Residents of a rural community near Yosemite National Park have overwhelmingly voted to recall all five members of the local school board after a group of high school students launched a campaign to unseat them, election officials said Wednesday
Unofficial results show the Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District school board was recalled by more than a 2-to-1 margin, and a slate of new candidates was elected to replace them, the Tuolumne County Elections Department said.
The department had not finished counting ballots Wednesday, but it’s unlikely the election results would change, an elections official said.
“It was a lot of work, but it was totally worth it. Our school district can finally get back on track,” said Elise Vallotton, 18, a senior at Tioga High School who helped lead the recall effort. “We knew we needed to get people in there who could make the right decisions.”
The recall of an entire school board is uncommon and possibly unprecedented in California, said Brittany McKannay, a spokeswoman for California School Boards Association.