Murrieta Valley Unified Fails To Set Plan To Fill Vacant Trustee Area 3 Seat

The Murrieta Valley Unified School District Board of Education this week failed to choose how to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Area 3 Trustee Yvonne Munoz earlier this month.

“If we were under normal conditions with boards that behaved in a non-partisan way, I would totally support an appointment,” Trustee Nancy Young said at the September 23 special meeting. “Just because of the way things have been going the last few years, with an emphasis on culture wars and politics, I don’t feel like an appointment process would be fair.”

Young, who voted against Board President Nicolas Pardue’s motion to appoint, said she wasn’t optimistic that the board would appoint someone whose focus was students and not culture wars.

“I would love to see that change,” she said. “We would all get along great if we could get off the culture wars train.”

Because Trustee Christine Schmidt was not at the meeting, the motion to fill the vacancy by appointment failed even though both Pardue and Board Clerk Eleanor Briggs voted in support of it.

Pardue pushed back against Young’s assertion that the district had wasted money on legal battles over what she considered culture war issues, instead stating that the board was representing the community.

“I’m pretty sure Mrs. Briggs got on this board in part for advocating for some of the positions, and we’ve been doing, I think, a pretty measured job of advocating for parents and making sure the parents’ voices are heard and so that they have an active part,” he said. “Because remember, when we’re here on the board, we don’t represent any special interest group, we represent the community we serve, which are the parents and the families that are here.”

Of those who spoke at the meeting, three spoke in support of appointment and three spoke in support of having a special election. Emily Brooks, a Murrieta parent who spoke in support of neither option, asked that if the board did choose to appoint, which is what she said she expected would happen, that it be done transparently and fairly.

“Invite folks to apply, have a nice, fair appointment process, ask all the right questions, listen to the responses, and pick somebody who truly has public education at heart and who isn’t going to pursue a highly partisan agenda,” she said.

According to a district news release, Munoz resigned September 17 due to “a change of professional demands that would prohibit her ability to effectively serve the Murrieta community.”

“Our school district is strong and thriving thanks to the talented teachers, staff and administrators who stay steadfast in their commitment to student learning and achievement,” Munoz said in a statement shared by the district. “It is a shining example of how an exceptional public education system can positively impact a community. It has been a pleasure serving and I will remain an advocate for our students and those who support them.”

Because the motion failed, and the board did not indicate next steps for filling the vacancy, the district said further details would have to be discussed at an upcoming board meeting. The next regularly scheduled MVUSD board meeting is set for October 14.