For the second time in four years, angry residents have launched a petition drive to recall Newark school board members, citing a list of grievances that include lack of transparency, fiscal mismanagement and refusal to listen to constituents.
Board members Jan Crocker, Francisco Preciado Jr. and Ray Rodriguez were notified earlier this month that they are targets.
Crocker has served on the board since 2003 and Rodriguez since 1995; Preciado Jr. was appointed in 2015 and ran unopposed in 2016.
Rodriguez was one of two board members who faced a recall effort in 2014 over the on-and-off-and-on again resignation of former Superintendent Dave Marken. Although that recall effort fizzled when organizers failed to gather enough petition signatures, the Alameda County Grand Jury sharply criticized the board a year later for showing “wanton disregard for rules and regulations governing their behavior” and allowing for a “dysfunctional culture of interference in administrative affairs” that “poisoned interpersonal relationships and created a crisis in district leadership” during the 2013-14 school year.
The grand jury investigation was prompted by a citizens’ complaint alleging the board violated state open meeting laws and its own trustee handbook rules related to Marken’s resignation.
Parents and educators behind the latest recall effort say they intend to oust the three trustees in the November election and cultivate candidates to run against the other two board incumbents — Nancy Thomas and Tom Huynh, who are up for re-election that month.
Some board members and current Superintendent Pat Sánchez say the effort is misguided and reflects in part a misunderstanding about how much information district officials can share with the public about labor negotiations.
But recall supporters aren’t buying that.
“We’re being told our students are priorities. However, it seems as though the district has put our students last,” Ryan McCarthy, who is organizing the recall effort, said in a recent interview.
The district, which is dealing with declining enrollment, has to eliminate a $3.2 million budget deficit or face a state takeover because it’s had to dip into reserves for a decade to stave off deficits.
Parents and teachers are upset because although they told district officials during a series of community meetings last fall they hoped any cuts wouldn’t involve teachers, the school board nevertheless voted on Feb. 6 to lay off as many as 20 employees, including 15 teachers and three counselors.
“If there’s not going to be accountability, and there’s not going to be oversight, and we the parents don’t have the ability to oust an irresponsible superintendent, then we have to bring this dispute back to the board,” McCarthy said.
But board members and Sánchez counter they had a legal obligation to alert vulnerable teachers by March 15 there was a chance they could be terminated by the end of the school year.
At a March 20 board meeting, Sánchez announced that due to some resignations and retirements, along with further negotiations between district and union officials, no one will have to be laid off after all.
Sánchez said in an interview that avoiding layoffs was a priority for him and proves he is listening to the community desires.
“I’ve been asked to fix a tough situation and we’re doing that, and I think when you change how business is done, you’re going to upset some people,” Sánchez said. “But in the end, we’re trying to do what’s best for kids.”
McCarthy said it’s not good news that “so many of our teachers want to leave that we don’t need to fire anyone and only need to slightly increase class size. This is not a win…Our kids still suffer,” he said in an email.
Crocker, a former career teacher, said she understands the anger of those who feel they’re not being heard.
“But anytime you have a set amount of resources, you have to make decisions and sometimes you have to make hard decisions. And they disagree with the decisions we’re making, and you know, I’m sorry that they disagree, but I would not change the decisions I’ve made,” she said.
Crocker also said people who are passionate about perceived problems should run for the school board, noting she has not faced a challenger in the last three elections and the entire slate of three incumbents was unopposed in 2016.
“If this is your feeling, you need to be there,” she said. “You need to run and if you run against me that’s fine…But you need to run. It’s very easy to be on the outside and say ‘Why don’t you do things?’ ”
Preciado said he thinks the people pushing for a recall are painting with a broad brush, instead of looking at each board member’s record carefully. He also said he thinks transparency has improved under this current administration, though he, Sánchez and Crocker all acknowledged it can always be better.
Sánchez said the recall effort will create instability, which is bad for students in the end. He said he’s hoping the cuts that helped eliminate the deficit put the district on the right track, and he’s looking forward to having relatively normal and “boring” board meetings again.
McCarthy said if the recall effort is successful, he recognizes tough decisions would still need to be made under a new regime.
“Let’s get some people in there who have to make the tough decisions but do so in a way that’s transparent, that’s upfront with us, that’s respectful of what they’re doing in this process,” he said. “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know,” he added.
McCarthy and his supporters would need to gather about 3,200 signatures by May to get a recall election on the Nov. 8 general election ballot to avoid a potentially costly special election.
“We’re hoping for the best, and if it doesn’t prevail, that’ll be disappointing,” he said. “But if nothing else, we’re going to continue to show them that we care, that we’re motivated, that we’re going to take action…We’re going to hold them accountable, one way or the other.”