In December 2022 the new TVUSD School Board President, Joseph Komrosky, defended a resolution abruptly passed by the board’s “conservative” majority over the protests of parents, students, teachers, and two other school board members.
This resolution banned the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) and specific concepts in Temecula schools. CRT had never been taught here and there were no plans to teach it. (Learn more about CRT.) But the resolution was so vaguely worded that it spawned a lawsuit from teachers and students who no longer knew what they could talk about in class.
Komrosky’s defense? He said the new majority had promised voters they would ban CRT, so they did.
Their first day as Trustees.
Without having any knowledge about the district or its curriculum.
Without talking to teachers or parents or district staff.
Without considering the likely results of this action.
What was missing? Trustees Komrosky, Wiersma, and Gonzalez failed to think about two things:
The day after tomorrow
The other half
The day after tomorrow
We get it. When you’re elected to office, you’re excited to put your ideas into place. For example, we can thank past TVUSD trustees for driving improvements in career and technical education (CTE) classes, Special Education, and district finances.
But how you put your ideas into place matters. Maybe not today, maybe not even tomorrow, but definitely for the day after tomorrow.
If you ignore existing laws—whether from ignorance or design—you will be sued. The lawyers get all the money you could have spent on your business.
If you arbitrarily dismiss other people’s points of view—especially your employees and customers—they’ll be angry and frustrated and scared. Angry people don’t produce. Frustrated people don’t implement your ideas. Scared people can’t function. Your best employees leave. Your customers start looking elsewhere. What happens to your organization?
If you don’t bother to consider the likely results of your idea or consult experienced people before implementing it, unintended consequences can be catastrophic for your organization. Thinking ahead and consulting experts doesn’t guarantee success, but not even trying to guarantees problems.
Of course change is needed. We all know TVUSD isn’t perfect. There are absolutely things we wish were different and want to change.
But let’s also acknowledge that the district is doing lots of things well. We’ve heard all our trustees rave about the great teachers they’ve observed and classroom learning they’ve seen, about the breadth of CTE classes, about the sports and Mock Trial and dance teams, about school plays, math and literacy nights, and so much more. (For a taste of all the good things, take a look at the monthly Community Connection newsletter.)
One of the most important jobs of a Trustee is not to disturb all those good things.
Thinking about the day after tomorrow helps you keep what’s good while still moving your new ideas forward. Let’s face it: breaking something just leaves you with a mess. Acknowledging the good stuff and making sure it will all still exist after your changes is the way to work it.
In our schools a huge part of keeping the good stuff is making sure we continue to attract and retain excellent teachers, administrators, and everyday staff. Another huge part is working to keep community support for our schools. Families have moved here for decades because our public schools had an excellent reputation; surely that’s something we want to keep (think healthy business community; think property values).
So how do you make your ideas reality without getting sued, angering people you need, or losing the good things you have?
You take time.
Time to learn how and why things are done the way they are now
Time to listen to people who oppose your idea and explore how to address any valid concerns
Time to improve your idea with input from others
Time to get your organization behind your idea, so it succeeds
That’s the first missing piece: keeping the day after tomorrow firmly in mind.
The other half
The second missing piece is something we rarely think about: considering the other half.
What’s a trustee? Someone who manages assets for the benefit of someone else.
What is a TVUSD School Board Tustee’s responsibility? To manage school district assets—funding, facilities, employees, reserves, reputation—for the benefit of the community’s students.
ALL the community’s students.
Because a public school can’t pick and choose—it must serve all students.
Joseph Komrosky was elected to the Board in November 2022. He received 5,706 votes from 12,418 people who voted in his trustee area, which had 21,361 registered voters at the time. (See official voting results.)
So 46% of the people who voted in the election voted for him (some didn’t vote for school board at all). What about the other half?
For that matter, what about the nearly 74% of registered voters who didn’t vote for him, either because they voted for someone else or didn’t vote at all?
Does an elected official represent only the people who voted for him or her? No. Just like trustees manage assets for ALL students, elected officials represent ALL the people in their area: voters for them, voters for opponents, registered voters who failed to vote, and even people who aren’t registered.
That’s the first concern.
The second concern is that Komrosky assumed all the 5,706 people who voted for him did so because they wanted him to immediately ban CRT.
That’s highly unlikely. Some people voted against the incumbent, because they weren’t happy with the way the district handled Covid (or something else). Some believed the lies about Komrosky’s opponent they received in a campaign mailer. Some had no idea what CRT is or didn’t care whether it was banned. Some voted for him because he has a doctorate and teaches in college—so he should know how to run a school district, right?
Btw, Komrosky was recalled in June 2024 by just 212 votes, and elected again in November 2024 by only 227 votes. Not exactly a mandate in either direction.
When they voted to ban CRT their first day in office, Trustees Komrosky, Wiersma, and Gonzalez failed to consider the other half.
So if you—or your candidate—are elected to office, remember the other half. You represent all the people in your area, and you don’t know why people voted for you. Again, take the time to listen and learn before moving ahead with your ideas.
What do you think?
As a TVUSD Boardwatch reader, you’re an important community member who wants to see our local community thrive, whether you’re on the right or the left politically—or like us, somewhere in the middle.
Will we thrive if our elected officials represent only what they assume the fraction of people who voted for them want, ignoring the rest? Will we thrive if officials fail to consider how their actions today will affect our community the day after tomorrow?
We’re hopeful that the new board elected in 2024 will govern well, work for all the students, represent all the people in their trustee areas, and always consider the consequences of their actions. Read our review of the new board’s first two meetings.
Always remember you can email your trustee—or any trustee—with your views and concerns. Here’s how to find the trustee for your address.
Here are our current TVUSD Trustees:
Melinda Anderson, TA1. Email: manderson@tvusd.us
Emil Barham, TA2. Email: ebarham@tvusd.us
Jen Wiersma, TA3. Email: jwiersma@tvusd.us
Joseph Komrosky, TA4. Email: jkomrosky@tvusd.us
Steve Schwarz, TA5. Email: sschwartz@tvusd.us
Thanks for reading!