Despite months of pushback, at Thursday evening’s board meeting, Grossmont Union High School District trustees held firm to their decision to eliminate dozens of positions. Those eliminations include nearly every librarian in the district.
Hundreds of community members and protesters packed into Grossmont High School’s theater for Thursday’s meeting. Many came armed with signs castigating board members, others sported shirts for the union that represents district teachers – almost all were angry.
Over the past few months, this scene has become the norm. Tensions that had been stoked by the board’s conservative approach exploded in February, when trustees first issued the layoff notices. District officials insist the layoffs are necessary because of a multi-million-dollar budget deficit. Opponents – including Trustee Chris Fite – argue the layoffs far exceed what’s needed to close the deficit.
The agenda for Thursday’s board meeting included a glimmer of hope for opponents. Included in the action items was a “consideration of rescission of layoffs.” That’s partly what brought the protesters, though leaked audio of board member Robert Shield saying librarians were overpaid and confidently expressing his belief that protesters would eventually get “mission fatigue,” and stop showing up also seemed to fuel them.
“We had options of where to send our kids – a different district, a charter or private education. We chose the school for two reasons: knowledge and compassion. We saw knowledge in its history of producing three astronauts and compassion in the school offering a preschool for teen parents … my wife and I were proud to say our school met the needs of our community,” parent Greg Kelly said during public comments. “I am here because your proposed cuts, based on your current finances, are extremely drastic. It shows neither knowledge nor compassion.”
Despite the public opposition, the board opted to move forward with the layoffs, which will be finalized next month. A motion to rescind by Fite, the sole board member opposed to layoffs, was not seconded by any other members.
Kristen LoPrell, a math teacher, was recognized earlier in the meeting for being named a California Teacher of the Year. The board gifted her a bouquet. After the vote, she walked to the front of the theater and left the flowers on the edge of the stage.
The Opposition Gets Organized
While the animated crowd was nothing new, there was at least one unfamiliar sight outside of Grossmont High’s theater: a table advertising a freshly launched recall effort. The recall, which targets four members of the Grossmont Union board was making its public debut.
Andy Trimlett, one of the recall’s organizers, announced the effort during public comment.
“Next year, our first-born son will be a freshman at Grossmont and my wife and I are truly scared for his future. Recently, Robert shield suggested the crowds of these meetings would soon get fatigued. He was right. We are tired. We’re tired of having to fight for the basic rights of our children,” Trimlett said, wielding a handful of sign-up sheets affixed to clipboards. “With me, I have some documents. They are titled notice of intention to circulate a recall petition. You have refused to listen to your community, so we are launching a campaign to remove you from office.”
Every other line was punctuated by thunderous cheers and applause.
What’s striking about the recall organization is just how organic much of it seems to be. Take Laura Preble retired. When she retired, she was looking forward to calmer days. Then came the layoffs. She worked at Grossmont Union for 25 years, both as a teacher and a librarian, and also helped do public relations for organizations like the San Diego Repertory Theatre for several years. So, she became the recall group’s de facto press person.
“I feel like it’s something that we all have to stand up and defend, because all of things happening in a school district directly affect the community,” Preble said. “We need people on the board who understand what public education is all about, and I seriously doubt these people do.”
She said they first organized a meeting to consider recalling board members in mid-April. She was surprised that so many people showed up – around 20, she recalled. That was the first indication that they may be tapping into something big in the community.
During that meeting, the attendees brainstormed, asking themselves questions like ‘Can we really do this? How much time can we commit? Who should we recall?
Judging from their goal, they seemed to decide on ‘yes,’ ‘a lot,’ and ‘all of them.’
“Taking out one person would be okay, but it wouldn’t really solve the problem, because the rest could appoint a person who will just replace them and do the same stuff,” Preble said, recounting the thinking at the meeting.
What they really wanted was a sea change, said Preble. That’s why they chose to target the board’s whole conservative block: Gary Woods, Scott Eckert, Robert Shield and Jim Kelly.
A recall effort takes a lot of work – let alone attempting to recall four of five trustees on a school district’s governing board. The first step is to gather 30 signatures from residents who live in the jurisdiction the elected official represents. Trimlett said the recallers have accomplished that task. Assuming the registrar accepts those names, they then get published in a local paper.
From there come the big numbers. The crew would have between 120 and 160 days to gather the roughly 10,000 signatures per jurisdiction needed to qualify the recall. Given they’re attempting to recall four board members, that means they’ll need to collect around 40,000 signatures.
Trimlett said thus far, it’s been a real community effort. People have continually contacted the organizers offering help, and with every volunteer their crew gains more expertise, whether it’s website design or bookkeeping. He isn’t holding his breath, but he’s cautiously optimistic.
“People have a chance here to really make a difference and to really change our kids’ lives. And I think they want to take that chance, and they want to do something to make it happen,” he said. “People are fired up.”