A recall election against Kathy Egan, Zone 1 representative on the Marsh Valley Joint School District board of trustees in Idaho, is being held on November 5, 2024. The official reasons for recall listed on the ballot are “poor performance of the school district, declining enrollment, poor financial oversight.” Voters will be able to vote for or against the recall.
Barbara Hill, one of the circulators of the petition against Egan, said she believed that Downey Elementary School’s Idaho Standards Achievement Test scores were lower than other elementary schools in the district. She questioned the certifications of the teachers who had been hired to work for the school.
Hill also said that families were pulling their children out of the school district, and one of the reasons for that was the opportunity for more AP classes elsewhere. “The reality is there’s not that many offerings in Marsh Valley and my understanding is that it’s sometimes difficult for students to enroll in those courses. Marsh Valley just doesn’t have that robust of a program anymore,” Hill said.
Egan said that she believed people signed the recall petition against her because they believed she intended to close Downey Elementary School. “I never said that I wanted to close the school and that was never my intention,” Egan said. “But that’s what people were told and I believe that is why they signed the petitions. I’ve been on the board for seven years. I have always felt like the best interest of the students was my goal.”
Egan said one of the new programs she supported for the school district was a Career Technical Program, which she hoped would start in the fall of 2025.
No specific grounds are required for recall in Idaho. To get a school board recall on the ballot, supporters must collect signatures equal to 20% of registered voters in the jurisdiction at the time the petition is filed. Signatures must be collected within 75 days.
Ballotpedia had tracked a total of 223 recall efforts against 345 officials across all office types as of November 1, 2024. At that time, 57 of the officials targeted for recall had been removed from office in a recall election, which was a success rate of 17%.
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