Elbert County School District C-2 recall, Colorado (2020)
| Elbert County School District C-2 recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Stephanie Buker Stacy Morgan |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2020 Recalls in Colorado Colorado recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall three of the five members of the Elbert County School District C-2 school board in Colorado did not go to a vote in 2020. The county did not verify enough petition signatures to add the recalls to the ballot.[1]
The effort began in September 2020. Members Kurt Wassil, Stephanie Buker, and Stacy Morgan were named in the recall petition. Recall supporters said the board members had misused funds, cut programs, and created an unhealthy work environment. Wassil said the board had acknowledged each year that they were deficit budgeting. He said the board tried to avoid cutting programs and classes.[2][3]
Wassil was serving his second term on the board, which expired in 2021. Buker was also serving her second term on the board, which expired in 2023. Morgan was serving her first term on the board, which expired in 2023.[3]
Recall supporters
The recall petition read:
| “ | Our schools have suffered loss of staff, and extracurricular activities/programs. The art program was eliminated for K-12, yet the auto shop program continues for 6 students at a budget of over $35,000. Student enrollment/ratings are the lowest in Kiowa's history and yet the superintendent is the highest paid in Kiowa's history. Lack of support for staff and teachers has resulted in low morale, an unhealthy work environment, and a 42 percent turnover in teachers during 2018-2019.[2][4] | ” |
The petition also said that “for three years, the district's budget has maintained a 'red' status with no sign of improvement. They are $475,000 over budget with no plans, and refuse to acknowledge the consistent use of reserve funds.”[2]
Recall opponents
Wassil discussed the recall effort in an interview with Elbert County News. “We acknowledge every year that we're deficit budgeting,” Wassil said. “We try not to cut programs or classes, but we have to anticipate the budget each year, and there's a lot of guesswork with the revenue, we get funds from a lot of different sources. A lot of times you don't know what the revenue will be until school starts and we get an actual number of students who are enrolled.”[2]
Wassil also explained the decision behind cutting the art program and keeping the auto shop program. “The $35,000 for auto shop is a three-year contract, for one class, so it's really about $10,000 a year. The art teacher is a much higher expense, at closer to $48,000 for one year, so the real number is $48,000 vs. $10,000 annually," Wassil said.[2]
Superintendent Scott Mader also spoke with Elbert County News.
| “ | We live in a state where our funding is not adequate. Period. We rate amongst the bottom in funding in the nation in our state, and we put COVID on top of that and the cuts from the state on top of that. We have severe funding issues, and those who haven't been on school boards don't realize what kind of issues the board has had to face, and they've done an outstanding job dealing with it.[2][4] | ” |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Colorado
The recall petition format was submitted to the Elbert County Clerk and Recorder's Office on September 9, 2020. The county deemed the petition sufficient on September 14, 2020. To get the recall on the ballot, recall supporters had to submit 244 petition signatures by November 13, 2020.[2] They submitted petitions for Wassil and Buker by the deadline, but the county did not verify enough signatures to put the recalls on the ballot.[1][5]
2020 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 29 school board recall efforts against 64 board members in 2020. Four recall elections were held in 2020. The school board recall success rate was 7.8%.
The chart below details the status of 2020 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Elbert County School District C-2, Colorado
- Recall campaigns in Colorado
- Political recall efforts, 2020
- School board recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Elbert County School District C-2
- Elbert County Elections Department
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Dallas Schroeder, Elbert County Clerk & Recorder," December 16, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Elbert County News, "Recall drive targets Kiowa school trustees," September 25, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Elbert County School District C-2, "About the School Board," accessed October 12, 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Dallas Schroeder, Elbert County Clerk & Recorder," November 17, 2020
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