On Friday, the Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) board convened for an emergency meeting, amid controversy surrounding their school curriculum and Governor Gavin Newsom’s intervention.

The controversy originated from the curriculum’s inclusion of material on Harvey Milk – the first openly gay political office holder in California, and accompanying allegations of his involvement in pedophilia.

Called in response to a considerable fine levied by Governor Newsom, Friday’s meeting led to a resolution. Board members unanimously agreed to adopt the disputed curriculum.

Earlier on Wednesday, a 3-2 vote saw the district board members reject a state-endorsed social studies curriculum that referred to Harvey Milk’s role as a gay rights activist. This was the second instance of the district rejecting such material.

Subsequently, Governor Newsom penalized the district with a $1.5 million fine for what he termed as a “willful violation of the law.” Additionally, Newsom planned to burden the district with the $1.6 million cost of the new textbooks for students.

Congressman Darrell Issa, in a press release, rebuked Newsom’s authoritarian approach and voiced his support for the school board and the parents. “I stand with the parents of Temecula,” he asserted, commending the School Board’s efforts to heed parents’ and educators’ concerns and work collectively to sensibly select educational content.

He called out the governor stating, “Governor Newsom has resorted to bullying and intimidation, even going so far as to threaten a multimillion-dollar bill to Temecula for what he falsely terms a ‘fine.'”

TVUSD Board President Joseph Komrosky, who had been in an ongoing verbal feud with the governor, issued a statement post the fine, indicating that the district was still engaged in refining the curriculum for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Accusing Newsom of brash intervention, Komrosky expressed, “What he calls inaction we see as responsible considerations for all of our community’s viewpoints as we come to a final decision and with time left to do so.” He criticized Newsom’s attempt to undermine local control and his perceived wastage of taxpayers’ money.

In Friday’s meeting, board members voted first on whether to retain the district’s existing 17-year-old curriculum, inclusive of textbooks from 2006. Subsequently, marking the third such vote in the past two months, they decided to adopt the new curriculum.

RELATED: Parents Cheer As California State Schools Chief Gets BOOTED OUT Of Local School Board Meeting – Video

The board will continue its efforts to refine the new curriculum, hoping to find alternative material to replace references to Milk, while still adhering to state mandates.

After the resolution, Governor Newsom posted a statement on Twitter. He argued that the debate was not about local control or parents’ rights, but about an alleged “extremists’ desire to control information and censor the materials used to teach our children.” He further claimed that the board members still have a civil rights investigation to answer for.

It is certainly arguable that this is serious arm twisting and extreme overreach by the governor who is now taking a victory lap. However, it is not likely that parents will take this lying down.

Once again it comes down to woke government mandates verses parents rights, no matter which side of the line you are on.

RELATED: California Democrats Yield to Public Pressure, Revive Child Trafficking Legislation