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Pocatello-Chubbuck School District No. 25 recall, Idaho (2020-2021)
| Pocatello-Chubbuck School District No. 25 recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Janie Gebhardt Dave Mattson |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| March 9, 2021 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2021 Recalls in Idaho Idaho recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
Recall elections seeking to remove three of the five members of the Pocatello-Chubbuck School District No. 25 board of trustees in Idaho were held on March 9, 2021. The recall ballots asked voters if they were in favor of recalling Zone 1 representative Jackie Cranor, Zone 2 representative Janie Gebhardt, and Zone 5 representative Dave Mattson with the option of answering yes or no.[1] In all three elections, a majority of voters cast no ballots, defeating the recall efforts.[2]
The recall effort began in September 2020. Cranor, Gebhardt, and Mattson were named in the recall petitions after the board unanimously voted to continue using a hybrid teaching model (two days in-person and three days online) for middle school and high school students for the remainder of the first trimester of the 2020-2021 school year. The district started the hybrid model due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4] On November 13, 2020, the district sent a letter to families announcing that the hybrid teaching model would continue into the second trimester.[5]
Recall supporters said the board was not fully representing the electorate on the issue of hybrid learning and other issues. The school district released a statement saying that the board weighs a number of factors when making decisions and that majority opinion does not always rule.[3]
Cranor, Gebhardt, and Mattson were also included in a 2018 recall effort against all five members who served on the board at the time. That effort started after the board voted to end the district's 20-year-old open enrollment policy that allowed students to choose which high school they attended. The leader of the recall put the effort on hold before the deadline to submit petitions. Click here to read more about that recall effort.
To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.
Recall vote
In order for the recalls to be approved, a majority of voters would have had to cast ballots in favor. The total number of votes cast in favor of recall would also have had to equal or be greater than the number of votes that first put the board members in office in order for the recall elections to be successful.[3]
Zone 1
The recall against Cranor needed 279 votes to be successful.[3]
Jackie Cranor recall, 2021
Jackie Cranor won the Pocatello-Chubbuck School District 25 school board Zone 1 recall election on March 9, 2021.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
Yes |
48.9
|
677 | |||
| ✔ | No |
51.1
|
708 | ||
Total Votes |
1,385 | ||||
|
|
Zone 2
The recall against Gebhardt needed 417 votes to be successful.[3]
Janie Gebhardt recall, 2021
Janie Gebhardt won the Pocatello-Chubbuck School District 25 school board Zone 2 recall election on March 9, 2021.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
Yes |
41.3
|
674 | |||
| ✔ | No |
58.7
|
959 | ||
Total Votes |
1,633 | ||||
|
|
Zone 5
The recall against Mattson needed 278 votes to be successful.[3]
David Mattson recall, 2021
David Mattson won the Pocatello-Chubbuck School District 25 school board Zone 5 recall election on March 9, 2021.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
Yes |
42.6
|
782 | |||
| ✔ | No |
57.4
|
1,055 | ||
Total Votes |
1,837 | ||||
|
|
Recall supporters
The recall effort was started by district parents Jesse Ward, Brandi Clark, and Troy Sutton. They were part of the group Concerned Parents of Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25. Ward said the recall effort's intent was to break up the board's quorum. Ward said Cranor, Gebhardt, and Mattson were named in the petitions due to the low number of signatures that were needed in their representative zones.[3]
Ward said the recall effort "is really about fixing an issue that we here in this community have experienced for years in that we have a school board who has chosen repeatedly to ignore the electorate."[6] Ward said that included the board's decisions to continue the hybrid teaching model for the first trimester of the 2020-2021 school year, to retire the Pocatello High School Indians mascot, and to change the district's boundaries in 2018.[3]
| “ | We’ve started the process to recall members of the school board because we no longer feel they are serving as representatives of the electorate. The electorate has taken the time to show up to meetings to voice their opinions concerning everything from boundary changes to Pocatello High School’s mascot to the learning model that the district has employed. The majority of people have been in opposition to every decision that the board has made and we will no longer stand for their disregard of the people.[7] | ” |
| —Jesse Ward[3] | ||
Recall opponents
After the recall petition signatures were verified, all three board members said they had no intention of resigning. “The issues that this group has brought up are issues in which the community is divided on,” Cranor said. “We listen, we hear and we read, and I just think that we try to do our best for the students, for the district and the staff. It’s hard sometimes and half of the people aren’t going to agree with us either way. But that’s part of the job. When they say we don’t listen, it really depends on what half you’re on.”[8]
In response to the recall effort, the school district published the following statement:
| “ | We have five genuine, dedicated, fully engaged Board Members who serve the educational needs of our community with the best intentions. Our school district and our community owe our heartfelt gratitude for their selflessness and service. Our administration and staff are discouraged and disheartened that the Board’s graceful and grounded leadership during one of the most challenging times of our lives would be questioned with a baseless recall effort. Essentially, serving on the Board is fulfilling the responsibilities of a part-time job without compensation.
In the few short weeks that we have been back in session, our teachers have made a strong and commendable effort to maintain rigorous instruction for all learners, whether they are attending face-to-face or remotely. At the Board’s direction (on Friday), we will continue our concerted, ongoing efforts to improve hybrid learning and deliver on our educational promise to the best of our ability during these challenging times.[7] |
” |
| —Pocatello-Chubbuck School District No. 25[3] | ||
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Idaho
The recall effort began on September 18, 2020, when recall supporters filed paperwork with the Bannock County Elections Office. To get the recall effort against Cranor on the ballot, supporters had to collect 164 signatures from registered voters in Zone 1. To get the recall effort against Gebhardt on the ballot, supporters had to collect 351 signatures, and to recall Mattson, they had to collect 206 signatures. All three petitions had to be submitted on December 1, 2020 (within 75 days of the effort starting).[3] Recall supporters submitted the petitions on November 30, 2020.[5]
The county verified enough signatures on December 10, 2020, to put the recall elections on the ballot. Cranor, Gebhardt, and Mattson had until December 17, 2020, to step down or face the recall election.[9][5] None of them stepped down. The recall elections were scheduled for March 9, 2021.[1]
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.
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.
Related recalls
- Idaho Falls School District 91 recall, Idaho (2020)
- West Ada School District recall, Idaho (2020)
- Aaron Proctor recall, Whitepine School District, Idaho (2020)
See also
- Pocatello-Chubbuck School District No. 25, Idaho
- Recall campaigns in Idaho
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- Political recall efforts, 2020
- School board recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Pocatello-Chubbuck School District No. 25
- Bannock County Elections Office
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bannock County Elections, "2021 Elections," accessed January 12, 2021
- ↑ Idaho State Journal, "All three School District 25 board members survive recall effort," March 9, 2021
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Idaho State Journal, "Effort to recall School District 25 board members launched over vote to keep hybrid model, Indians mascot retirement," September 21, 2020
- ↑ Pocatello-Chubbuck School District No. 25, "Board of Trustees," accessed September 28, 2020
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Idaho State Journal, "Local group of concerned parents submit signed petitions to recall three SD25 board members," December 2, 2020
- ↑ Idaho State Journal, "Organizer: Effort to recall school board members gaining ground," September 24, 2020
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Idaho State Journal, "District 25 school board chooses Thunder as new mascot for Pocatello High School," December 16, 2020
- ↑ Idaho State Journal, "Bannock County certifies District 25 school board recall petitions; parents call on embattled trustees to resign," December 10, 2020
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