The Nazi salute is banned in Germany. It doesn’t seem to be in Deer Valley.
Kimberly Fisher, a Deer Valley school board member, is facing calls for her resignation after she appeared to do a Nazi salute and repeated “Heil,” twice prior to the conclusion of Deer Valley Unified School District’s (DVUSD) May 26 meeting.
Deer Valley, a Republican-leaning suburb of Phoenix, is one of Arizona’s largest school districts — serving more than 32,000 students across 42 schools. The incident comes at a time of rising political violence and hate crimes across the country.
The meeting grew tense as board members debated changing meeting times. After Fisher asked to change it to a time where more of the community could be engaged, governing board president Paul Carver Jr. pushed back, saying everyone’s been “making this request non-stop,” before telling Fisher they have to follow policy on making changes.
Fisher pushed back, accusing him of throwing a “tantrum.” Curtis Finch, the outgoing superintendent, stepped in, saying they could not discuss the topic legally, noting that it is not on the meeting agenda.
“I said right here, right now,” Fisher said.
It was after Carver asked for a motion to adjourn that Fisher made the Nazi salute before saying “Heil, Heil,” and leaving her seat to pack up. The other board members did not appear to react to the incident.
After the incident, Fisher said in a Facebook post she used the salute to indicate Carver was acting like a dictator, stating they’d been working under a “dictatorship.” Fisher said the meeting times, as is, are not accessible for parents and community members to join and was seeking to change it at the meeting.
“Our parents and community pay the taxes and schools, they have a right to representation in the district. Mr. Carver started out pretending to be Conservative and ‘all about American way,’ and patriot, but as an elected official, he has been horrible.”
Fisher continued, stating that his leadership felt dictatorial, prompting her gesture and words.
“All I could think of tonight was Hitler so I said ‘heil Hitler,’” Fisher said. “This nonsense that a board can’t talk to even schedule a meeting, which is what he said, that is stupid, and it is absolutely not accurate.”
On May 27, the Deer Valley Education Association (DVEA), the district’s union, wrote on Facebook that the move “caused a lot of harm” to members, especially members of the Jewish community.
The Nazi salute is widely associated with fascist Italy and Adolf Hitler’s persecution of Jewish people during the Holocaust, where 6 million Jewish people were tortured, starved, and killed. Since then, antisemites and far-right extremists have continued to use the salute to indicate extremist views. White nationalists have used the Nazi salute to praise President Donald Trump, and Elon Musk faced criticism for making a gesture that appeared to be a Nazi salute at a Trump rally in January 2025.
The gesture, and other symbols and slogans associated with the Nazi era, are banned in Germany. According to extremist experts, the casual use of the gesture and language can signify one’s association or ideological ties with far-right neo-Nazi groups.
Calls for accountability
DVEA called for Fisher’s resignation on Facebook.
“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 statement read.
The Arizona Education Association, a labor union for public school educators, backed the calls for Fisher’s removal in a post on X.
Fisher did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
