Southern California school district being investigated by California Department of Education

The probe comes after the board blocked a curriculum that mentioned slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk.

The California Department of Education is investigating the Temecula Valley Unified School District, a department spokesperson confirmed Friday, June 9.

Maria Clayton wouldn’t elaborate on the investigation, which comes less than a month after the district board’s conservative majority rejected a social studies curriculum because its supplemental material mentioned LGBTQ civil rights leader Harvey Milk.

It’s unclear when the investigation started, how long it will last or what the probe’s focus is. Temecula school district spokesperson James Evans could not be reached Friday about the investigation. Some Temecula school board members could not be reached for comment Friday.

Board President Joseph Komrosky called Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated in 1978, “a pedophile” at a May 16 meeting in which the board voted 3-2 to reject the textbook.

“My question is why even mention a pedophile?” Komrosky said. “What does that got to do with our curriculum in schools? That’s a form of activism.”

Board member Danny Gonzalez also called Milk a pedophile at the meeting.

“I find the inclusion of sexually based topics and the glorification of a known pedophile, who happened to be an advocate for gay rights, to 10-year-olds morally reprehensible and inappropriate,” he said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted that Komrosky’s comments were “an offensive statement from an ignorant person.”

An offensive statement from an ignorant person.

This isn’t Texas or Florida. In the Golden State, our kids have the freedom to learn.

Congrats Mr. Komrosky you have our attention. Stay tuned. https://t.co/4HHLm3q57r

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 3, 2023

“Congrats Mr. Komrosky you have our attention,” the governor tweeted Saturday, June 3. “Stay tuned.”

At a Wednesday, June 7, news conference, Komrosky said he was not referring to Milk’s sexuality, but to reports that Milk had a relationship with a teenager.

A Milk biography describes an intimate relationship Milk, then 33, had with a 16-year-old in New York City.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who oversees the education department, visited Temecula on Tuesday, June 6, Clayton said. Gonzalez said Wednesday during the news conference that he spoke with Thurmond.

Temecula school board member Steven Schwartz, who has voted against the board’s new conservative bloc, said Friday in a text message that he did not attend a meeting with Thurmond, and does not know why the department is investigating.

Besides a state education probe, the district also must deal with a letter from California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office seeking documents related to the board’s decision to reject the textbook.

“Not only could (board members’) statements (about Milk) reflect that the decision was motivated by a desire to erase from the history taught to students the contributions of a prominent and respected gay rights activist and leader, but they also suggest that the Board’s action may have been tainted by discriminatory animus,” the letter read.

Julie Geary, of the progressive group Temecula Unity, said she spoke with Bonta and Thurmond about Temecula at the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles in May.

“It was so awesome to see that they are paying attention to these issues and are taking them seriously because we don’t want this to spread to other towns and other school districts,” Geary said.

Staff writer Sarah Hofmann contributed to this report.