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Douglas County School District recall, Colorado (2021)
| Douglas County School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Elizabeth Hanson Chris Ciancio-Schor David Ray |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2021 Recalls in Colorado Colorado recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall four of the seven members of the Douglas County School District Board of Education in Colorado did not go to a vote in 2021. Recall supporters announced they were suspending the effort on March 3, 2021, after the school board voted to return middle and high school students to in-person instruction.[1] Board members Susan Meek, Elizabeth Hanson, Chris Ciancio-Schor, and David Ray were named in the recall petitions.[2][3][4]
The recall effort started after the board voted in January 2021 to delay a return to in-person instruction for middle and high school students in the district. The district initially planned to move students to a hybrid model of both in-person and online instruction on January 25, 2021.[5][6] All students in the district moved to online instruction on November 12, 2020, due to a rising number of cases of the coronavirus in the district. Elementary school students returned to full-time in-person instruction on January 5, 2021.[7]
Meek and Hanson were first elected to four-year terms on the board on November 5, 2019, and Ray won re-election in the same election. Ciancio-Schor won re-election to a four-year term on the board on November 7, 2017.
To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.
Recall supporters
The recall effort was started by Nate Ormond, a district parent and founder of Well States Healthcare, who organized a group called Road to Recall. Ormond said the delay in returning to in-person instruction was costing his daughter a quality education. “On almost every level there’s been a lack of courage, a lack of leadership, and really a lack of competency by this particular board,” Ormond said.[2][5]
When the district first started switching between hybrid and online instruction, Ormond told the board during public comment periods of board meetings that he was concerned about child abuse and students' mental health. "Schools are the number one place where child abuse is detected, and when the kids aren't in school that's not detected," Ormond said. "Schools are the number one place where hearing loss is detected, where vision problems are detected, and that's not occurring."[2]
The recall petitions said that the board members have shown a lack of leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, that they mismanaged tax dollars when they bought an e-learning program that had a difficult start, that they showed a lack of trust and transparency, and that they “misled the public on the departure of their superintendent.”[8]
Ormond said the Road to Recall group's goals included getting children back to in-person instruction as quickly as possible, replacing a majority of the board, and having the new board hire a new superintendent.[2]
Recall opponents
After members of the public began discussing a recall effort, Ray said:
| “ | We have not received notice that this effort has been officially recognized. However, we are fully aware that emotions are running high with regards to the best educational delivery for our students. We will continue to listen and consider all diverse perspectives (students, staff, and parents) while adhering to public health guidance. Our focus will remain on students as we work with district leadership to implement the most consistent, effective, sustainable and safe educational delivery possible for our students in the midst of a pandemic.[5][9] | ” |
When they voted to delay a return to in-person instruction for middle and high school students, board members expressed concerns with the district's hybrid instruction model. “I just want to make sure that when we force another transition, that it goes as smoothly as possible,” said member Susan Meek. “I think taking the time to get it right is the right thing to do.”[5]
Hanson said the past year had been inconceivable and named the examples of the governor's decision to close schools and the district's $30 million in budget cuts. "I had two months on the board before we began navigating the unprecedented global pandemic," Hanson said. "Then COVID turned the world upside down."[8]
Hanson said the purchase of the e-learning program also concerned her. She said it was a decision made by two former administrators, including the former superintendent, and that the board had been informed of its purchase after the fact.[8]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Colorado
The effort began on February 2, 2021, when recall supporters filed paperwork for the first step of the recall process.[3] The Douglas County Elections Office approved the recall petition format, allowing recall supporters to begin collecting signatures.[10] To get the recall on the ballot, supporters would have had to collect signatures from "eligible electors of the school district equal in number to at least 40% of ballots cast in the last election for that office," in 60 days, according to the Douglas County Elections Office.[11] The total number of signatures needed could not be higher than 15,000, according to state statute.[8]
About the district
- See also: Douglas County School District, Colorado
The Douglas County School District is located in Douglas County in central Colorado. The county seat is Castle Rock. Douglas County was home to an estimated 351,154 residents in 2019, according to the United States Census Bureau.[12]
Demographics
Douglas County outperformed Colorado as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2015 and 2019. The United States Census Bureau found that 58.0% of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 40.9% of state residents. During the same time period, the median household income in the county was $119,730, compared to $72,331 statewide. The poverty rate in Douglas County was 2.7%, and it was 9.3% for the entire state.[12]
| Racial Demographics, 2019[12] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Douglas County (%) | Colorado (%) |
| White | 89.5 | 86.9 |
| Black or African American | 1.7 | 4.6 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5 | 1.6 |
| Asian | 5.4 | 3.5 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Two or More Races | 2.8 | 3.1 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 9.1 | 21.8 |
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Ballotpedia covered 35 coronavirus-related recall efforts against 94 officials in 2022, accounting for 13% of recalls that year. This is a decrease from both 2020 and 2021. COVID-related recalls accounted for 37% of all recall efforts in both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, there were 87 COVID-related recalls against 89 officials, and in 2021, there were 131 against 214 officials.
The chart below compares coronavirus-related recalls to recalls for all other reasons in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
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
- Douglas County School District, Colorado
- Douglas County School District, Colorado, elections (2021)
- Douglas County School District, Colorado, elections (2019)
- Recall campaigns in Colorado
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Parker Chronicle, "Recall proponents suspending effort to oust Douglas County School Board directors," March 3, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The Denver Channel, "Castle Rock businessman launches recall effort against four school board members," January 22, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Laura Skirde, Communications Project Manager, Office of the Clerk and Recorder, Douglas County," February 2, 2021
- ↑ Douglas County School District, "Board of Education Directory," accessed February 17, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Fox News 31, "Douglas County parents launch recall petition against school board members," January 21, 2021
- ↑ Fox News 31, "Douglas County to keep middle, high school students in remote learning," January 20, 2021
- ↑ Fox News 31, "Douglas County School District: Students will start returning to in-person learning on Jan. 5," December 10, 2020
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Douglas County News-Press, "Group formally initiates recall process to oust Douglas County School Board directors," February 3, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Laura Skirde, Communications Project Manager, Office of the Clerk and Recorder, Douglas County," February 17, 2021
- ↑ Douglas County Elections, "Recall Elections FAQ," accessed February 17, 2021
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts: Douglas County, Colorado; Colorado," accessed February 17, 2021
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