Recall drive targets school board president

State education cuts that left Yuma Elementary School District 1 with a $6.6 million shortfall for the 2009-10 school year have lead to a recall initiative to oust the governing board president.

Signatures for a petition to force District 1 president Greg Wilkinson from his post are being sought this week at a booth in the Theater Building of the Yuma County Fair.

Joseph Michaud, a retired Marine aircraft maintenance chief who formerly drove a school bus for the Yuma Education Consortium, and Heather George, a Planned Parenthood administrator and former consumer science teacher at Fourth Avenue Junior High School, along with several other people, began gathering signatures Tuesday at the fair.

The petition was registered with the Yuma County School Superintendent's Office, and the organizers have 120 days from March 31 to collect 1,588 signatures. A random sample of 5 percent of those must be verified as registered voters in District 1 to be valid.

Once the petition is validated, organizers intend to present it to the school board and then an election can be scheduled to recall Wilkinson at a date to be determined later, according to George.

Michaud said the primary reason he wants to recall Wilkinson is that several schools in district have failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards.

AYP is a benchmark set by the federal 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. A negative result in any category means the entire school does not make AYP.

Another reason they want Wilkinson's removal, according to Michaud, is an increase of student/teacher ratios that likely will result in layoffs, especially layoffs of probationary teachers.

"By increasing class size, that eliminates teachers and he placed a burden on children," Michaud said.

"If the budget cuts go through, a greater percentage should be reduced from the administration. We could possibly eliminate some of the vice principals and have counselors deal with disciplinary issues."

Michaud said the ideal student/teacher ratio would be 20:1 rather than the 30:1 suggested at last week's District 1 meeting. The main issue is not to hinder students with cost-cutting measures, he said.

George said  if layoffs come and it is mostly probationary teachers affected - those with less than three years experience - the district could be letting go excellent teachers while some with 25-plus years' experience have students who have not improved.

"Wilkinson is the leader of the board so he directs the outcomes and has a lot of influence," George said. "Instead of cutting teachers who work directly with children, cut administrative positions."

Wilkinson said there is no real way to rebut them but a lot of their information is wrong. He said that during his time on the board, AYP scores have improved.

He also said that in January, the state reduced the district's $50 million budget by $2.2 million and is likely to trim it by another $6.6 million for a total of a 12 percent reduction for the 2009-10 school year. He noted that 84 percent of the budget goes to salaries and 75 percent of that goes to teachers while 91 percent goes into the classroom. It is impossible to cut 12 percent of the budget and not affect the classroom in some way, he stressed.

Wilkinson further explained that the list of potential budget reductions was compiled from suggestions solicited from District 1 employees.

"I understand people are frustrated and they want to lash out at somebody, but what they're trying to do will not solve the problem.

"This is exactly why we have trouble getting good people to serve on the board, yet we have great people on the board. But there is no pay and it's long hours. We have no control over (the Legislature's input on) the budget and it's why people are upset."

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William Roller can be reached at
wroller@yumasun.com or 539-6858.