Kathy Egan recall, Marsh Valley Joint School District, Idaho (2024)
| Marsh Valley Joint School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| November 5, 2024 |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2024 Recalls in Idaho Idaho recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
A recall election against Kathy Egan, Zone 1 representative on the Marsh Valley Joint School District board of trustees in Idaho, was held on November 5, 2024. A majority of voters cast ballots in favor of the recall, removing Egan from office.[1][2][3]
Egan joined the five-member board of trustees in 2017.[1][4]
Recall vote
Kathy Egan recall, 2024
Kathy Egan lost the Marsh Valley School District 21, Zone 1 recall election on November 5, 2024.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✖ | Yes |
71.1
|
465 | ||
No |
28.9
|
189 | |||
Total Votes |
654 | ||||
|
|
Recall supporters
The official reasons for recall listed on the ballot were "poor performance of the school district, declining enrollment, poor financial oversight."[2]
Barbara Hill, one of the circulators of the petition against Egan and a resident of Downey, said she believed that the Downey Elementary's Idaho Standards Achievement Test scores were in the 40s or 50s.[1]
| “ | At other schools, like Inkom, they are in the 70s. And you can see that there’s a huge difference between scoring there. The insight that I have into that is that the district hires uncertified teachers. I understand that a lot of school districts do that because it takes a while to get their certification in and so there’s a whole process with the state where they can do that. But my understanding is that they hire them, they put them in Downey, and as soon as they get certified, they move them to some other place. Basically, they are treating Downey as a training ground, so to speak.[5] | ” |
| —Barbara Hill (2024)[1] | ||
Hill also said that families were pulling their children out of the school district, and one of the reasons for that was the opportunity for more AP classes. "The reality is there’s not that many offerings in Marsh Valley and my understanding is that it’s sometimes difficult for students to enroll in those courses. Marsh Valley just doesn’t have that robust of a program anymore," Hill said.
Hill also said the board had made questionable financial decisions.[1]
| “ | I have attended all the community meetings they had all summer and it wasn’t until this last board meeting in October that they even talked about providing our kids with a good education as being their No. 1 priority. ... It was all about the numbers, all about closing schools and consolidation and all of those kinds of things. I understand that finances come into play always because money is what talks. But the reality is, if your ultimate goal is education, then every decision you make should drive you to that goal. ... Here in Zone 1 we just don’t feel like that’s happening. We don’t feel like we have any representation. We can’t do anything about the other zones, but we can put our foot down in this zone and say we’ve had enough.[5] | ” |
| —Barbara Hill (2024)[1] | ||
Recall opponents
Egan said that she believed people signed the recall petition against her because they believed she intended to close Downey Elementary School. “I never said that I wanted to close the school and that was never my intention," Egan said. "But that’s what people were told and I believe that is why they signed the petitions. I’ve been on the board for seven years. I have always felt like the best interest of the students was my goal."[1]
| “ | At the time that recall was put out there were three things that the school board put out that we might do, one of which was to close all of the elementary schools and build one central school. I wasn’t for that option. ... Another option was to have schools on both the north end and south end of Downey with the elementary school being on the south end. That option made the most financial sense to me because the state has given us money to make improvements to our facilities and doing so wouldn’t have cost us any extra money.[5] | ” |
| —Kathy Egan (2024)[1] | ||
Egan said that the financial issues in the school district were common for rural school districts in the state.[1]
| “ | The state had previously been giving us money based on enrollment. Then they changed it to attendance. Well, if you have 90 percent attendance that is pretty good but you’re still losing out on 10 percent. We are a rural school district with smaller schools so our enrollment numbers are smaller than what they state pays you for. We’ve also had declining enrollment but that is something that the entire state is dealing with. We’re trying to work on that.[5] | ” |
| —Kathy Egan (2024)[1] | ||
Egan said one of the new programs she supported for the school district was a Career Technical Program, which she hoped would start in the fall of 2025.[1]
| “ | I am just one person on the board and I try to support programs for our students. I taught math in high school in Marsh Valley for 23 years and since I retired I have tutored kids in my home for free. I love teaching, I love math and I love the kids. I feel like I am always there for the kids and that’s why I do this. We are doing the best to fund our schools. There are a lot of rumors out there that are not true and I am just trying to do the best that I can for the kids. I’ve been a Marsh Valley school person from day one. I didn’t campaign at all because I figured that if the voters are going to vote to keep me or vote to get me out then that’s what will happen.[5] | ” |
| —Kathy Egan (2024)[1] | ||
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Idaho
No specific grounds are required for recall in Idaho. To get a recall on the ballot, supporters must collect signatures equal to 20% of registered voters in the jurisdiction at the last election for the office (for city and county officials). For special district officials, supporters must collect signatures equal to 50% of the number of voters in the preceding election for the seat. If there has not been an election in the last six years for the relevant seat, supporters must collect signatures equal to 20% of registered voters in the relevant district at the time the petition is filed. Signatures must be collected within 75 days.[6][7]
2024 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 40 school board recall efforts against 83 board members in 2024. Recall elections in 2024 removed 14 members from office, including three who resigned before the election, and retained seven members in office. The school board recall success rate was 13.4%.
The chart below details the status of 2024 recall efforts by individual school board member.
Recall context
- See also: Ballotpedia's Recall Report
Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.
The chart below shows how many officials were included in recall efforts from 2012 to 2024 as well as how many of them defeated recall elections to stay in office and how many were removed from office in recall elections.
See also
- Ballotpedia's Recall Report
- Marsh Valley Joint School District, Idaho
- Marsh Valley Joint School District, Idaho, elections
- Recall campaigns in Idaho
- Political recall efforts, 2024
- School board recalls
- States that allow school board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Idaho State Journal, "Marsh Valley School District voters to consider recalling board member during Tuesday election," October 30, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bannock County Elections, "Sample Ballot: Legislative District 28 with School District 21 Recall," accessed November 1, 2024
- ↑ Idaho State Journal, "Marsh Valley School District board member Kathy Egan loses recall election," November 6, 2024
- ↑ Marsh Valley School District #21, "School Board," accessed November 1, 2024
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Idaho Statutes, "Title 34 - Elections; Chapter 17 - Recall Elections: 34-1702." accessed April 28, 2021
- ↑ Idaho Statutes, "Title 34 - Elections; Chapter 17 - Recall Elections: 34-1704." accessed October 16, 2023
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