The Redlands school board censured member Melissa Ayala-Quintero on Tuesday night, May 13, and discussed rules that would ban most flags and make removing “obscene” books from library shelves easier.
The board voted 3-2 to censure Ayala-Quintero, with President Michelle Rendler and members Candy Olson and Jeanette Wilson voting in favor. Members Patty Holohan and Ayala-Quintero voted no.
RELATED: Redlands school board set to vote on member’s censure
The censure was proposed by Olson at the board’s April 22 meeting, when Olson alleged that Ayala-Quintero lunged and verbally threatened her during a heated April 8 session.
Ayala-Quintero contended that she did not threaten or lunge at Olson but did engage in a verbal exchange.
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Officers try to cover the microphone as a speaker goes overtime during the Tuesday, May 13, 2025, Redlands Unified School District board meeting. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
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Officers try to cover the microphone as a speaker goes overtime during the Tuesday, May 13, 2025, Redlands Unified School District board meeting. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
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Ayala-Quintero said the censure resolution’s language was vague and favored one side of the argument over the other. She also said it did not address Olson’s behavior, which she alleged involved Olson laughing at a speaker.
She also said she expected the board would vote this way and called it a politically motivated act by conservative trustees.
Ayala-Quintero alleged that Olson would tout the censure on her social media as a win over her and those who do not share Olson’s views and try to tear her down politically.
“You cannot weaken what is righteous,” Ayala-Quintero said.
Ayala-Quintero said she’d continue to stand for students and marginalized community members.
“It has always been my passion and will remain so — censured or not.”
The comments were met with a standing ovation that lasted more than a minute.
During discussion, Olson moved to edit the censure resolution to address the exact language she said Ayala-Quintero used. She alleged Ayala-Quintero verbally threatened her by saying: “Say it to me one more time.” Olson also alleged that Ayala-Quintero physically threatened her by posturing towards her.
Wilson said that the resolution should have been reviewed before the meeting.
“It is weakened down and doesn’t capture the severity of what occurred,” Wilson said.
Superintendent Juan Cabral addressed the issue again, saying Ayala-Quintero and Olson were speaking while a member of the public was speaking at the podium.
He said he stepped in because there was someone addressing the board and that the exchange between trustees needed to stop out of respect for the public. Cabral also said the board needed a set of norms to govern its actions.
“The behavior of both of you was not OK and it was not OK because we had a member of the public speaking at the podium,” Cabral said.
“I never said there was a threat,” Cabral said. “I said there was an exchange and when I saw you (Ayala-Quintero) turn your chair, I decided to get up.”
Holohan said: “I am appalled and embarrassed that we have come to this point … new board members have come in and five months in and this is where we are.”
A censure is a formal reprimand by other board members but does not remove or otherwise affect the board member’s position.
The board on Tuesday night also was scheduled to discuss a neutral classroom policy that was originally introduced in January and returned at a March workshop. That policy would ban all flags from classrooms except the California state flag, the United States flag and military flags.
A book policy also proposed at the workshop was also on Tuesday’s agenda. The proposal would streamline the process of pulling books from shelves. Under the proposed rules, if a book is determined to be “obscene,” it would be removed within three days and be subject to a school board hearing.
At the time, the board directed administrators to adjust the policies and start negotiations with the teachers union.
Some have called the proposals a “copy and paste” of those passed by other school districts, which landed those school systems in legal trouble.
The Temecula school board passed a similar flag policy in 2023, but rescinded it in December after a California Public Employment Relations Board ruling found that implementing the policy violated the state Educational Employment Relations Act.
The Chino Valley school board passed a flag ban in June 2023 and a similar book policy in November 2023.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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