky.

    Credit: Temecula Valley Unified

    The Temecula Valley Unified School District’s future remains murky following a close recall election that ousted Joseph Komrosky, the district’s conservative school board president. 

    Four of the district’s five seats will be up for grabs — with two board members up for re-election in November and two seats previously held by conservative members needing to be filled. Komrosky told EdSource in an email that he will likely run for re-election. Still, his departure from the school board has kindled a renewed optimism for many that the district will be able to re-focus on student academic performance and well-being. 

    “I’m looking forward to getting back to working on issues of supporting student success and safety in classrooms,” said Edgar Diaz, the president of the Temecula Valley Educators Association, the district’s teachers union. 

    “That’s my excitement….Our board meetings can get back to that, versus having to listen to controversial issues being brought up and then passed without any sense of discussion or listening.” 

    Komrosky’s departure will leave the board with three members — of whom, only Jennifer Wiersma was part of the district’s previously held conservative majority; conservative school board member Danny Gonzalez resigned in December. 

    Wiersma also said in a statement to EdSource that she looks forward to “focusing on student achievement and academics for all populations, striving to improve school safety and continuing to encourage parents to be involved in their child’s education,” regardless of the outcome. 

    She maintains, however, that “it’s been an honor to serve this community with Dr. Komrosky.” 

    The recall race was tight — with about 51% of voters opting to remove Komrosky from office. Ultimately, he lost by only 212 votes. 

    “I am proud to have fulfilled all of my campaign promises as an elected official,” Komrosky said in a statement to EdSource. “My commitment to protecting the innocence of our children in Temecula schools remains unwavering.” 

    The lead up

    Temecula Valley Unified’s conservative majority took the helm in December 2022 — and proceeded to ban critical race theory that December. 

    Months later, in Spring 2023, they fired former Superintendent Jodi McClay without cause and temporarily banned the Social Studies Alive! curriculum stating the book’s supplemental materials mentioned LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk. 

    The board also passed a widespread policy in August that requires school officials to notify parents if their child shows signs of being transgender. 

    Despite widespread backlash — including from state officials such as California Attorney General Rob Bonta — Riverside County Judge Eric A. Keen ruled in February that the district can continue to implement its transgender notification policy while litigation is pending. 

    “Anyone who uses their position to attack LGBTQ+ youth is unfit to serve in public office, and we are pleased to see Dr. Komrosky’s political career come to an appropriate end,” said Tony Hoang, the executive director of  Equality California, in a media release. 

    One Temecula Valley Political Action Committee co-founder Jeff Pack said the organization — which filed roughly 5,200 signatures in December — had initially hoped to remove Wiersma from her seat — but ultimately gave up because the group did not have enough signatures to move forward. 

    The PAC also decided not to pursue a recall election against Gonzalez who resigned and moved to Texas. 

    “This is a democracy. This is where people vote, and they make the decisions. It’s not for me to tell the people of that trustee area how to vote or what to vote for,” said Temecula Valley Unified school board member Schwartz. 

    “They know what’s going on. They’ve seen how those three board members have behaved; and obviously, they were not happy with what was going on, and they changed their minds. So, I think democracy is alive and well in Temecula, and it’s a good thing.” 

    Looking ahead 

    With Komrosky recalled, Temecula Valley Unified’s school board now includes Wiersma, along with Allison Barclay and Steven Schwartz, both of whom are up for re-election this November. 

    Voters will also have to decide on a replacement for Gonzalez and Komrosky. 

    Meanwhile, Wiersma will take over as the board’s president because she previously served as the school board’s clerk. 

    “I’m proud Dr. Komrosky has courageously kept his campaign promises, despite the unrelenting boardroom lawfare and personal attacks on his family by the teacher’s union, community activists, and even our own Governor, Gavin Newsom,” Wiersma said in a statement to EdSource. 

    “People underestimate the steep learning curve and tremendous amount of pressure that comes with challenging the status quo as a school board president.” 

    Pack maintained that the recall is a “happy surprise,” but that he is shocked that so many voters opted to keep Komrosky — and emphasized that their work will continue, leading up to November. 

    “[Partisan politics is] going to be something we’re going to be dealing with for a little while longer,” Pack said. “We’re going to have to work extra hard to get some of those people to see the light and realize national-style politics don’t belong here.” 





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  • Court blocks Temecula Valley Unified from enforcing CRT ban

    Court blocks Temecula Valley Unified from enforcing CRT ban


    The Temecula Valley Unified School District can no longer implement its ban on critical race theory (CRT) as litigation moves forward, a California Court of Appeals ruled Monday — marking the first time in California that a court has overturned a district’s effort to censor student learning about racial and LGBTQ+ equity, according to Amanda Mangaser Savage of the Sullivan & Cromwell Strategic Litigation Counsel at Public Counsel. 

    “This ruling binds all of California,” said Amelia Piazza, an attorney with Public Counsel’s Opportunity Under Law project, “and, I think is an important signal to school districts all over the state that this type of censorship, the courts aren’t going to tolerate it — and that students shouldn’t be deprived of a fact-based education now for any reason, and certainly not because it conflicts with the ideological positions of school board members.” 

    The decision is the latest chapter in the lawsuit Mae M. v. Komrosky, filed in August 2024, on behalf of the district’s teachers union, teachers, parents and students — alleging that the December 2022 ban on critical race theory has led to a hostile environment at schools, censored teachers and infringes on students’ right to equal protection and to receive information. 

    Monday’s opinion also called the district’s policy “unconstitutionally vague” and said it has led to anxiety among teachers who remain confused about the policy and fearful of consequences — even if there are accidental violations. 

    But supporters of the district’s policies maintain that they do not discriminate against students of color or transgender students. 

    “Critical race theory and its offshoots have no place in public institutions that are meant to serve all individuals equally. These ideas promote division, resentment, and a distorted view of history that punishes students and staff based on skin color rather than character,” said Nicole Velasco, a spokesperson for Advocates For Faith & Freedom, a law firm representing the district for free, in an email to EdSource. “We remain committed to defending lawful policies that reject this kind of racialized thinking and instead promote unity and equal treatment under the law.” 

    Velasco added that while disappointed in the ruling, they “remain confident in the legality of Temecula Valley Unified School District’s actions and the strength of the case as it proceeds.” 

    In a statement released Tuesday, David Goldberg, the president of the California Teachers Association, said that “as educators and union workers, we work so hard to provide every student with a quality education and for schools to be safe places for all students, regardless of their race, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” 

    He added that teachers should be able to focus on teaching without being caught between state law and district policies. 

    Temecula Valley Unified has not announced whether it will appeal the court’s decision, according to Velasco. But Piazza said they will continue to litigate until a final decision that will “permanently enjoin” Temecula’s resolutions is reached. 

    “Especially, as the federal government sort of escalates its attack on public schools and the right to a fact-based education, I think it’s a really meaningful decision to come down in the California courts,” Piazza said.





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  • Court blocks Temecula Valley Unified from enforcing Critical Race Theory ban

    Court blocks Temecula Valley Unified from enforcing Critical Race Theory ban


    The Temecula Unified School District can no longer implement its ban on Critical Race Theory as litigation moves forward, a California Court of Appeals ruled Monday — marking the first time in California that a court has overturned a district’s effort to censor student learning about racial and LGBTQ+ equity, according to Amanda Mangaser Savage of the Strategic Litigation Counsel at Public Counsel. 

    “This ruling binds all of California,” said Amelia Piazza, an attorney with Public Counsel’s Opportunity Under Law project, “and, I think is an important signal to school districts all over the state that this type of censorship, the courts aren’t going to tolerate it — and that students shouldn’t be deprived of a fact based education now for any reason, and certainly not because it conflicts with the ideological positions of school board members.” 

    The decision is the latest chapter in the lawsuit Mae M. v. Komrosky, filed in August 2024, on behalf of the district’s teachers union, teachers, parents and students — alleging that the December 2022 ban on Critical Race Theory has led to a hostile environment at schools, censored teachers and infringes on students’ right to equal protection and to receive information. 

    Monday’s opinion also called the district’s policy “unconstitutionally vague” and said it has led to anxiety among teachers who remain confused about the policy and fearful of consequences — even if there are accidental violations. 

    But supporters of the district’s policies maintain that they do not discriminate against students of color or transgender students. 

    “Critical race theory and its offshoots have no place in public institutions that are meant to serve all individuals equally. These ideas promote division, resentment, and a distorted view of history that punishes students and staff based on skin color rather than character,” said Nicole Velasco, a spokesperson for Advocates For Faith & Freedom, a law firm representing the district for free, in an email to EdSource. “We remain committed to defending lawful policies that reject this kind of racialized thinking and instead promote unity and equal treatment under the law.” 

    Velasco added that while disappointed in the ruling, they “remain confident in the legality of Temecula Valley Unified School District’s actions and the strength of the case as it proceeds.” 

    In a statement released Tuesday, David Goldberg, the president of the California Teachers Association, said that “as educators and union workers, we work so hard to provide every student with a quality education and for schools to be safe places for all students, regardless of their race, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” 

    He added that teachers should be able to focus on teaching, without being caught between state law and district policies. 

    Temecula Valley Unified has not announced whether it will appeal the court’s decision, according to Velasco. But Piazza said they will continue to litigate until a final decision that will “permanently enjoin” Temecula’s resolutions is reached. 

    “Especially, as the federal government sort of escalates its attack on public schools and the right to a fact based education, I think it’s a really meaningful decision to come down in the California courts,” Piazza said.





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  • Central Valley struggles to produce college grads; key programs are turning that around

    Central Valley struggles to produce college grads; key programs are turning that around


    Daylarlyn Gonzalez organizes a class project among freshmen at Arvin High taking a dual enrollment course through Bakersfield College.

    Credit: Emma Gallegos/EdSource

    A new report delivers bad and good news for the Central Valley.

    The bad news: The vast majority of parents, 79%, want their children to get a bachelor’s degree, but just 26% of students in the region are on pace to achieve that.

    The good news: Central Valley educators in both K-12 and higher education are pioneering strategies that could transform the region’s low college attainment rates. That includes broadly expanding dual enrollment opportunities; increasing the number of students meeting requirements to graduate from high school; and creating regional partnerships to smooth key transitions between high school, community college and four-year universities.

    A sweeping new report, “Pathways to College Completion in the San Joaquin Valley,” by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) found a multitude of factors contributing to lower college attainment rate in the region, compared to the rest of the state, including a lack of preparation in high school, low university application rates (especially to the UC system), financial constraints, campus proximity, and a perception of less access. That’s a problem for the state, as well as the region.

    “When we look to the state’s future, the San Joaquin Valley is especially important,” said Hans Johnson, one of the report’s authors.

    That’s because the Central Valley is populous, young and growing rapidly — 4 million and counting — compared with other parts of the state. But it is also a region that requires attention, because, over the last 50 years, it has fallen behind the rest of the state economically. In 1974, residents in the Central Valley made 90% of the state’s per capita income. In 2020, that number had fallen to 68%.

    “When you increase the educational attainment rate here in the Central Valley, it lifts the entire region socioeconomically and culturally as well,” said Benjamin Duran, executive director of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium.

    He said that too few students obtaining any kind of degree — associate, bachelor’s or advanced — means the valley will continue to have too few people in critical professions, such as nursing, medicine and teaching.

    “It’s way below what our economy in general demands,” said Johnson, a senior fellow with PPIC. “We know the value of a college degree statewide is incredibly strong — and in the Valley as well. So, not everybody has to go (to college), but more people and more students should be going than are going right now.”

    The report finds that students in the Central Valley tend to graduate from high school at nearly the same rate as other students in the state, but show a sharp decline during the critical juncture of transitioning from high school to college and, for students who register at community colleges, which a majority of Valley college students do, transferring to a four-year university or college.

    High school students lack preparation

    According to the PPIC report, students in the Valley have wildly different experiences based simply on which school districts they attend. 

    “That’s both encouraging and kind of discouraging that we have such a wide variation that where you go to school, to not a small extent, is going to determine what kind of possibilities you have for going on to college,” Johnson said.

    School districts that do a good job preparing socioeconomically disadvantaged students tend to also prepare their wealthier peers well, the report shows.

    Two of the Valley’s largest districts, for example, demonstrate this. The college-going rate for Fresno Unified’s socioeconomically disadvantaged students is 64%, compared with 67% of their more advantaged peers. Those same rates for the Kern High School District are 48% and 53% respectively.

    The problem is that many Central Valley students are not graduating from high school with the preparation that they need to succeed in college, according to Olga Rodriguez, one of the report’s authors. 

    One important metric is how many students have taken the full college preparatory sequence — known as A-G — required for admission to California’s public universities. In the Central Valley, 4 out of 10 high school graduates met the A-G requirements, compared with 6 out of 10 for Los Angeles and Bay Area students. 

    “If you want to increase the number of college graduates, that’s where we have so much potential,” said Rodriguez, director of the PPIC Higher Education Center.

    Students who do not meet A-G requirements are not able to begin their college career at a CSU or UC school. Additionally, this lack of preparation makes it more challenging for students at community colleges to successfully transfer to a four-year university, Rodriguez said.

    To improve their rates, some school districts have shifted to mandating that students graduate with A-G requirements; others have simply dropped classes that are not A-G eligible. However, many other districts are not prioritizing A-G classes.

    “A-G policies often seemed centered on politics and local industry needs — as opposed to being focused on students’ needs and aspirations,” the report states.

    An analysis by EdSource found that 56% of high school seniors do not complete the A-G requirements. EdSource found that the problem is particularly dire among Black and Latino students, as well as in certain regions, such as Northern California and the Central Valley.

    For many communities in the Central Valley, higher education is considered more “aspirational” than realistic, Duran said, adding that it’s the job of all educators across the spectrum to educate both students and parents about how to make college a reality.

    The default choice for many Central Valley students is to stay at home and attend a local community college, rather than attend a CSU or UC — even for students who have the grades. The perception is that it ends up being cheaper and maybe a safer option, but that’s not always the case.

    “When you look at the net price, it’s actually more affordable to go to a CSU than it is to stay at a community college,” said Rodriguez. “Especially when you think about the likelihood of completion and how long it’s going to take you.”

    Partnerships make the difference

    Because the transitions between institutions is where students tend to fail, the report says that partnerships between high schools, community colleges, CSU campuses and the region’s only UC campus, in Merced, are important for Central Valley students.

    In this area, the region is “ahead of the game,” said Rodriguez.

    The Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) is a program that guarantees community college students who meet certain requirements a spot at a CSU campus, but the UC system has not joined in. However, UC Merced — the only UC in the Central Valley — is unique in having its own version of an ADT guarantee for regional community colleges, Johnson notes. The university also has a similar guarantee program aimed at high school students in regional districts. 

    There are similar partnerships throughout the Valley that are trying to ease those transitions. For instance, Fresno State has a new Bulldog Bound Program that guarantees admission to high school students in over 40 school districts who meet requirements — and also gives them support during their high school career.

    The region has three K-16 collaboratives that focus on making sure that schools are able to prepare students for college at a young age — whether that is through educating parents or helping high school teachers, particularly in English and math, get master’s degrees so they can teach dual enrollment courses.

    Dual enrollment has thrived in the Central Valley, thanks to partnerships largely between community colleges and K-12 schools in the region. Dual enrollment allows students to take college credit courses during high school, which makes them more likely to continue on to college after high school.

    The work being done in the Central Valley serves as an incubator for what can happen in the rest of the state, said Duran.

    “The work we do is collaborative,” said Duran. “We try to bring projects and initiatives that can not only be replicated here, but in the rest of the state.”

    If these changes lead to a swell of enrollment, the report notes that there is plenty of higher education infrastructure in the region. Few colleges or universities have programs that are impacted — unlike in other parts of the state. Both CSU and UC are banking on growth in this region.





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  • Central Valley schools juggle extensive building needs with limited funds to fix them

    Central Valley schools juggle extensive building needs with limited funds to fix them


    Marshall Elementary Principal Jorge Estrada Valencia purposely placed posters over areas of the cafeteria where the wall is beginning to tear. A multipurpose room that serves as the cafeteria and a meeting space will be one of the school’s and Modesto Elementary School District’s priorities if a $85 million local bond passes this November.

    Credit: Lasherica Thornton / EdSource

    The story has been updated with information on Central Unified School District.

    In Fresno Unified, the state’s third-largest school district with 71,000 students, the watchword for repairing schools is “worst, first.”

    Two-thirds of the 103 schools are more than 50 years old, and with age comes burst pipes, air conditioning on the fritz and other demands. Add a commitment to property owners in this largely low-income community to stabilize property taxes, and the result is tough decisions and compromises.

    Its neighbor Central Unified faces similar challenges to address the needs of aging buildings with limited resources.

    A small tax base per student limits the taxing capacity in many Central Valley communities. Modesto City Schools has been patiently addressing cramped quarters in its elementary schools one bond at a time. Eventually, every school will have a multipurpose room serving as a spacious cafeteria and auditorium so that every school can do assemblies. Measure X, if it passes, will mark another milestone toward that goal.

    In California, the list of school buildings needing attention is long and growing. This year, a record 252 school districts are seeking $40 billion worth of renovation and new construction projects, including classrooms for the youngest students, transitional kindergartners, and space for “maker labs” and innovative career explorations for high schoolers.

    Many of the districts are hoping to seek financial help from Proposition 2, a $10 billion state construction bond for TK-12 and community colleges that the Legislature also has put on the Nov. 5 statewide ballot. Passage would begin to replenish state assistance, which has run dry from the $9 billion bond passed in 2016, and create a new list of projects eligible for state help in the future.

    Fresno and Central Unified worry that property-wealthy districts, which can raise more taxes and can qualify for more matching state funding, will leave them behind in the competition for Proposition 2 dollars.

    This report is the last of a two-day look at a sampling of districts from different parts of the state that are asking their voters to pass local bonds. On Monday, we visited San Juan Unified and Wasco Union High School District. Now we learn about Modesto City Schools, Fresno Unified and Central Unified.

    Fresno Unified is chasing a $2.5 billion need with $500 million

    In the Central San Joaquin Valley, where dangerously high temperatures and scorching heat reign for much of the year, Fresno Unified schools lack proper infrastructure and ventilation systems to keep students cool. 

    Fresno Unified
    • Fresno County
    • 71,477 students
    • 88% low-income, foster and English learner students
    • $9,058 bonding capacity per student*

    * Bonding capacity per student is the maximum amount of general obligation bonds a school district can issue at a given time; a district can never go over the ceiling. For unified school districts, it is 2.5% of total assessed valuation; the median in California is $25,569.

    Fresno High School leaves open the doors of its oldest buildings, constructed in 1920, as well as the “newer” buildings, built in the ’50s, to increase air circulation and reduce the heat caused by inadequate or non-functioning air conditioning, students said during a tour of the campus. 

    More than 67% of the district’s 103 schools were built before 1970, making them 50 years old and older. Antiquated buildings mean outdated HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), water and sewer systems. 

    Some Edison High School buildings have modern AC units, but that doesn’t hide the fact that the buildings themselves need to be replaced, according to Alex Belanger, the district’s chief executive of operational services. No matter the condition of the AC, the children inside the old, poorly insulated buildings will feel the heat from outside. 

    “Things like that need to be replaced, and we have it all in the district,” Belanger said. 

    So far, the district has utilized $196 million in federal pandemic relief funding, plus other grants, to replace HVAC systems; still, the district is left with at least $470 million worth of replacements. And that’s just HVAC needs. Some heating and cooling systems operating in old buildings can’t be replaced unless the entire building is replaced. 

    In all, across 8 million square feet of buildings, Fresno Unified has identified $2.5 billion in unmet facilities needs, a need that keeps growing, Belanger said. 

    “By the time you fix something, something else is breaking, and it’s an ongoing thing,” he said about the need to repair old schools and upgrade facilities over time. 

    Measure H, a $500 million bond on the Nov. 5 ballot for the state’s third-largest school district, would fix HVAC, water, sewer and fire/safety systems, remove lead paint and asbestos and replace leaky roofs in old buildings; replace outdated portables with new classrooms or facilities; and modernize classrooms and libraries, among other priorities.

    School construction and repairs are paid for with bonds funded by property taxes. Aware that 88% of students are from low-income families, district officials say they will limit the size of the bond and spread out issuing them to minimize the increase in taxes. The $500 million bond, the largest the district has ever pursued, will increase taxes by $25 per $100,o00 of a home’s assessed value annually, upping the tax rate to $238.86.  

    “We are going after what we feel like is responsible to both the taxpayer as well as being able to address some of the highest need areas in the district,” said Paul Idsvoog, chief operations officer with operational services.

    Contingent upon board approval, the district plans to address the “worse first” who are “relying on funding,” starting with eight schools identified as “unsatisfactory” in a districtwide facilities assessment. Schools with poor conditions would follow before they lapse into the unsatisfactory category. 

    But even $500 million couldn’t repair everything that each school needs.

    “We have a $2.5 billion need, and we’re chasing it with only $500 million,” Idsvoog said. 

    If Fresno residents pass Measure H this November, the school system may qualify for matching funds from the state.

    “We’ll try to do that to leverage and be able to maximize the dollars because of our need,” he said. 

    For example, $15.9 million could replace the worst, but not all, classroom buildings at Norseman Elementary, an unsatisfactory site. 

    Bullard Talent, a K-8 school, classified as having poor conditions, has, since 2010, been recommended for improvements in areas such as its fire alarm and safety systems, but because there have been other schools with even greater needs, the district has focused its funding elsewhere — something the district must do often. 

    The district, for instance, has had to choose between updating campuses that are so outdated they don’t meet accessibility requirements for students and staff with disabilities and replacing pipes that were about to burst, Belanger said. 

    “You say, ‘Do I make the door wider?’ or ‘I have the sewer blowing up. What do I do?’” he said. “I fix the pipe.” 

    Regardless of whatever funding the district receives, it won’t have the same buying power as previous bond measures due to pandemic-induced inflation, district officials emphasized. 

    Plus, more than 90% of the district’s nearly 1,100 portables have surpassed the expected lifespan of at least 20 years, and 2% of portables are older than 60 years, The Fresno Bee reported.

    A key district goal is to ensure that every classroom experience is the same across Fresno Unified. To achieve that, the district must modernize classrooms and expand meeting and learning spaces to address overcrowding.  Belanger said that Proposition 2 funds could “help … us get to that point.”

    Not just the worst schools need modernization. “Because of deferred maintenance,” Idsvoog said, “most likely every school will probably get touched in some way, shape or form. It just won’t be equal values across those schools.

    “This still isn’t going to address the need. There’s more than enough need than there is money.”

    Some Modesto City schools are left to wonder when it will be their turn for facilities funding

    District leaders and staff in Modesto City schools often relish the fact that its campuses, built 50 to 90 years ago, are decades old, full of history, and located in established neighborhoods.

    Modesto Elementary School District
    • Stanislaus County
    • 15, 267 students
    • 86% low-income, foster and English learner students
    • $10,840 bonding capacity per student*

    * Bonding capacity per student is the maximum amount of general obligation bonds a school district can issue at any given time; a district can never go over the ceiling. For elementary school districts it is 1.25% of total assessed valuation; the median in California is $8,541 per student.

    But old schools mean outdated structures that no longer meet students’ needs. Modesto elementary schools such as Enslen and Marshall have old cafeterias that are not large enough to accommodate multiple groups of students at the same time. 

    None of the nearly 400 students in the 95-year-old Enslen Elementary, except those in transitional kindergarten and kindergarten, eat in the small cafeteria because space would be too tight, principal Melody Webb said. The school uses its outdoor seating even during the colder winter or blistering hot summer months. 

    And Marshall Elementary runs seven lunch periods throughout the day, a non-stop process, principal Jorge Estrada Valencia said. 

    “Move ‘em in, move ‘em out,” district spokesperson Sharokina Shams said about what schools must do to accommodate all the students. 

    Many schools got some relief in 2018, through now-depleted Measures D and E repair and modernization bonds passed by the community, to build multipurpose rooms that act as cafeterias and spaces for school assemblies and family engagement events, such as science or literacy nights. 

    Right now, such events at Enslen have to be planned for a time of the year that, weather permitting, families can enjoy them outdoors. 

    “We have so much parent involvement that we would love to do Christmas plays or winter celebrations. They can’t fit in there,” Webb said about the Enslen cafeteria. “We make it work, but it would be nice to have a spot.” 

    Large multipurpose rooms would be the priority for Enslen and Marshall if Measure X, the proposed $85 million bond, passes on Nov. 5 and the school board selects the schools for the funding. The schools are some of the oldest in the district and are likely to be prioritized, Shams said. 

    “They’ve made do with these for so long,” Shams said of the district’s old buildings that are “much too small for today’s population.”

    If Modesto residents pass Measure X, the bond will cost homeowners an estimated average of $23 per $100,000 of a home’s assessed value, based on a school board resolution on the bond measure. 

    Modesto City Schools has an elementary and high school district under its umbrella and two separate tax bases for each district. That structure limits the district’s ability to provide students with facilities comparable to a traditional unified school district, Shams said. The 2018 Measures D and E for the elementary district and a 2022 Measure L for the high school district were the first local bonds the district had since the early 2000s, causing Modesto City Schools to play catch-up, Shams said. 

    The district has an annual maintenance plan with allocated funding that addresses ongoing facilities needs. 

    For example, to accommodate more students this year, Enslen Elementary has turned its computer lab into a classroom and moved its music room to the cafeteria while additional portables are installed to address the growth. 

    At the nearly 75-year-old Marshall, located in a high-poverty area of Modesto, buildings have been painted, carpeting installed, and roofs with dry rot replaced this summer.

    Even so, in both the elementary and high school districts, an estimated $750 million worth of needs exist, including addressing weak flooring that moves when stepped on, in a staff room at Marshall Elementary.

    Additional district priorities include multipurpose rooms, single points of entry and safer drop-off and pickup areas, according to Superintendent Sara Noguchi. Multipurpose rooms for the 12 remaining TK-6 schools that were not funded with the 2018 bond are estimated to cost millions more than the proposed $85 million bond. 

    El Vista Elementary, a 71-year-old school, received a new multipurpose room that serves as a cafeteria, has a stage for events and features a music room as well as other amenities through Modesto City’s 2018 bond measures. That left the even older schools of Enslen and Marshall out of the funding. 

    “The kids take more pride and ownership in having the school renovated. The upgrades beautify the neighborhood,” El Vista principal Adele Alvarez said about the impact of the school’s renovation, including how all the school’s needs have been met. “I want other schools to have this. I want every school to have a brand new MPR (multipurpose room), a brand new front office, or facilities where students … can take pride in.” 

    In order to address all needs at its schools, Shams said the school district needs to adopt an ongoing bond program like Elk Grove Unified’s, where every two or four years, there’s a bond measure on the ballot. Such a bold move would require the school board placing a bond on the ballot and the community approving the measure each time.

    “We’re trying to repair these really old schools, and if that’s going to be done well and students are going to get what they deserve, it will likely be through an ongoing bond program,” Shams said. “(Measure X) will not meet all the needs. There will be schools that will be very happy to get what they need.

    “There will be schools that will say, ‘Well, when is it our turn?’” 

    Central Unified’s ‘bandaid’ approach won’t address its needs

    Worn-out pipes, weathered roofs, dry rotted structures and outdated HVAC and public announcement systems are visible even to the naked eye at decades-old Central Unified campuses. 

    The district has several facilities that are at least five decades old and are in desperate need of updates to the electrical, mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, fire safety, security and emergency communications systems.

    Central Unified
    • Fresno County
    • 15, 955 students
    • 82% low-income, foster and English learner students
    • $10,840 bonding capacity per student*

    Bonding capacity per student is the maximum amount of general obligation bonds a school district can issue at any given time; a district can never go over the ceiling.  For unified districts it is 2.5% of total assessed valuation; the median in California is $25,569 per student.

    The district has filled spots that have dry rot and even updated some systems as far as funding allowed. 

    “We’re just kind of putting bandaids on them currently,” facilities planning director John Rodriguez said. 

    But the needs require more than a bandaid approach. Old schools in Central Unified still have structures and equipment with now-outdated safety standards, including accessibility requirements for students and staff with disabilities. For example, Herndon-Barstow Elementary, a TK-6 grade school built in 1953 in Fresno, has sinks, bathrooms and water fountains constructed in the 1950s, under safety codes from that time period. 

    Students in wheelchairs are unable to access most of the school’s bathrooms because the doors to the stalls are too narrow.  Visually impaired students run the risk of being injured around the school’s water fountains, constructed in the early 1950s or recently added in the early 2000s, because they lack proper railing. 

    A lack of access for students with disabilities isn’t the only accessibility issue. 

    Herndon-Barstow as well as Teague Elementary share their campuses with the district’s maintenance departments, leaving the schools little room for emergency vehicles such as a fire truck to navigate, jeopardizing students’ safety. 

    Herndon-Barstow and Teague Elementary, along with seven other old schools, will be first in line for Measure X, a $109 million bond measure on the November ballot.   

    With Measure X, the district can continue upgrading and modifying the aged facilities to ensure safety of students and staff. If Central Unified residents approve Measure X, the school district can also qualify for matching state funds through Prop 2,  which “needs to happen” alongside the local bond, Rodriguez said. The Measure will not raise taxes.

    If the district can get Prop 2 funds, he said, “our dollars go further.”

    Reflecting overall lower property values in the Central Valley, Central Unified’s assessed property per student – a measure of a district’s ability to raise property taxes – is less than a third of the state median of $1.4 million per student. Fresno Unified’s is about one-quarter of the state median per student, according to the Center for Cities+Schools of UC Berkeley.

    Larger districts with higher property values will have access to a larger share of the funding, Rodriguez said. 

    “Larger districts that have a higher tax base are more able to access Proposition 2,” he said. “For small districts like ours, it’s disproportionate. The access and equity just isn’t there.”

    With funding, Central Unified also wants to create more classrooms and build new multipurpose rooms to support student achievement, enhance security measures with fencing and additional cameras and construct or renovate transitional kindergarten classes. 

    Also on the priority list is the plan to replace portables with permanent structures at schools such as Central East High, where most of the campus is portables, many of which are at least 30 years old.

    In 2021, a year after the community passed a $120 million bond, the district estimated its total needs to be between $700 and $800 million. 

    Renovations that have been made over the years can only go so far in addressing needs. The district used millions in federal pandemic relief money and other funding to replace most schools’ outdated ventilation systems “as far as the money could take us,” Rodriguez said. 

    But Central East still operates an outdated chiller system for heating and air conditioning. A chiller has pipes that run chilled water from the chiller into rooms, producing cool air. A broken chiller would take out the AC in more than 20 classrooms versus updated AC units for individual buildings or classes that limit outages to buildings or rooms. Rather than install a new ventilation system that’s needed, the district had to make the cost-effective decision to update two of the school’s four chillers.  

    “Sometimes we’re not able to make those changes (that we need),” Rodriguez said. 

    While Rodriguez hopes that Measure X can mean continued improvements to the HVAC and other systems, he said the money won’t address all the needed repairs. 

    Some of the schools in line for money are so old that they were built with asbestos paint, which is now known to be a hazardous material if not encapsulated. Much of the funding for those schools would go towards asbestos removal. 

    “If we don’t get the funding, it would stop that cyclical process (of renovating, improving and upgrading aging facilities); it just stops that momentum,” Rodriguez said. “Our sites will deteriorate, and our students will be disadvantaged by that deterioration, that deficiency.”





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  • Tackling the student mental health crisis in rural Central Valley

    Tackling the student mental health crisis in rural Central Valley


    Credit: Pexels / RDNE Stock project

    Este artículo está disponible en Español. Léelo en español.

    Born and raised in the agricultural foothills of Tulare County in California’s Central Valley, Greg Salcedo attended the only K-8 school and high school serving his rural town of about 3,000 people, where everything seemed out of reach — backpacks and notebooks, teachers and administrators and, in particular, school counselors and social workers. 

    Friends and family, Salcedo said, never spoke about adolescent depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress or suicide, issues that have, for decades, disproportionately affected rural, high-poverty communities in the United States. 

    But after the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated a decades-long mental health problem in Tulare County — with psychiatric hospitalization rates for students 9 to 13 years old climbing 23% during the first year of the pandemic — Salcedo decided to pursue a master’s degree in social work. In his first year as a graduate student, he helped shape the county’s emergency response through Rural Access to Mental Health Professionals, a program that placed him as a student mental health support worker in schools serving his community. 

    “I was able to talk to students and set them up with resources, call parents to set them up for therapy referrals or services with outside agencies [and] do a lot of outreach to promote mental health,” Salcedo said. “Being in this community for so long has helped me have a better sense of empathy and understanding of these kids and what they’re going through.” 

    The program places early-career mental health workers in 33 of Tulare County’s high-poverty school districts. Through the program, Salcedo served a one-year unpaid internship at an elementary and high school in Tulare, after which he was hired full time as a social worker at a high school in the Tulare Joint Union High School District.

    Participants are first- and second-year graduate students in social work who provide education-related services such as interim therapy and student group services, according to Marvin Lopez, executive director at the California Center on Teaching Careers, which helps coordinate the program. Since 2019, the center has supported 50 candidates through a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. 

    “In our district alone, we started out with three social workers last year, and now, we have seven new social workers that came on through the grant,” Salcedo said. 

    In 2019, Tulare County had a student-to-counselor ratio of about 870:1 — one of the highest in the state and well exceeding the recommended ratio of 250:1. 

    Since then, the state has embarked on a historic, five-year, $4.6 billion initiative to expand school-based mental health support through programs such as the Certified Wellness Coach workforce and the CalHOPE Student Support and Schools Initiative. 

    Districts in Tulare County have improved shortages of mental health providers using funds from the state. Tulare Joint Union High School District, for example, reported that the district’s student-to-counselor ratio improved significantly from 300 students per counselor in 2019 to 268 students per counselor in 2021. 

    But, few participants could afford to stay in the school-based mental health field after completing their unpaid placements, said Lopez. 

    “It became evident that we needed to support candidates to make sure we retain them,” Lopez said. “We began looking at resources like clinical supervision and additional training, but also financial incentives that can allow them to continue working at school sites.”

    Last year, the center secured a $15 million federal grant to develop Preparing Rural Inclusive Mental Health Educators, a program that pays final-year graduate students a $45,000 stipend for a yearlong internship and a three-year commitment to remain in the field of school-based mental health care. To date, the center has sponsored 23 interns.

    According to Lopez, these candidates are able to offer more long-term, advanced care, such as individual student therapy, group therapy, parent and family consultation and school faculty support. The center intentionally recruits from partner universities closest to Tulare County, such as California State University Bakersfield and Fresno State, whose students largely come from the rural communities they will serve. 

    Jeovany Martin, who completed his master’s in social work at CSU Bakersfield, was an intern in the program at a local elementary school.  Martin was raised in neighboring Kings County by his Mexican immigrant parents, and he applied for the program to serve families whose needs have been shortchanged by language barriers. 

    “I’m able to relate to these students. I speak their language, and I’m able to communicate with parents in their language, which goes a very long way in creating a working relationship with them,” Martin said. 

    Martin said that the program was also his most realistic path to the field of education-based mental health care. Most providers are overworked and underpaid — with nearly 59% of school counselors leaving their positions in their first two years — and non-white, low-income candidates have much less financial and professional support to enter the field. 

    Nationally, most school counselors are overwhelmingly white, and they do not represent the backgrounds of the students they serve. For Tulare County’s student population — where nearly 80% of students are Latino — the two programs address a shortage of cultural competence in mental health support available to students, according to program supervisor Rosie Hernandez. 

    “We’re also having folks who are bilingual be part of our program because it allows families to be a bit more open to services because of that simple fact that they speak their native tongue,” Hernandez said. 

    Most children living in rural, low-income households, Lopez said, are also more likely to experience higher rates of anxiety, depression and behavioral problems, often due to stressors such as food insecurity, parental job loss and geographic isolation. 

    “We’re recruiting, preparing and supporting candidates from our own communities who represent our student population,” Lopez said. “That, in itself, allows our students to connect at a much higher level with our interns to bring them comfort, a space where they can interact and feel safe.”

    A legacy of bias and neglect 

    Martin and Salcedo’s internships in Tulare County also provided the opportunity to tackle a decades-long legacy of mistrust between social workers and immigrant families. 

    “A lot of our families, especially from the Hispanic culture, think of social workers as ‘the people that take away my kids,’” Salcedo said. In his first year, Salcedo felt stifled by the number of permission slips that would have allowed him to help more students, but were returned unsigned. “Our job is also about breaking down that barrier and [explaining] our role for them to understand, ‘This person is here to help my kid with anxiety. They’re not here to judge me as a parent.’” 

    The National Center for Youth Law found that across the country’s child welfare, education and mental health systems, providers and educators have routinely over-referred Latino students for behavioral issues and subjected them to harsher disciplinary measures than white children. Black and Latino children were also found to be removed from their families and into out-of-home care at higher rates, while receiving fewer mental health services, such as psychotherapy and counseling, than white children.

    Families that include at least one undocumented member or non-citizen — 14.3% of Tulare County’s overall population — are also less likely to opt into care if they rely on citizen children to receive basic benefits like food stamps and housing subsidies, which can be jeopardized by family separation. In a county where more than a quarter of residents receive SNAP food assistance, and two-thirds of these recipients are children, signing a permission slip could come down to what some parents feel is a calculation between their child’s mental health and access to basic services. 

    To address fears of bias and neglect, which remain the highest barrier for underserved communities to access to mental health care, program interns adapt a traditionally siloed approach in school counseling to work more directly with parents, caretakers and community support systems. 

    Salcedo, for example, partnered with the local Boys and Girls Club to run a regular backpack drive for students in the neighborhood. He also helped set up a resource closet at his school, where students frequently stop by for necessities such as food, school supplies and personal hygiene products. Most recently, he partnered with a local church to serve boxed meals to students at the end of the school day and to parents on back-to-school nights. 

    “We have this daily check-in routine with our students, where we say, ‘Whether you’re needing to talk to a counselor, or you just need some deodorant, a snack, or pencils, we can provide it,’” Salcedo said. “‘If you’re looking for housing, or babysitting, or transportation to get to an appointment, we can try to help.’”

    Broader post-pandemic challenges

    Martin, who was hired as a social worker after completing his placement, said that the need for broader support has especially spiked for K-8 students in Tulare County, many of whom lost crucial social and cognitive development to remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of Salcedo’s high school students, he said, withdrew from their counseling sessions online — some did not have reliable Wi-Fi or could not turn on microphones due to chaotic environments at home, for example. 

    Many also experienced life-altering trauma as a result of the pandemic. They grieved family members, experienced debilitating illness and lost access to basic needs like shelter and food. 

    “That’s why it’s important for us to take a holistic approach,” Martin said. “We might be doing an intervention here at the school for the student, but there might be something going on at home that the family needs extra resources for. We’re able to help bridge those gaps, wherever they might be, for the students and their families.”





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