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Vermilion Parish School District recall, Louisiana (2019)
| Vermilion Parish Schools recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Dale Stelly David Dupius |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2019 Recalls in Louisiana Louisiana recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall three of the eight members of the Vermilion Parish School District Board of Education in Louisiana did not go to a vote in 2019 as the petitions were not turned in by the filing deadline.[1] The effort began in August 2019 and targeted president and District C representative Laura LeBeouf, District D representative Dale Stelly, and District A representative Dr. David Dupius.[2] A fourth member—vice president and District F representative Kibbie Pillette—was also considered for recall, but no petition was filed.[3]
According to Lynn Vincent, chairman of the recall committee, the school board's decision to place district superintendent Jerome Puyau on paid administrative leave for the second time was the reason for the recall effort. Vincent told KLFY News 10 that the district's decision to suspend the superintendent was a waste of taxpayer money and was politically motivated.[2]
Puyau was most recently placed on administrative leave in July 2019, after accusations were made against the superintendent that included failing to put items on agendas as requested by board members, hiring personnel who did not meet board-specified qualifications, and using board funds to pay private attorneys' fees without the board's knowledge or approval.[4] Puyau denied any wrongdoing and agreed an investigation into the accusations should take place, but he argued that he did not need to be placed on leave during that time.[4]
The recall petition was submitted for approval by the Louisiana Secretary of State in August 2019 and was approved on September 9, 2019. Supporters had 180 days to collect the signatures of one-third of the total registered voters across the three school board districts represented by the targeted board members.[2][3] They did not submit the petitions by the deadline.[1]
Recall supporters
According to KLFY News 10, the recall petition was spearheaded by Recall Time VPSB and other local community members. In part, the petition reads:
| “ | Citizens of Vermillion Parish! It's recall time! Vermilion Parish School Board members deserving of a recall are Laura LeBeouf, Kibbie Pillette, Dale Stelly and David Dupius. The actions of these four board members show that they are more concerned about political and/or personal agendas than the concerns of their own constituents and the children of Vermilion Parish.[5] | ” |
| —Recall Time VPSB (2019)[2] | ||
Recall opponents
All three targeted board members responded to the petition. Board President Laura LeBeouf told News 10, "Basically, I think this recall committee is a tactic and aim at board members when you have five board members that are addressing issues to come at us. I see it as a political tactic."[2]
District D member Dale Stelly responded saying, "Everyone has their views and their rights to do what they see fit. In my base, precinct, and those people there by a large margin, basically elected me, and told me when I went house to house that they wanted to elect me to make a change."[2]
"I work with my constituents. I speak with my constituents. I stand by my constituents. That’s all I have to say about it," responded District A member Dr. David Dupius.[2]
Additionally, vice president and District F member Kibbie Pillette said, "I think it’s a waste of time. It was just done as a ploy to try and put pressure on the board members. We’re after the truth and nothing’s going to deter us from doing that."[2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Louisiana
The recall petition was submitted for approval by the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office in August 2019 and was approved on September 9, 2019. Supporters had 180 days to collect the signatures of one-third of the total registered voters across the three school board districts represented by the targeted board members.[2][3] They did not submit the petitions by the deadline.[1]
2019 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 20 school board recall efforts against 47 board members in 2019. Three recall elections were held in 2019. The school board recall success rate was 6.4%.
The chart below details the status of 2019 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Vermilion Parish Schools, Louisiana
- Recall campaigns in Louisiana
- Political recall efforts, 2019
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Abbey Smith, "Phone communication with Louisiana Secretary of State's Office," March 24, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 KLFY News 10, "Recall petition targeting four current Vermilion Parish School Board members," August 29, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mandy Gillip, "Phone contact with Louisiana Secretary of State Elections office," September 24, 2019
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 KLFY News 10, "Vermilion Parish Superintendent placed on administrative leave pending investigation," July 25, 2019
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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