Tolleson school board recall comes up short on signatures
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
A campaign to oust two school board members in Tolleson over controversial financial decisions didn't collect enough signatures.
State of play: Maricopa County schools Superintendent Shelli Boggs announced Wednesday that the recall efforts against Tolleson Union High School District governing board president Steven Chapman and board member Leezah Sun were short by about 1,000 signatures apiece.
By the numbers: Protecting Their Future, the recall campaign committee, needed at least 8,711 valid signatures for each to put them on the ballot.
- The committee last November submitted 13,200 signatures for Sun and 14,850 for Chapman, who were the board's president and vice president, respectively, when the recall campaign began.
- Per Boggs, there were only 7,724 valid signatures for Sun and 7,696 for Chapman.
Zoom in: The committee was surprised by the results, Kim Owens, a former TUHSD board member and political consultant who worked with the recall campaign, told Axios.
- "It's disappointing for all the work that's gone into it, but honestly, it's the most disappointing for the residents … of the district who are looking for relief from this board that is just a runaway train," she said.
What they're saying: "Thank goodness I'm so happy. Moral of the story don't get signatures at Fry's," Sun said on Instagram.
- Chapman and Sun did not respond to comment requests from Axios.
Catch up quick: Protecting Their Future argues that Sun and Chapman should be removed for several recent decisions.
- The district in January approved a deal to effectively loan $25 million to the cash-strapped Isaac School District for selling buildings to TUHSD and leasing them back.
- TUHSD is leasing land to developer Dominium for an affordable housing project.
- And critics took issue with expenses from plans to build a new district office at 99th and Missouri avenues in Glendale, among other concerns.
What's next: The campaign has 10 days to appeal the superintendent's decision, and Owens said it's doing a "deep dive" on the signatures to determine whether there are grounds to challenge the tally.