Rob Brigham recall, Wahoo Public Schools, Nebraska (2021)

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Wahoo Public Schools recall
Officeholders
Rob Brigham
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2021 Recalls in Nebraska Nebraska recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

An effort to recall Rob Brigham from his position as the president of the six-member Wahoo Public Schools Board of Education in Nebraska did not go to a vote in 2021. Recall supporters did not collect enough signatures by the filing deadline.

The recall effort began in July 2021. To get the recall on the ballot, recall supporters would have had to collect 930 signatures in 30 days.

Brigham was re-elected to the school board in 2018. He has served on the board for 23 years.

Recall supporters

The recall effort was started by district parent and Wahoo resident Kyle Cooper. In his request for a recall petition, Cooper stated the following reasons for the recall effort:

“

I am initiating the process to recall and remove Rob Brigham as a member of the Wahoo School Board due to his failure to provide transparency in his role as board president. His lack of leadership in debating the current and very serious issues important to the constituents of District 39 are the reasons for this request.

”

Cooper said he had requested to be on the agenda for multiple school board meetings to talk about the comprehensive health education standards proposed by the Nebraska Department of Education and the board's stance on critical race theory. Brigham declined the requests.

Cooper also said that he thought the board should sign a resolution against the state's proposed health education standards. "There's no reason to take a wait-and-see approach when you can be proactive about it," Cooper said.

Recall opponents

Brigham said the board did not put the state's proposed health education standards on the agenda because they were not finalized and because the school district was not required to adopt them. "[T]here has been no conversation of doing anything different than what we already do for health education,” Brigham said.

In response to the criticism of lack of transparency, Brigham pointed to the letter the board and Superintendent Brandon Lavaley published on July 15, 2021. "I’m not sure how to be more transparent than to publish our position," Brigham said. "The position, quite simply, is that we don’t intend to change anything that we are doing regarding any of those topics. I encourage anyone with questions to review the letter on the school’s website."

The letter published by the superintendent and board of education follows below.

“

Patrons: Over the past several weeks, there has been increased patron comment about the Wahoo Public School District regarding several topics. The board of education and administrative team would like to take an opportunity to provide information and clarity about these topics. Proposed Health Standards The initial draft of the new health standards proposed by the Nebraska Department of Education was released in March, 2021. The draft of those standards was then available for public comment and response, before being turned back by the state board of education for revision. At this time, a second draft of those health standards is still being revised with a planned release of early this fall. Once the second draft is established, the standards will again be available for public comment and consideration. After the public comment period, the standards will either be finalized or returned for further drafting. Regardless of the outcome of the second or future drafts, the district is under no obligation to adopt the state health standards and, at this point, there isn’t any conversation about moving away from what we currently utilize at Wahoo Public Schools for health education. Critical Race Theory Critical race theory is a relatively new discussion, though it has existed for decades as an academic study. The district does not have curriculum incorporating critical race theory and doesn’t have intentions of implementing new curriculum incorporating critical race theory. Masks and Vaccines As of today, there are no directed health measures in place that make the use of masks or vaccinations mandatory in schools for students and staff. We support the use of masks for those who choose to wear them in school, but we do not expect to make it a requirement. Additionally, there are no intentions, at the local level, to make vaccinations mandatory. While vaccinations may protect individuals from the virus or potential quarantines due to exposure, as a school district, we do not plan on making inoculation required for attendance. Facilities At the regular meeting of the board of education on June 21, it was approved to form the Wahoo Public Schools Facilities Corporation. This organization is a non-profit corporation that enables the board of education to explore alternative funding sources, other than a bond referendum, to address the building needs we have within the district. This financing would assist in addressing the building needs we have within the district and incorporates the input provided by the community advisory committee in the late winter/early spring of 2020. Because of the pandemic, that advisement was put on hold to focus on the immediate priority of meeting the needs of our students in unprecedented times. The board is starting to engage in considerations of how to provide space and educational opportunities to the students within the district, while being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. The need for increased space is a result of growing enrollment (1-2% student enrollment increase per year during any 10-year period starting in 1997-98), capacity concerns in all three buildings, and the continued growth of the Wahoo community with new housing developments in different stages of planning/execution. If the district chooses to pursue alternative financing, it must do so within the limitations of the levy allocated to the building fund, which is currently set at a maximum of $0.14 by state statute. The $0.14 building fund levy has been consistent in every budget over the past five years. In other words, alternative financing must be done within funds already requested in the levy. Our next step is to interview architects to assist the district with reviewing our current capacity and eminent space deficiencies, followed by developing alternatives for board consideration. We appreciate and respect the feedback and comments from all and hope this information is helpful. If you have questions, please reach out to the superintendent’s office or board members, as noted above. Sincerely, WPS Superintendent Brandon Lavaley and the Wahoo Public Schools Board of Education

”

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Nebraska

The request for a recall petition was filed with the Saunders County Clerk on July 21, 2021. Brigham had until August 11, 2021, to file a defense statement to the recall petition. His response could include up to 60 words.

To get the recall on the ballot, recall supporters would have had to collect 930 signatures in 30 days.

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.

See also

• Wahoo Public Schools, Nebraska
• Recall campaigns in Nebraska
• Political recall efforts, 2021
• School board recalls

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Wahoo Public Schools
• Saunders County Clerk