The Cypress School District Board of Trustees voted 4-1 Wednesday night to formally censure Trustee Meghna Parikh, adopting Resolution 2526-9 after more than five hours of other agenda business.

Trustees Hayashida, Needham, Sondhi, and Tanaka voted yes. Parikh voted no on her own censure.

The resolution cited two incidents under Board Bylaw 905 (Trustee Conduct) and Board Bylaw 1313 (Civility). The first was an August 2025 Landell PTA board meeting where Parikh faced complaints of bullying, abuse of power, and creating an unsafe environment. The second was a February 27 PTA casino night fundraiser at Landell, where she was accused of showing up drunk, making sexual comments, and a wardrobe malfunction.

At a March special meeting, Parikh had attributed the February incident to mixing prescription medication with alcohol. On Wednesday she set that explanation aside. "I want to just at this point take full responsibility for my actions and the disappointment that they caused," she said. She called the August incident "a passionate discussion about diversity and inclusion" and said everyone involved had grown from it.

She asked the board to drop the censure resolution and substitute a motion for the full board to collectively reaffirm its commitment to the bylaws. The board declined.

Before the censure vote, the board also denied Parikh her monthly stipend for March. Trustee Tanaka had raised her attendance record: three missed events she had signed up for, two missed board meetings, and eight instances of arriving late or leaving early since her appointment. Parikh said one of the special meeting absences was a school site visit she had RSVPd to on her daughter's birthday and believed that declining the calendar invite was sufficient notice.

Board President Sondhi laid out four options before the vote: adopt the censure as written, vote it down, amend it to say "admonishment" instead, or substitute a collective reaffirmation motion. She noted community members had written in on both sides. The board went with the original resolution.

Trustee Tanaka said the vote was about precedent as much as punishment. "Whatever we decide here today becomes the standard we apply in future situations," he said. "I believe this warrants a formal response that reflects both accountability and integrity of the board."

After the vote, President Sondhi directed staff to develop a formal process for handling future board member complaints, noting there is currently no defined policy for graduated responses or due process procedures. She asked staff to research other districts' approaches and potentially draft an addendum to BB905.