CBS News reports that angry Riverside County residents have demanded the resignation of Val Verde Unified School District’s School Board President Matthew Serafin after he was arrested for a second DUI.
One once sympathetic parent summed it up by saying, “Yes, we all make mistakes,” they said, “but not the same mistakes over and over. “
This isn’t the first matter that Serafin has been taken to task by the community. Parents and other board meeting attendees have taken offense when Serafin often swore during meetings. The cries calling for his ouster after he hit a parked car in August while driving under the influence of alcohol have now reached a crescendo.
“You were arrested for a second DUI,” one visibly angry parent said. “Would you like to talk about that?”
“I cannot believe that you were elected not once but twice,” another parent said.
Even with similar questions being hurled at him by angry parents, Serafin insisted that even the second DUI arrest would not interfere with his ability to serve as School Board President. “I am not a saint,” Serafin said. “I take responsibility and pray to the Creator, to the ancestors, and to the sun and the moon.”
Serafin did not indicate that he would willingly step down even when fellow board member Melinda Young called on him to do so.
“I recommend that you, Serafin, publicly apologize for your behavior and actions and step down as board president,” Young said.
Young said that Serafin had violated the school board’s bylaws to govern responsibly and that some parents believe he is no longer fit to set an example for children.
A hearing for Serafin’s case will be held sometime in January 2024.
