Dave Brown and Brian Shannon recall, Newberg School District, Oregon (2021-2022)
| Newberg School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Brian Shannon |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| January 18, 2022 |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2022 Recalls in Oregon Oregon recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
Recall elections against Dave Brown and Brian Shannon, Zone 6 and 7 representatives on the Newberg School District school board in Oregon, respectively, were held on January 18, 2022.[1] A majority of voters cast ballots against the recall, keeping both members in office.[2]
The recall effort against Shannon started after the board voted 4-3 on August 10, 2021, to remove Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ pride flags in district schools. The ban also included political signs, clothing, and other items. Shannon wrote the motion for the ban and was joined in voting to approve it by Dave Brown, Trevor DeHart, and Renee Powell.[3][4][5] The board voted 4-3 on September 28, 2021, to approve a policy banning all political symbols and images from schools. The same four members voted to approve the policy. In the same meeting, the board also rescinded the previous policy that specifically mentioned Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ flags.[6]
The effort to recall Brown began after the board voted 4-3 to fire Superintendent Joe Morelock without cause. Brown initiated the motion and voted in favor of firing Morelock. Morelock had been under contract through June 30, 2024.[7]
Both Brown and Shannon were elected to the seven-member board in 2019.[8]
Recall vote
Dave Brown recall, 2022
Dave Brown won the Newberg School District 29J school board Zone 6 recall election on January 18, 2022.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
Yes |
47.8
|
7,190 | |||
| ✔ | No |
52.2
|
7,864 | ||
Total Votes |
15,054 | ||||
|
|
Brian Shannon recall, 2022
Brian Shannon won the Newberg School District 29J school board Zone 7 recall election on January 18, 2022.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
Yes |
47.8
|
7,168 | |||
| ✔ | No |
52.2
|
7,822 | ||
Total Votes |
14,990 | ||||
|
|
Recall supporters
Arguments for recall against Brown
The petition against Brown said the decision to fire Morelock "will cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars."[7]
"It was a huge blow to our town, not just our school district and we saw an influx of people saying we have to get Dave Brown out, we have to get him out," Zach Goff, the leader of the recall effort against Brown and a member of the recall effort against Shannon, said.[7]
Arguments for recall against Shannon
The group supporting the recall of Shannon included "Newberg School District parents, students, alumni, and members of the greater Newberg and Dundee community," according to their website.[9]
The recall petition said:[3]
| “ | The citizens of Newberg and Dundee deserve a school board whose priority is working together with its community to provide all students with a world-class education [...] Newberg School Board director and vice-chair, Brian Shannon, has instead brought drama and division to our community. Shannon, calling himself 'the main driver' of the controversial motion that put the Newberg School Board in the national spotlight, ignored the advice of the superintendent of Newberg schools and, in doing so, exposed the district to costly lawsuits from the ACLU and others.
Shannon then subjected himself and three other board members to ethics complaints alleging that both state public meeting laws and the school board's own ethics policies have been violated. When the hometown paper runs the headline 'School board defies state law in hiring outside counsel' and the directors of the local Chamber of Commerce declare in a written statement, 'this is not a proud moment for our community,' it's time to make a change. Brian Shannon has overreached, driving his ideological agenda in a manner that is both ethically and legally questionable. He does not represent the majority of us. Brian Shannon must be recalled.[10] |
” |
The Newberg Education Association said it was endorsing the recall effort against Shannon.[6]
Recall opponents
Response by Brown
In an interview with KATU News, Brown responded to the recall effort. When asked about the ban on political signs and flags, Brown said:[11]
| “ | If we did not take the measure that we did to try and stop this, and it's an ongoing debate obviously - then we can't stop with just those two flags. We'll have to go to the fellowship of Christian athletes - the NRA, the President Biden club, the President Trump club, we'll have to go to all of these things.[10] | ” |
When asked about his decision to vote to fire Superintendent Joe Morelock, Brown talked about the number of students who were leaving the school district. "We're well past 250 on our way to 300 students, minimum, and it's growing," Brown said. He said the district loses approximately $9,000 to $11,000 for each student who leaves.[11]
“For a lot of people who have left our school district - they're a part of this bigger portion that doesn't feel like they're being listened to or talked to. And I feel like the culture is going to be the best thing for the student, staff member or parent," Brown said.[11]
Response by Shannon
During the discussion on the motion to ban political symbols in district schools on August 10, 2021, Shannon said, "The main goal of this is to get political symbols, and divisive symbols out of our schools so we can focus on the already difficult task of educating our students in the core subjects."[5]
At the school board meeting on September 28, 2021, Shannon said, "This policy is so innocuous. It just says that teachers can’t display political symbols at work while they’re on school time. That should not be controversial."[6]
Brown said that the district needed to support all students. “It still goes back to the fact that we have a lot of kids that are impacted by this positively or negatively,” Brown said. “As a school board, it’s our job to make decisions that are going to be there for every single kid at Newberg High School, not just the kids that are represented in just one group - it has to be all kids.”[5]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Oregon
Recall supporters filed initial paperwork to begin the recall effort against Shannon with the Yamhill County Elections Office on September 13, 2021.[3] Paperwork against Brown was filed on November 15, 2021.[7]
Recall supporters submitted over 3,300 signatures against Shannon to the Yamhill County Elections Office in December 2021.[12] On December 13, 2021, the county announced it had verified enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot. Shannon had until December 17, 2021, to choose whether or not to resign.[13]
Supporters of the recall against Brown announced they submitted nearly 3,000 signatures on December 13, 2021.[14] The county announced on December 16, 2021, that enough signatures had been verified to put the recall on the ballot. Brown had December 21, 2021, to choose to whether or not to resign.[15]
For a recall to get on the ballot in Oregon, supporters must collect signatures equal to 15% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in the relevant jurisdiction. They have 90 days to collect those signatures. Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for six months.[16]
2022 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 54 school board recall efforts against 123 board members in 2022. Recall elections against school board members were held on January 11, 2022, January 18, 2022, January 24, 2022, February 15, 2022, March 29, 2022, April 4, 2022, and November 8, 2022. The school board recall success rate was 7.3%.
The chart below details the status of 2022 recall efforts by individual school board member.
2021 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 92 school board recall efforts against 237 board members in 2021. Recall elections against 17 board members were held in 2021. The school board recall success rate was 0.42%.
The chart below details the status of 2021 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Newberg School District, Oregon
- Recall campaigns in Oregon
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- School board recalls
- States that allow school board recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Newberg School District
- Yamhill County Elections Office
- Recall Brian Shannon website
- Recall Dave Brown website
Footnotes
- ↑ Yamhill County Clerk, "Current Year Elections," accessed December 22, 2021
- ↑ The Oregonian, "Newberg school board members who led ban on Black Lives Matter symbols survive recall," January 27, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Newberg Graphic, "Recall effort launched against Shannon," September 16, 2021
- ↑ Newberg School District, "August 10, 2021 Regular Board Meeting," accessed September 30, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Oregon Public Radio, "Despite calls to hear from students and staff, Newberg school board approves ban on Pride and Black Lives Matter flags," August 11, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Oregon Public Radio, "Newberg school board officially approves policy banning political symbols," September 29, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 KOIN 6, "‘The entire town’s heart sank’: Newberg School Board faces 2 recalls," November 16, 2021
- ↑ Newberg School District, "School Board," accessed September 30, 2021
- ↑ Recall Brian Shannon, "About Us," accessed September 30, 2021
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 KATU News, "'This is bigger than Newberg;' School Board Chair addresses controversy," January 5, 2022
- ↑ KGW8, "Signatures submitted in recall effort against Newberg school board member," December 6, 2021
- ↑ The Oregonian, "Newberg school board: Recall signatures on Brian Shannon appear to qualify for January ballot," December 13, 2021
- ↑ Twitter, "Recall Dave Brown tweet on December 13, 2021," accessed December 14, 2021
- ↑ Twitter, "Oregonian reporter Ryan Clarke tweet on December 16, 2021
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Recall of Local Officials," accessed July 27, 2021
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