The president of the Val Verde school board faced growing calls to step down this week following his second arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol and persistent concerns over his behavior at board meetings.
In the first meeting of the Board of Education since the Southern California News Group reported on Matthew Serafin’s criminal history, including his second DUI arrest on Aug. 27, two board members who formerly supported Serafin changed their positions Tuesday, Oct. 3.
Erika Zamora said she gave Serafin a second chance, but now believes it is time for him to step down.
“This DUI that happened, we should have been informed of it, because even though it’s a personal matter, it affects us as a community,” Zamora said.
Board member Daniel Aquino, who voted to keep Serafin on as board president following complaints of his continual use of profanity behind the dais, said two of his friends died as a result of drunken driving. He said he was offended that some are accusing him of condoning Serafin’s actions.
“I completely agree that Mr. Serafin should step down. I do not believe his actions reflect that of Val Verde,” Aquino said.
Parents speak out
Nearly a dozen parents and community watchdogs spoke out against Serafin and the district’s failure to properly address the issue at Tuesday’s meeting. Some saw it as an opportunity to get more involved.
Dolores Holmes, surrounded by a throng of about a dozen family members and supporters waving signs reading “4 the Kids,” “Think about the kids” and “Holmes for school board,” said she plans to run for a seat on the board in the 2024 election.
“I came here today to let you know that all the decisions made by you affect my children, the children of our community and my family,” Holmes said. She called Serafin’s conduct, as both a school board member and in his personal life, questionable.
“Yes, we all make mistakes and deserve a second chance, however, not the same mistakes over and over again,” Holmes said. “I’m a believer that our words and our actions encourage or discourage people. Do you really think you are encouraging positive attributes to our students as our president?”
Board member Melinda Young, who proposed stripping Serafin of his ceremonial position as president during the board’s Sept. 5 meeting due to his public use of profanity, called Serafin’s behavior “disgusting” on Tuesday.
“I hope my colleagues have heard the community as I have and are moved to make positive change and to remedy the situation,” Young said. She said had she been aware of Serafin’s August DUI arrest at the Sept. 5 meeting, she would have mentioned it.
Board member Marla Kirkland did not speak on the issue during Tuesday night’s meeting, but said in a prior statement that Serafin’s conduct was “embarrassing to our district” and implored Serafin to resign immediately.
The Val Verde Unified School District covers 22 schools comprising more than 19,000 students in Perris and Moreno Valley.
Second DUI arrest
Serafin, 31, whose full name is Matthew Pierre Guevara Serafin, was arrested about 4:50 p.m. on Aug. 27 on suspicion of DUI after he allegedly struck a parked car on Redding Way near A Street. He was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, issued a citation and released the following day, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Criminal charges have not been filed against Serafin as the Sheriff’s Department continues to investigate.
Serafin’s arrest came a little more than a year after he completed probation on another DUI offense from 2018, court records show. And in November 2015, Serafin, who went by the surname Guevara at the time, was convicted in Orange County of misdemeanor vandalism in connection with two vehicle burglaries, court records show.
Following his 2015 conviction, he filed a petition in Riverside Superior Court to change his surname from Guevara to Serafin, his mother’s maiden name. A judge granted the request
Serafin responds
In his first public address since his arrest, Serafin on Tuesday never addressed whether he would contemplate stepping down. He said the last several months have been a difficult time for him and his family as they dealt with the loss of both his great-grandmother and grandfather.
Responding to questions about why he changed his surname before he ran for office, Serafin said he added his mother’s maiden name in her honor.
“I wanted to carry the name of the person who has solely raised me since I was 13,” he said. “My father was many things — a good man, a good father, but also an abuser and an alcoholic. I honor both of my family names, so adding my mother’s name was a part of completing something I always wanted to do since completing childhood, and was finally able to get around to when I graduated college.”
He implored those at the meeting not to believe any of the “social media nonsense” that surfaced following his arrest, and gave his assurances that his legal problems will not affect his ability to serve on the school board.
“I am not a saint,” Serafin said. “I take responsibility and I pray daily to the creator, to my ancestors, to the sun and to the moon. I strive to be a better person and will be a better person.”
Superintendent silent
Some district parents called out Superintendent Michael R. McCormick on Tuesday for not responding to the public outcry against Serafin’s conduct.
“Superintendent Michael, I’d like to know why you haven’t commented on this whole issue with the president using profane language. I’m surprised that nobody has spoke about it. Your executive staff hasn’t spoke about it,” said Fred Banuelos of Moreno Valley.
Roy Bleckert, who hosts an afternoon radio program called IE Newswire Daily, also called out McCormick, saying he asked him and his assistant superintendents to weigh in on the Serafin controversy during the Sept. 5 board meeting. But instead they remained silent.
“Your job as superintendent is to give your opinion. This is what the problem is,” Bleckert said. “It’s incumbent upon every one of you to do what’s right.”
In response, McCormick also spoke for the first time publicly on the matter, but chose to focus on the positive things occurring in the district and with its students.
“I’ve been in this district for a very long time and it hurts my heart and it hurts my spirit to be in this place where we are right now,” he said, “because I know that this good work that happens in Val Verde doesn’t happen because of a single individual. It happens because of a team that includes people at all levels of this organization.”
