New Haven Unified School District recall, California (2019)

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New Haven Unified School District recall
Officeholders
Sharan Kaur Jeff Wang Lance Nishihira
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2019 Recalls in California California recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

An effort to recall three of the five members of the New Haven Unified School District Board of Education in California did not go to a vote in 2019. Board President Sharan Kaur and members Jeff Wang and Lance Nishihira were targeted for recall in June 2019 on the 12th day of a teachers strike in the district. The teachers strike ended after 14 days, and teachers returned to school June 10, 2019.

All three targeted members were first elected to the board on November 8, 2016. They defeated incumbents Michael Ritchie and Jonas Dino and won four-year terms in the at-large election.

Recall supporters

Recall supporters said the board's lack of leadership led to the teachers strike, which in turn kept students away from school and jeopardized their grades, according to the East Bay Times. District officials said that approximately 1,200 of the district's 11,000 students attended school during the strike. “We have witnessed a total and complete lack of willingness and ability of this board to lead us through these difficult times,” Colleen Weaver, a leader of the recall effort, said at a school board meeting on June 4, 2019.

“The board of education has successfully driven a wedge between the district and the teachers and parents and students of this community. This is not a playground for disagreements. The choices they have made are affecting the lives of our children,” Weaver said.

Weaver also said the recall needed to happen regardless of the outcome of the strike. She said the community needed better leadership for the district.

Recall opponents

“A recall notice will not reflect change in my resolve to keep serving in the best interest of our students and community,” Kaur said in response to the recall notice. She also said, "Being a product of the district, and soon having my daughter enter the system, I am committed to a sustainable future and preventing detrimental cuts to the programs and services that make our district special."

Wang and Nishihira both said they did not intend to resign from their positions. “I hope the community can continue to have faith in me that I am still in the best interests for our students,” Wang said.

Nishihira said he did not run for school board to get into politics. He said he wanted to serve his community. “Sometimes it’s just raw democracy. Sometimes the public gets it right and sometimes the public gets it wrong,” Nishihira said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this.”

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in California

Recall supporters filed initial recall paperwork with the Alameda County Registrar of Voters on June 5, 2019. Recall supporters would have had to collect nearly 8,000 signatures from registered voters in the school district to get the recall on the ballot. The recall effort did not go to a vote in 2019.

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

• New Haven Unified School District, California
• New Haven Unified School District elections (2016)
• New Haven Unified School District elections (2014)
• Recall campaigns in California
• Political recall efforts, 2019
• School board recalls

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• New Haven Unified School District
• Alameda County Registrar of Voters