Introduction
School board members frequently impose Critical Race Theory and cannot be removed until their regular terms have expired. Citizens need the ability to remove irresponsible school board members as soon as possible.
23 states allow citizens to recall school board members, but many impose substantial restrictions that impede the recall process. Our model bill largely follows the North Dakota law permitting recalls of elected officials, to provide the fewest restrictions to recalling school board members.
MODEL LEGISLATIVE TEXT
Section A
- An elected member of a school board is subject to recall by petition of electors equal in number to twenty-five percent of the voters who voted in the most recent election that the school board member sought to be recalled was on the ballot, not including other recall elections. A school board member who was appointed to fill a vacancy is subject to recall by petition of electors equal in number to twenty-five percent of the voters who voted in the most recent election that the school board member sought to be recalled was on the ballot, not including other recall elections.
- A recall petition must include a stated reason for the recall and be approved as to form before circulation by the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall complete the review of the form of a recall petition in not less than five, nor more than seven, business days, excluding Saturdays. To be effective, a recall petition must be submitted to the appropriate filing officer within ninety days after the date the recall petition is approved for circulation by the secretary of state.
- Once circulated, the recall petition must be filed with the filing officer with whom a petition for nomination to the school board membership in question is filed unless that filing officer is the individual subject to recall, in which case the petition must be filed with the secretary of state. The filing officer with whom the petition is filed shall pass on the sufficiency of a petition pursuant to {State Statute}. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the filing officer shall call a special election to be held not sooner than ninety-five days nor later than one hundred five days following the date the filing officer certifies the petition valid and sufficient. No special election may be called if that date would be within ninety-five days of the next scheduled election. An elector’s name may not be removed from a recall petition that has been submitted to and received by the appropriate filing officer.
- The name of the school board member to be recalled must be placed on the ballot unless the official resigns within ten days after the filing officer certifies the petition is valid and sufficient. Other candidates for the school board membership may be nominated in a manner provided by law and shall file nominating papers with the appropriate filing officer by the sixty-fourth day before the scheduled recall election. If the school board member resigns, the appropriate political subdivision governing body may call a special election or appoint an individual to complete the unexpired term of the school board membership. When the election results have been officially declared, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is elected for the remainder of the term. No school board member is subject to recall twice during the term for which the official was elected. A school board member whose membership is on the ballot at a regularly scheduled election occurring within one year is not subject to recall if the recall special election would occur within one year of the next regularly scheduled election in which the school board member could be reelected.
Section B
If any provision of this chapter, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this chapter and the application of its provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
The National Association of Scholars, in consultation with other supporters and friends of the Civics Alliance, drafted these model bills to translate into legislative language the principles in the Civics Alliance’s Civics Curriculum Statement & Open Letter. Just as these bills have been drafted with the expectation that different states will modify them as they see fit, they also have been drafted with the expectation that not every supporter of the Civics Alliance will endorse these bills or every part of them. Individual Civics Alliance signatories and supporters should not be assumed to have endorsed these bills, unless they say so explicitly.