| New reporting details how David Valadao and his Republican allies’ attacks against Randy Villegas for his votes on the Visalia Unified School Board are untrue and deeply misleading.
Juan Guerrero, the former Visalia school board president, confirmed that the re-hiring of DeJuan Jones was a “human resources failure.”
“Any political ads saying this was Randy’s decision are untrue, misleading, and profoundly disrespectful to those impacted. Most importantly, they don’t get us any closer to accountability and justice for victims.” – Guerrero
Villegas has continued to be clear about this case: “I stand with survivors of abuse of any kind…The charges against [Mr. Jones] are despicable, and he is in prison where he belongs, nowhere near our schools.”
Get the Facts:
American Journal News: School board attacks on Villegas proven to be misleading
- Villegas did not make the decision and there was no public record of the individual’s conduct.
- The reality is that Villegas, and other members of the Visalia school board, had no knowledge of the predator’s record and there was no public reporting about it at the time.
- The ad is being financed by the GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund PAC.
- None of [Jones’ criminal] history was provided to the Visalia school board when it voted. The board also did not vote on Jones’ hiring individually. Instead, it was asked to approve the hiring of 10 individuals, including Jones, and 15 other agenda items in a single vote. The Visalia Unified School District Office advised the board to vote in the affirmative.
- Jones did not have a criminal record at the time, which is part of what enabled him to slip past the school district’s pre-screening protocols for new hires. Those protocols have since been made more stringent.
- The ad’s claims that “Randy Villegas hired a predator” and that it was “Randy’s decision” are clear exaggerations.
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