In Arizona, a school board member has sparked outrage after performing a Nazi salute and exclaiming “Heil” during a heated meeting. This controversial act was directed at the board president, who she accused of displaying authoritarian tendencies.
Kim Fisher, a member of the Deer Valley Unified School District Governing Board, made the inflammatory gesture and remarks while clashing with board President Paul Carver Jr. during a particularly tense session on Tuesday.
The incident unfolded when Fisher, a veteran board member since 2021 and a long-standing parent within the district, interrupted as Carver was attempting to adjourn the meeting. As seen on the livestream of the May 26 meeting, Fisher emphatically raised her right arm and directed her outburst towards Carver.
The core of Fisher’s frustration stemmed from the scheduling of a community “work study” session slated for a Tuesday afternoon at 4:30. She argued that the timing was inconvenient for parents, effectively excluding them from participating in the discussion.
“The entire purpose of having a study session with our community is to gather their input and allow them to engage in our discussions,” Fisher voiced to the board. “By setting it at a time when our community cannot attend, it seems like this is just for show rather than for genuine engagement.” Her remarks highlight a critical concern about accessibility and transparency in board operations.
“The whole point of having a study session with our community is that we can get their input and they can hear our discussions,” Fisher told the board. “If you set it at a time where our community can’t even be here, so I’m just a little concerned that it’s for show, not for meaning.”
Both Carver and DVUSD Superintendent Curtis Finch opposed the change, claiming it had already been discussed between the board members.
“I’m just going to be a little ornery with you just for a minute Mrs. Fisher because everybody’s been making this request non-stop and everybody knows the policy,” Carver said.
Fisher’s action was quickly condemned by school officials who attempted to distance themselves from the board member.
“The District does not condone, support or endorse guestures or language associated with hate, discrimination, intimidation or violence in any form. Such actins do no reflect the mission or vision of DVUSD,” the district wrote in a statement shared by Carver.
“As an elected official, Mrs. Fisher speaks and acts independently. Her views and actions do not reflect and should not be attributed to other Board members, staff and other members of the school community or the district,” the statement added.
The school district serves over 33,000 students across 41 schools in northern Maricopa County, according to the district’s website.
Carver, a Marine veteran who has served as board president since 2023, is running in the Republican primary in the Arizona House of Representatives District 2 race.
The board president called Fisher’s behavior “rampant and repetitive,”
“As a public servant, father, grandfather and as a member of this community, I want to make my position unequivocally clear: this behavior is abhorrent, entirely unacceptable, and has absolutely no place in the Deer Valley Unified School District,” Carver wrote on Facebook.
“The symbols and language of Nazi Germany represent a dark history of hatred, genocide, and oppression. To display them in any context is offensive, but to exhibit them during an official public meeting of an educational institution is an absolute betrayal of the public trust,” Carver wrote on Facebook.
Kelley Fisher, the school district’s teachers’ union president, organized a rally calling for the contentious board member’s resignation on the same day as the board meeting was scheduled.
“Any leader who uses a Nazi salute during a School Board meeting is unfit for public service. There is no justification for this behavior. Kimberly Fisher should resign before she does more harm to our students and the community at large,” the Deer Valley Educators Association leader said.
Kim Fisher doubled down on calling Carver a “dictator” as she shared her complaints against the board that led to the argument.
“We are operating under, virtually a dictatorship for a longtime and a manipulation. And here’s the problem, we’re in the United States of America and dictatorships don’t work well,” she said in a Facebook livestream hours after the meeting.
“They want to have the ‘No Kings’ or no whatever, well the same applies to the school districts. There should be no kings because these are the parents’ kids and our parents in the community pay the taxes, they pay the schools and they have a right to representation within the district,” she said.
Fisher revealed she had been “censured” by the board in the past, claiming it was because she called Carver out for his “nonsense.”
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I didn’t know whether he was just behaving like a dictator because he wanted power or because he had a purpose,” she said.
Fisher encouraged her viewers to watch the ending of the meeting as it was “kinda interesting,” but didn’t speak on her salute.
“Too watch Paul lose his cool because he’s come to realize that what he’s done as a dictator running the board has damaged and people are getting tired of it.
