Richland School District recall, Washington (2022-2023)

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Richland School District recall
Officeholders
M. Semi Bird Audra Byrd Kari Williams
Recall status
Recall approved
Recall election date
August 1, 2023
Signature requirement
Bird: 5,887 Byrd: 5,822 Williams: 5,176
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2023 Recalls in Washington Washington recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

Recall elections against three of the five members of the Richland School District school board in Washington were held on August 1, 2023. M. Semi Bird, Audra Byrd, and Kari Williams were on the ballot. A majority of voters cast ballots in favor of the recall. The three board members were removed from office after the results were certified on August 15, 2023.

Recall supporters said that the board members violated the Open Public Meetings Act; violated district policies, procedures, and code of ethics; and voted to make masks optional while a statewide mask requirement was in place. All three board members denied any wrongdoing.

The recall effort began in the spring of 2022. The Benton County Superior Court approved the recall petitions for circulation on May 11, 2022. The three members filed an appeal against that decision with the Washington Supreme Court. The state supreme court ruled on February 9, 2023, that four of the recall charges were factually and legally sufficient, allowing the petitions to be circulated. Supporters submitted petition signatures to the Benton County Election Department in May 2023. On May 19, 2023, the county announced enough signatures had been verified to put the recalls on the ballot.

To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.

Recall vote

Audra Byrd recall, 2023

Audra Byrd lost the Richland School District school board Position 1 recall election on August 1, 2023.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
		✖	Yes	54.2	10,666
			No	45.8	8,996
			Total Votes		19,662

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It has been certified. Source

Semi Bird recall, 2023

Semi Bird lost the Richland School District school board Position 3 recall election on August 1, 2023.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
		✖	Yes	54.5	10,715
			No	45.5	8,953
			Total Votes		19,668

---

It has been certified. Source

Kari Williams recall, 2023

Kari Williams lost the Richland School District school board Position 4 recall election on August 1, 2023.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
		✖	Yes	53.3	10,476
			No	46.7	9,185
			Total Votes		19,661

---

It has been certified. Source

Recall supporters

Recall supporters detailed their reasons for the recall effort on their website:

“

This recall is not about masks nor is it a partisan issue. The recall is about elected officials being held responsible for unlawful actions they took while in office. On Tuesday, February 15, 2022, Richland School Board Directors Semi Bird, Audra Byrd, and Kari Williams participated in a special meeting, held a vote that was not included on the meeting agenda, and took the final action of making masks optional in Richland Schools, effective immediately. In doing so, they broke several Washington State laws and violated their oaths of office. In addition, there is evidence that the three collaborated before the meeting to plan for taking the vote, which is in violation of RCW 42.30, the Open Public Meetings Act.

”

The Washington Supreme Court ruled that the following four charges could appear on the recall petitions:

“

Violated the Open Public Meetings Act by voting at a special meeting taking final action on a matter, to wit: masking optional, that had not been included in the published public meeting agenda. Voted to make masks at school optional, in knowing violation of the law and in excess of the powers of a school board, even after warnings from the state and from legal counsel. Exceeded their power and responsibilities as school board members by establishing public health policies and making masks optional. Violated district policies and procedures by failing to assure compliance with law and policy.

”

Recall opponents

The school district settled a lawsuit related to the alleged violation of the Open Public Meetings Act, agreeing to pay $5,000 and to take additional trainings on the law. After the settlement, the school board published the following statement:

“

On February 23, 2022, Arthur West filed a complaint against the Richland School Board, Richland School District and Board members Audra Byrd, Semi Bird and Kari Williams. Mr. West’s complaint alleges that Richland School Board members Byrd, Bird and Williams violated the Open Public Meetings Act on February 15 and 16, 2022. The named board members and the Richland School District have agreed to a settlement with Mr. West in this matter and have resolved all claims. The parties agreed that this settlement is a compromise of a disputed claim, charge or violation of the OPMA and is not to be construed as an admission of wrongdoing on the part of RSD and the Board members, who expressly deny any wrongdoing. Richland School Board Members Audra Byrd, Kari Williams and Semi Bird expressly deny any liability, and specifically deny that they violated the OPMA, but have agreed to settle this matter based upon their belief that it is in furtherance of their goal to act as good stewards of public funds. Specifically, Richland School Board Members Audra Byrd, Kari Williams and Semi Bird recognize that continued defense of the OPMA lawsuit will likely result in attorneys’ fees and costs that exceed the amount being paid to resolve the OPMA lawsuit. RSD and the Board members have therefore agreed to resolve the OPMA lawsuit, as it is in the best interests of the Richland School District community.

”

Williams told KEPR that she believed no laws were broken when the board voted to make masks optional. She said the board received medical and legal advice before taking the vote and that the state's mask requirement ended a few weeks later.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Washington

The Benton County Superior Court initially ruled on May 11, 2022, that the recall petitions could be circulated with five charges. On June 14, 2022, the same court reconsidered one of the charges and took it off of the petitions. The remaining four charges were appealed to the Washington Supreme Court. The state supreme court ruled that the four charges were factually and legally sufficient to be put on the recall petitions and circulated.

To get the recalls on the ballot, supporters had to collect 5,887 signatures against Bird, 5,822 against Byrd, and 5,176 against Williams. The minimum number of signatures were verified for each petition, and the recall election was held on August 1, 2023. The three board members were removed from office on August 15, 2023, after Benton County certified the election results.

After the three board members were removed from office, the board had only two members, meaning they lacked a quorum and were unable to conduct board business. Educational Service District 123 appointed one member to the board on August 29, 2023, in order to re-institute a quorum. On September 20, 2023, the three-member school board appointed two new members to serve on the board temporarily. Two of the seats were up for regular election on November 7, 2023. The winners of that election replaced any appointed members and serve full four-year terms on the board.

The state of Washington requires specific grounds to be met for a recall to move forward. Those specific grounds are "acts of malfeasance or misfeasance while in office or violation of oath of office." Once a court rules whether those grounds have been met, recall supporters are given 180 days to collect signatures equal in number to 25% of the votes cast for the office in the last election.

Recalls related to the coronavirus

See also: Recalls related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and government responses to the pandemic

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.

2023 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

Ballotpedia tracked 48 school board recall efforts against 97 board members in 2023. Sixteen of those board members faced recall elections. The recall elections were held on January 10, 2023, August 1, 2023, August 8, 2023, August 29, 2023, November 7, 2023, and December 12, 2023. The school board recall success rate was 13.4%.

The chart below details the status of 2023 recall efforts by individual school board member.

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

• Richland School District, Washington
• Recall campaigns in Washington
• Political recall efforts, 2023
• Political recall efforts, 2022
• School board recalls
• States that allow school board recalls

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Richland School District
• Benton County Election Department
• Richland School Board Recall website