PHOENIX — Outrage is growing after a Governing Board Member for the Deer Valley Unified School District made a Nazi salute during a public meeting. Teachers, parents, and community members are calling the gesture deeply offensive, and they want her to step down.
“When you bring in something like that and try to excuse it away, you're talking about a situation in our history that caused harm to millions of people,” Kelley Fisher, Deer Valley Education Association President, said.
This happened Tuesday at the DVUSD Governing Board meeting, where board member Kim Fisher made a Nazi salute and exclamation, an apparent show of frustration with the Board President.
ABC15 has watched the public video of the meeting and reviewed it. We are choosing not to show it.
“It brings a lot of trauma with it, whether she realizes that or not. And we are now dealing with the repercussions of that with our staff and perhaps with our students and our families,” Kelley Fisher, who has no relation to Kim Fisher, said.
The Deer Valley Education Association is now calling for Kim Fisher to resign.
The video has spread online, drawing sharp criticism.
The Deer Valley Unified School District released a statement Thursday, saying it does not condone gestures or language associated with hate, adding Fisher’s actions do not reflect the school community.
Deer Valley Unified School District full statement:
The District does not condone, support, or endorse gestures or language associated with hate, discrimination, intimidation, or violence in any form. Such actions do not reflect the mission or vision of Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD).
DVUSD remains committed to fostering a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all students, staff, families, and community members. We recognize the concern this incident has caused within our community and remain focused on ensuring that our schools remain places where every individual feels valued and respected.
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, other members of the school community, or the District.
State Representative Stephanie Simacek, also on the Governing Board, released a statement condemning the actions.
“What happened in that room was not a joke,” Simacek’s statement reads in part. “This is what antisemitism looks like when people get comfortable. This is what hatred looks like when it finds a seat at the table.”
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The Center For Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix said in a statement, “Such references carry the weight of the Holocaust and their invocation in any public setting reignites the real horrors committed by Nazi Germany.”
Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix full statement:
“The Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix strongly and unequivocally condemns the actions of Deer Valley Unified School District board member Kim Fisher at a recent board meeting. The use of Nazi language, imagery, and symbolism is offensive and harmful. Such references carry the weight of the Holocaust and their invocation in any public setting reignites the real horrors committed by Nazi Germany, and causes direct harm to the Jewish community, Holocaust survivors, and other minority groups. We have reached out to the Deer Valley Unified School District to express our gratitude for their swift and powerful statement condemning Ms. Fisher's actions.”
-Gail L. Baer, Chief Philanthropy Officer
Kim Fisher posted her own video to Facebook after the meeting, in it, saying another board member reminds her of a dictator.
“We had been living or operating under virtually a dictatorship for a long time, and a manipulation,” Fisher says in part in the eight-minute video that can be viewed by the public. “Kids don't need people with power trips, kids need a good education.”
Fisher offered no apology for making the gesture in that video. She has not responded to ABC15’s requests for comment.
“We really need to see an acknowledgement of the harm caused and an apology made,” Sarah Kader, Anti-Defamation League Desert Region Deputy Director, said.
The Anti-Defamation League recently released its annual audit of antisemitic incidents, and Kader says it shows that 2025 sustained high levels. She says they will review the incident involving Fisher to determine if it will be included in the 2026 audit.
Kader says these situations are personal for many Jewish families, including her own.
“Both of my dad's parents survived the Holocaust. My grandmother's a survivor of Auschwitz,” Kader said. “So when we see these gestures made, that were taken in support of Hitler, it's deeply, deeply troubling and offensive, and really painful. It really breaks our hearts.”
