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Jon Aitken and Claudia Anderson recall, Vail Unified School District, Arizona (2021)
| Vail Unified School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Claudia Anderson |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2021 Recalls in Arizona Arizona recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall two of the five members of the Vail Unified School District Governing Board in Arizona did not go to a vote in 2021. Both recall petitions failed to qualify for the ballot.[1]
The effort began in April 2021. Board President Jon Aitken and Clerk Claudia Anderson were named in the recall petitions. To get the recalls on the ballot, recall supporters would have had to collect 4,364 signatures per board member by August 27, 2021.[2][3]
The recall effort started after parents and community members held protests over the school district's requirement to wear masks. After a protest led to the cancelation of a board meeting, Superintendent John Carruth said, "Providing education during this pandemic has produced an endless series of new challenges that must be overcome."[4]
Aitken and Anderson were both re-elected to the board in 2018. They were the only two candidates to file for the race, and the election was canceled. They won new four-year terms on the board without appearing on the ballot.
To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.
Recall supporters
Arguments for recall against Aitken
The application for a recall petition against Aitken included the following grounds for recall:[5]
| “ | The VUSD community is demanding the recall of Jon Aitken due to his disregard for the VUSD
parents, teachers, staff and especially the students. Under his leadership, the mental, emotional and physical health of the Vail students has steadily declined to an alarming level. Parents have repeatedly brought to his attention the increase in depression, loneliness, and number of suicides, which he has ignored. The students, parents, and staff do not feel like they have a voice before the board and feel silenced and disrespected. When voicing concerns about students at the board meetings, he displays a demeanor of disdain for the very people he is supposed to represent by leaning back in his chair, looking at the ceiling, and rolling his eyes. He made promises with specific timeframes about bringing items to vote and has failed to keep those promises. Furthermore he will not put items on the agenda when requested and will not bring them to a vote. The community has lost confidence in Jon Aitken to represent them, and demands his immediate recall.[6] |
” |
Arguments for recall against Anderson
The application for a recall petition against Anderson included the following grounds for recall:[7]
| “ | The VUSD community is demanding the recall of Claudia Anderson due to her disregard for the VUSD parents, teachers, staff and especially the students. Under her leadership, the mental, emotional and physical health of the Vail students has steadily declined to an alarming level. Parents have repeatedly brought to her attention the increase in depression, loneliness, and number of suicides, which she has ignored. The students, parents, and staff do not feel like they have a voice before the board and feel silenced and disrespected. She appears to lack the drive to fight for students and parental rights or even bring new ideas to the table. The community has lost confidence in Claudia Anderson to represent them, and demands her immediate recall.[6] | ” |
Recall opponents
After a school board meeting was canceled in April 2021 due to a protest, Superintendent John Carruth said:[4]
| “ | In the Vail School District, we seek to provide parents with safe and nurturing school communities [...] We have long valued and respected parental choice. We have long valued and engaged listening to our parents. This past year has been incredibly intense and emotional. Providing education during this pandemic has produced an endless series of new challenges that must be overcome. It has brought about many equal, yet opposite, truths. We have always welcomed the voice of parents in shaping critical decisions within out district. We should be able to conduct safe meetings where parents, students, staff and school board members feel they can have thoughtful conversations to discuss various issues before the board.[6] | ” |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Arizona
Recall supporters filed recall applications on April 30, 2021. To get the recalls on the ballot, they would have had to collect 4,364 signatures per board member by August 27, 2021.[2]
About the district
Vail Unified School District is located in Pima County, Arizona. It is classified as a town school district by the National Center for Education Statistics. The district served 13,392 students during the 2018-2019 school year and comprised 20 schools.[8]
During the 2018-2019 school year, 23.3% of the district's students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 0.9% were English language learners, and 11.9% of students had an Individual Education Plan (IEP).[9]
| Racial Demographics, 2018-2019 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Vail Unified School District (%) | Arizona K-12 students (%) |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.5 | 4.5 |
| Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander | 2.1 | 2.9 |
| Black | 3.9 | 5.5 |
| Hispanic | 33.8 | 45.6 |
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Two or More Races | 5.4 | 3.3 |
| White | 54.0 | 37.8 |
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
- Vail Unified School District, Arizona
- Vail Unified School District, Arizona, elections (2020)
- Vail Unified School District elections (2018)
- Recall campaigns in Arizona
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Pima County School Superintendent, "Recall Election Information," accessed August 30, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pima County School Superintendent, "Recall Election Information," accessed June 8, 2021
- ↑ Vail Unified School District, "Board Members," accessed June 8, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 KOLD News 13, "Vail Superintendent responds to protest, urges parents to focus on what unites them," April 29, 2021
- ↑ Pima County Schools Superintendent, "Application for Recall Petition Serial Number (Jon Aitken)," accessed June 8, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Pima County Schools Superintendent, "Application for Recall Petition Serial Number (Claudia Anderson)," accessed June 8, 2021
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Search for Public School Districts," accessed March 8, 2021
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," accessed March 8, 2021
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