A California county superintendent said that members of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) school board should bring lawyers to meetings, take classes on ethics, and get training in how to deal with conflicts after video of them using “antisemitic tropes” at a recent tense meeting surfaced.
“Over the past few months, my office has gotten a lot of questions and concerns about how people behave and talk at PVUSD Board meetings.” “From what I’ve seen, some of these concerns are valid,” Dr. Farris Sabbah, superintendent of schools for Santa Cruz County, wrote in a letter to Olivia Flores, president of the PVUSD board, and other board members on April 23.
“I was especially worried about comments made by trustees at the April 16, 2025, Board meeting that seemed to use antisemitic tropes,” he wrote in a letter that Fox News Digital got from the North American Values Institute.
The meeting was called by the PVUSD School Board to talk about renewing a contract with Culturally Responsive Education (CRE) for the ethnic studies unit. Some people in the Jewish community are worried about the CRE curriculum because Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, the founder of the organisation, wrote a draft ethnic studies curriculum that the California school board turned down because it was antisemitic.
Even though the state turned down Tintiangco-Cubales’ proposed ethnic studies curriculum, the PVUSD Board still plans to hire CRE to write their own ethnic studies curriculum.
When people in the Jewish community spoke out against the CRE program, some board members used what Sabbah called “antisemitic tropes” in their speech.
Joy Flynn, a board member, used her time at the April 16 meeting to talk about Jewish “economic power.”
“It has been something that I’ve discovered, or that I’ve been a little taken aback by is the lack of acknowledgement of economic power historically held by the Jewish community, that Black and Brown people don’t have,” he said.
Gabriel Medina, a board member, seemed to be talking to the Jewish community when he said, “I don’t see you people at immigration protests.” I don’t see you at the protest where people are being arrested right now. It doesn’t look like you want to bring back Abrego Garcia or Mahmoud Khalil. There are times when you only show up to meetings to tell Brown people who they are, but now we’re telling our own stories.
In his letter, Sabbah said that the board might be breaking the Ralph M. Brown Act, a California rule that protects open government, by “taking or attempting to take action on matters not properly listed.” He also suggested that the board have a lawyer at future meetings. Besides dispute resolution, he suggested that the board take classes in “governance, ethics, and education law” after the heated meeting.
“Antisemitic rhetoric has no place in PVUSD, least of all from trustees charged with upholding students’ rights, ensuring nondiscrimination, and fostering safe, inclusive education environments,” Sabbah said.
Fox News Digital asked Medina for a response, and he sent them to a Substack post where he answer Sabbah’s letter.
“Making vague accusations that board member comments are based on “anti-Semitic tropes” without naming or analysing those comments simplifies a difficult and complicated debate.” This method makes people afraid to speak out, especially when it’s used against trustees of colour who are questioning power structures. Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor says, “The problem with liberalism is that it often expects the oppressed to be polite while letting power stay in place.” We need to know who is being made uncomfortable when our board talks about racial inequality. Medina wrote in the post from April 23. He wrote that the comments made at the school board meeting were meant for a “group of people, many of whom have sided with far-right groups.”
According to Fox News Digital, Dr. Heather Contreras, director of PVUSD, there will be a lawyer at the next school board meeting. It will also be decided if there will be a lawyer at future meetings. She said that antisemitism is not tolerated in her neighbourhood.
“PVUSD stands strongly against all forms of racism, antisemitism, and hate. We know that some people are worried about recent comments made by some members of the Board of Trustees, and we want to be clear about the ideals that guide our district. PVUSD wants to make sure that all children, families, teachers, and members of the community feel safe, welcome, and respected, no matter their background, race, religion, or identity. In everything we do, we will continue to stick to the ideals of fairness, respect, and dignity. Contreras told Fox News Digital, “PVUSD will continue to work with our diverse communities to make sure our schools reflect the values we expect from our leaders and teach our students.”
When asked for their thoughts, board head Flores and trustee Flynn told Fox News Digital to read Dr. Contreras’ statement.
“Our main goal is to help the Board and District directly as we work together to help all kinds of students and families.” “Right now, we don’t have any more comments,” Sabbah told Fox News Digital.