Temecula Valley Unified School District Board President Joseph Komrosky will face a recall election this spring, after Riverside County in Southern California certified enough petition signatures to trigger a recall election.

One Temecula Valley PAC, the group behind the recall campaign, gathered 4,884 signatures on the petition to recall Mr. Komrosky—just over the required 4,280 signatures needed to prompt an election.

The Riverside County Registrar of Voters certified the petition Jan. 22, according to a post on One Temecula Valley PAC’s Instagram page.

The district must be notified of the signature verification and will have the opportunity to select an election date, which will likely take place between April 19 and May 26.

In a Jan. 22 press release, Mr. Komrosky urged voters to vote against the recall and doubled down on his commitment to parents’ rights.

“I have fulfilled my campaign promises to my constituents and have done exactly what I was elected to do,” he stated. “I’ve represented the voices in my community by fighting for traditional family values, such as parental rights ... I will rigorously seek out and stand against any evil such as pervasive obscenity, vulgarity, pornography, and erotica here at [Temecula Valley]. I will continue to resist these harmful things with every ounce of my being.”

Community members attend a Temecula Valley Unified School District board meeting in Temecula, Calif., on Aug. 22, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The Temecula Valley Unified board gained statewide attention this summer when it twice rejected, then ultimately approved, an elementary social studies textbook that Mr. Komrosky deemed inappropriate for its inclusion of LGBT activist Harvey Milk, whom the board president called a “pedophile” due to reports that Mr. Milk had a sexual relationship with a minor as an adult.

Mr. Komrosky’s comment gained attention from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who threatened to send copies of the contested “Social Studies Alive” book to Temecula students and to enact legislation that would fine the district $1.5 million if the board didn’t approve the textbook.

Ultimately, the board voted to approve the curriculum, with the recommendation that teachers swap the material that includes Mr. Milk with something more “age appropriate.”

Mr. Komrosky said the vote was not in response to Mr. Newsom’s threats, but to avoid a costly lawsuit for the district.

Even with the board’s about-face on the issue, the governor called for a civil rights investigation into the district in July.

Last December, the board voted to also ban critical race theory in the district.

A man holds up a sign against critical race theory at a school board meeting in Temecula, Calif., on Dec. 13, 2022. (The Epoch Times)