Trustee Candy Olson faces resignation demands over social media activity

Editor’s Note: This article contains descriptions, language, and memes from social media posts that include racist, antisemitic, homophobic, and ableist content. Reader discretion is advised.

REDLANDS, Calif. — A local parent and advocacy group is calling for the resignation of Redlands Unified School District Board Member Candy Olson after uncovering her interactions with a meme account that has posted racist, homophobic, antisemitic and ableist content.

The group, Together for Redlands, launched a public campaign Monday, alleging that Olson has “liked and shared” content from the account over the past several months. Community Forward Redlands independently verified that Olson’s private Instagram profile has liked multiple posts from the account, which frequently shares politically charged memes targeting marginalized groups and promoting far-right ideology.

“This behavior is not only antithetical to the values we expect from leaders in education, but it also severely undermines the trust that families, staff, and students place in the board,” the group stated in its social media post, which has garnered hundreds of likes and comments. As of Tuesday evening, more than 950 letters had been sent to the school board through the group’s Action Network campaign.

In a statement emailed to Community Forward Redlands on Monday, Olson said her personal social media activity has been "misinterpreted or taken out of context."

“There was a group that I followed (now have unfollowed) that did post content I do not subscribe to,” she wrote. “Once in a while they had very funny political meme slides embedded in a slate of slides within one post. As you know, one single slide cannot be liked as a stand alone. I can understand the appearance of this being poor, which is why I’ve decided to unfollow that account—they did begin more recently to post more garbage than good old-fashioned funny satire.”

The most recent post, including a set of memes with antisemitic and homophobic messages, was liked by Olson on July 25. The post includes this caption:

“...we’re stuck here on planet Earth with all the third world immigrants that have invaded the western world. They’re obnoxious as fugg and are the biggest scam artists ever and we’re gonna kick them all out and send them back to the shithole countries they came from, it’s the last Friday in July!”

In her statement, Olson denied supporting hate or discrimination, stating:

“My values remain grounded in respect, personal responsibility, and a belief in open dialogue... I care deeply about our schools and community and remain committed to serving every student and family in the Redlands Unified School District to the best of my ability.”

She also alleged that a recent post circulated by Together for Redlands depicting her as a KKK sympathizer, was “completely manufactured” and “photoshopped."

Together for Redlands responds

Samantha Trad, with Together for Redlands, disputed Olson’s explanation of her social media activity, calling it “complete gaslighting.”

“She has liked multiple posts from this account and from several similar ones. The content is not just political satire—it is violent, racist, antisemitic, and homophobic,” Trad said. “If a student were liking these posts, they’d be reprimanded. A school board member should be held to an even higher standard.”

Together for Redlands said it took care to archive screenshots and avoid amplifying the most disturbing posts unnecessarily.

“We were really careful with what we shared,” Trad said. “We didn’t even post everything we found—some of it was just too disturbing.”

Trad also questioned which post Olson would consider political satire and not "horribly offensive."

"If you go through all of them, they're terrible. And it's not like this was a one-off occasion," Trad said.

One post from June 4, 2025, includes multiple antisemitic and homophobic memes, along with a caption that states, in part:

“...and now there are pride parades everywhere raising the flag of degenerates, when there used to be Eucharistic processions in Europe, but it’s flooded with godless [slur], but we got the $15 minimum wage so that’s cool...” Editor’s Note: A racial slur has been redacted.

The group also rejected Olson’s claim that a screenshot shared last week was doctored. The image, posted by Together for Redlands, shows a photo Olson allegedly re-shared to her Instagram story with the caption “Redlands is backkk." Olson claims the image was “completely manufactured” and “photoshopped” to make her appear as a KKK sympathizer.

According to Trad, the image originated from Olson’s Instagram story and was captured by multiple individuals in June 2024.

“At the time I thought maybe she didn’t understand what the K's meant,” Trad said. “But now that we’ve seen what she’s been liking, I think she knew exactly what it meant.”

Community Forward Redlands has not been able to independently verify either claim.

District response

Redlands Unified spokesperson Christine Stephens reaffirmed that board members are independently elected and not subject to employee discipline.

“Board members of the Redlands Unified School District are elected officials who serve independently and are not subject to employee policies and procedures,” she wrote in an email to CFR Monday. Stephens noted that, while they are not held to the same internal codes of conduct as staff or administrators, "all board members are expected to uphold the principles outlined in the California School Boards Association (CSBA) Governance Standards, which emphasize integrity, respectful discourse, and responsible stewardship of the public’s trust."

Stephens added that the board may address concerns internally at its discretion, but such deliberations are not typically made public unless formal action is taken during an open session.

"As elected officials, board members are ultimately accountable to the constituents who elected them. If members of the public feel that any board member is not upholding their responsibilities or representing the community’s values, they have the right to express those concerns and pursue the appropriate civic or electoral channels," Stephens stated.

Together for Redlands said it intends to continue its campaign and share additional examples of content Olson has engaged with online. The group also plans to bring their concerns to the school board meeting on Aug. 5.

“She’s dangerous,” Trad said. “This isn’t a private matter—it’s about public trust. And any board member who doesn’t speak up or call for her resignation is complicit.”

Olson was elected in 2024 and represents Area 5 on the five-member Redlands Unified Board of Education. Her term runs through 2028.

This is a developing story. Updates will be posted at www.communityforwardredlands.com.

This story was originally published on July 29, 2025 at 22:27. It was updated to correct the date of an alleged post by shared by Olson from November 2024 to June 2024.