Beverly Hills’ school board has become a battleground for furious parents, political feuds, legal threats and a fight over a memoir detailing childhood sexual abuse.
The bitter showdown in the wealthy Los Angeles suburb has featured dueling restraining-order petitions, accusations of smear campaigns and even a mystery involving allegedly stolen campaign signs and a white Tesla with a ski rack, the Wall Street Journal reported.
At the center of the fight is a Nov. 3 election that could upend the Beverly Hills Unified School District board, where Democrats Jackie Kruger and Kim Lifschitz are challenging incumbent board President Judy Manouchehri and the conservative majority they oppose.
Kruger, 47, and Manouchehri, 46, are both attorneys and mothers of three. Their feud boiled over during a board meeting when Kruger threatened to sue before security escorted her out.
“You got to do what you got to do, baby,” Manouchehri shot back, according to the Journal.
The race has become a proxy war over national politics, school governance and cultural flashpoints in a community that historically leaned Democratic but shifted toward President Trump in 2024.
Manouchehri’s supporters say she has been targeted by an online campaign because of a cost-cutting reorganization she led. She maintains that the changes are improving the district and test scores have risen.
“There are a lot of parents who support Judy, love Judy, but are afraid to speak up,” Ellie Kadz, a marketing executive and mother of three, said.
The board’s decisions have also ignited disputes over Israel and LGBTQ+ representation. In 2025, members voted to display Israeli flags in schools for a month each year as part of an antisemitism resolution. The superintendent later scrapped the plan, citing safety concerns.
The board subsequently adopted a policy restricting which flags could fly on school grounds, effectively ending the display of rainbow flags during Pride Month — a move critics viewed as retaliatory.
The controversy has spilled into classrooms, too.
David Cienfuegos, another school-board candidate, raised objections to a temporary display of Maya Angelou’s memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which recounts the author’s childhood sexual abuse. The book was removed.
Cienfuegos and Manouchehri both describe themselves as nonpartisan, though conservative influencer Elizabeth Barcohana has endorsed them.
Her social media posts have labeled Lifschitz “antifa” and described Kruger as a pink-wigged “pole dancer.” The campaign has grown increasingly personal.
Police have received reports of stolen yard signs bearing the names of Manouchehri and Cienfuegos. Cienfuegos posted videos appearing to show someone taking signs from a vehicle, and his online comments prompted concerns that he was linking the driver to Kruger’s son.
Kruger obtained a temporary restraining order against Cienfuegos. He sought one against her son, but a judge denied that request. Cienfuegos said the order against him was largely lifted.
“It is all very unfortunate this race has become what it is,” Cienfuegos said. “I had no animosity or political agenda…and I am always fair. I don’t think many people can say the same about Kim and Jackie.”
The bitter campaign reflects broader tensions gripping school boards nationwide, where disputes over curriculum, identity and politics have increasingly overshadowed local education concerns.
The California Post has reached out to Kruger, Manouchehri, Lifschitz, and Cienfuegos for comment.
