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Dan Castillo recall, Stockton Unified School District, California (2010)
| Stockton Unified School District School Board recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| June 8, 2010 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2010 Recalls in California California recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
Dan Castillo was recalled from the Stockton Unified School District in a recall election on the June 8, 2010 ballot.[1][2] Castillo was president of the seven-person Stockton Unified School District's Board of Trustees until December 8, 2009.[3]
The group that successfully sought to recall Castillo submitted 2,452 signatures to San Joaquin County election officials in early November.[4]
One factor mentioned by recall supporters as to why they supported the recall is that Castillo supported Superintendent Tony Amato, who was eventually terminated.
Castillo was not the only member of the Stockton Unified board facing recall; 2,411 signatures to force a recall election of Jose Morales were filed on November 19. The Morales recall signatures, however, were found to be insufficient so no recall election took place with regard to Morales.[5][6]
Election officials in San Joaquin County administered the recall vote.
Election results
| Stockton Recall of Dan Castillo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Yes | 2,035 | 61.80% | ||
| No | 1,258 | 38.20% | ||
- These final, certified results are from the San Joaquin County elections office.
Replacement candidates
David Griffen and Steve Smith ran for the seat that became vacant when Castillo was recalled.[7]
Griffen was a longshoreman and union activist. Smith was a sales manager.
Expensive curriculum mistake
In May 2010, a financial monitoring team from the California Department of Education released a 31-page report that will require Stockton Unified School District to repay $1.1 million in federal funds because it used "Success For All," a disallowed K-8 literacy program. The "Success for All" (SFA) program was purchased by SUSD at the insistence of terminated Superintendent Tony Amato with the unanimous consent of the board, including recall target Castillo.[8]
SUSD, which was under outside academic oversight because of its poor test scores, paid $4.7 million to purchase SFA. However, because SUSD was on academic probation, it was not permitted to use curriculum that was not approved by the state. The SFA was only used in the district for 5 months.
Sal Ramirez residency
Sal Ramirez was one of 7 members of the board of the Stockton Unified School District. On May 18, Ramirez was removed from all board subcommittees based on questions about whether he lived in the district. The vote to remove Ramirez from the subcommittees was 4-3. Suspicions that Ramirez did not reside in the district were sparked by a months-long investigation conducted by the Record.Net, the area's daily newspaper. According to the Record.Net:
- "The Record concluded last week at the end of a lengthy investigation that Ramirez, who represents southeast Stockton, lives 60 miles away in Davis, a violation of laws requiring local elected officials to live in the communities they serve."[9]
Ramirez said he did live in Stockton, but stays regularly with a friend in Davis, working as a substitute teacher in nearby Woodland.
Recall target Dan Castillo was said by the Record.Net to be "by far Ramirez's harshest critic." During the contentious May 18 board meeting in which Ramirez was removed from all board subcommittees, Ramirez "taunted Castillo" because of the June 8 recall election. To this, Castillo responded: "You do not live in this district. You do not live in this district."[9]
Path to the ballot
Recall supporters collected 2,471 signatures on petitions in support of the recall. 2,038 signatures were required.[6]
See also
- Jose Morales recall, Stockton Unified School District, California (2010)
- Political recall efforts, 2010
- San Joaquin County, California ballot measures
- Recall campaigns in California
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Record.Net, "SUSD recall vote will happen earlier than expected, and at a higher cost," January 18, 2010
- ↑ "Recall passed in SUSD," June 9, 2010
- ↑ Record.Net, "Changes on SUSD board certain, swift," December 8, 2009
- ↑ Record.Net, "Group submits petition to recall Castillo," November 10, 2009
- ↑ Record.Net, "Petition to recall SUSD's Morales submitted," November 20, 2009
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Record, "Stockton Unified trustee to face recall election," December 15, 2009
- ↑ RecordNet.Com, "Sales manager to challenge Castillo for SUSD board seat," March 6, 2010
- ↑ Record.Net, "Failed program haunts SUSD," June 2, 2010
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Record.Net, "Ramirez voted off panels," May 19, 2010
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