Effort to recall Apache Junction school board members ends
Posted 8/15/23
A group formed to recall members of the Apache Junction Unified School District governing board was unable to get enough signatures for an election and has changed its focus.
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A group formed to recall members of the Apache Junction Unified School District governing board was unable to get enough signatures for an election and has changed its focus.
Community members, parents, staff and students of the district formed the committee called For Our AJUSD Kids and had until August to collect the required number of signatures.
The group sought to recall AJUSD Governing Board President Dena Kimble and Board Vice President Gilbert “Gil” Cancio, with a possible third recall of board member Gail Ross to occur upon her completing six months in office in accordance with state law.
The three on April 10 voted in favor of a severance agreement for AJUSD Superintendent Heather Wallace at a meeting that did not include public comment, discussion or debate.
“To recall the three board members, we needed over 5,400 valid signatures for each person with a solid buffer to refute any claims or potential court cases that we knew were likely,” according to a statement from the group For Our AJUSD Kids. “With less than a week left, unfortunately we were unsuccessful in meeting this. We still obtained thousands of signatures and talked to the voters within the school district,” it states.
“The recall committee will be transitioning to a watchdog group to ensure that our school board members know they cannot continue to act irresponsibly on the taxpayer’s dime. We will seek out qualified candidates to run against these negligent board members and take this to the ballot box in November 2024. We highly encourage all community members to pay attention and become informed and educated on matters effecting AJUSD and our community. We are here to help with that and thank everyone who helped us on this journey,” the release states.
“The recall started as a result of the Apache Junction Unified School District spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars hiring and firing superintendents, continually making poor decisions resulting in quality staff leaving the district, and setting new direction after new direction only to be met with the same falling leadership,” it states.
