Unlike some other elected officials, a member of the school board may only be recalled for a felony conviction or for not attending meetings. This restriction is likely a byproduct of the low voter turnout philosophy which gave us and perpetuates September school elections decided by, in the case of the Little Rock School District, hundreds of votes.
A typical recall of an elected official, without cause, might require petition signatures of registered voters equal to or greater than 35% of those who voted in the last election.
In the case of Zone 4, where 57 votes were cast for the unopposed candidate, that would mean only 20 signatures would trigger a recall election. Such a low threshold would likely keep our public schools in constant turmoil because of the threat of or actual recall.
Changing the school election to the general election, however, could restore representative government to our schools, while also giving our citizens the fundamental right to recall our public officials.
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