Dudley-Charlton Regional School District recall, Massachusetts (2022)
| Dudley-Charlton Regional School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Jeanne Costello Jordan Evans Katherine Kabala Kenny Laferriere |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2022 Recalls in Massachusetts Massachusetts recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall five of the seven members of the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District School Committee in Massachusetts did not go to a vote in 2022. Petitions against Katherine Kabala and Pauline Aucoin were approved for circulation in January 2022, but recall supporters did not file the petitions with the city by the deadline on February 5, 2022. Recall supporters also filed paperwork against Jeanne Costello, Jordan Evans, and Kenny Laferriere, but those recall petitions were rejected.[1][2]
Recall supporters said they were concerned about the district's sex education curriculum, critical race theory, and mask mandates.[1]
To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.
Recall supporters
The group Charlton/Dudley United started the recall effort. Members said they were concerned about sex education curriculum, critical race theory, and mask mandates in the district. Charlton/Dudley United member Carroll-Sue Rehm, who is a grandparent to students in the district, said concerns began after the school district began using a new motto: "To change the hearts and minds of children."[1]
Rehm said, "If we're going to make changes and policy changes that are really going to benefit the district as a whole, and children and parents, you need to change the seat of the table school committee."[1]
Recall opponents
Ballotpedia did not identify any responses to the recall effort.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Massachusetts
The Dudley Town Clerk approved the recall petitions against Katherine Kabala and Pauline Aucoin for circulation in January 2022. To get the recall on the ballot, supporters would have had to collect 800 signatures in 30 days. The number of signatures was equal to 10% of registered voters in the town of Dudley.[1]
The Charlton Town Clerk rejected the petitions against Jeanne Costello, Jordan Evans, and Kenny Laferriere. Legal counsel for both town clerks questioned whether the towns' recall provisions applied to the school committee members. They said that regional school districts were separate governing bodies from the town.[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.
2022 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 54 school board recall efforts against 123 board members in 2022. Recall elections against school board members were held on January 11, 2022, January 18, 2022, January 24, 2022, February 15, 2022, March 29, 2022, April 4, 2022, and November 8, 2022. The school board recall success rate was 7.3%.
The chart below details the status of 2022 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Dudley-Charlton Regional School District, Massachusetts
- Recall campaigns in Massachusetts
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- School board recalls
- States that allow school board recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Dudley-Charlton Regional School District
- Town Clerk of Dudley
- Town Clerk of Charlton
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Telegram & Gazette, "Group aims to recall Dudley-Charlton School Committee members over sex ed, critical race theory," January 26, 2022
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Dudley Town Clerk Lori Smith," February 24, 2022
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