Stevens Point Area Public School District recall, Wisconsin (2021)

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2021 Stevens Point Area Public School District recall
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
Table of contents
Recall supporters
Recall opponents
Path to the ballot
2021 recall efforts
See also
External links
Footnotes

An effort to recall five of the nine members of the Stevens Point Area Public School District school board in Wisconsin did not go to a vote in 2021. Recall supporters did not submit petition signatures by the deadline on November 2, 2021.[1]

The recall effort began in September 2021. Ann Vang, Barbara Portzen, Christina Scott, Gee Pope, and Jeffrey Ebel were named in the recall petitions. To get the recalls on the ballot, supporters would have had to collect 7,033 signatures per board member.[2][3]

To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.

Recall supporters

The recall effort was started by Rebecca Kressin, a resident of Stevens Point. She told the Stevens Point Journal that the following issues prompted the recall effort:[2]

  • The board granting Superintendent Craig Gerlach emergency authority to decide whether to require masks and hold classes in person.
  • Mask requirements for the start of the 2021-22 school year.
  • Gerlach blocking anti-mask protesters from entering the building for a May 10 school board meeting. Last week, Portage County District Attorney Louis Molepske Jr. accused the board of violating the state's open meetings law as a result.
  • The board limiting public comments only to items on the agenda.
  • The board disregarding requests to put the issue of masks and other COVID-19 safety measures on meeting agendas in order to allow for public comment.[4]

Recall opponents

School Board President Meg Erler, who was not included in the recall effort, said that she is proud of the work the board has done during the pandemic. "It's up to members of our community to decide what they want in terms of representation on the school board," Erler said. "I am fundamentally proud of how this board and district has responded to the past year and a half."[2]

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Wisconsin

Recall supporters filed initial paperwork to start the efforts on September 3, 2021. To get the recalls on the ballot, they would have had to collect 7,033 signatures per board member by November 2, 2021. The number of signatures was equal to at least 25% of the votes cast within the school district in the 2018 gubernatorial election.[2]

Recalls related to the coronavirus

See also: Recalls related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and government responses to the pandemic

Ballotpedia covered 35 coronavirus-related recall efforts against 94 officials in 2022, accounting for 13% of recalls that year. This is a decrease from both 2020 and 2021. COVID-related recalls accounted for 37% of all recall efforts in both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, there were 87 COVID-related recalls against 89 officials, and in 2021, there were 131 against 214 officials.

The chart below compares coronavirus-related recalls to recalls for all other reasons in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

2021 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

Ballotpedia tracked 92 school board recall efforts against 237 board members in 2021. Recall elections against 17 board members were held in 2021. The school board recall success rate was 0.42%.

The chart below details the status of 2021 recall efforts by individual school board member.

See also

External links

Footnotes