(The Center Square) – A trio of Richland School Board members may be ousted from office later this month as voters favored recall measures against them on Tuesday’s primary election ballot in Benton County.
Based on preliminary returns, about 55% of voters supported recalls against the three members: Audra Byrd, Semi Bird and Kari Williams.
Bird is a Republican candidate for governor.
Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton said a simple majority vote is sufficient to remove them from office. If the voting trend stands, that could occur when election results are certified on Aug. 15, said Chilton.
Recall efforts were mounted against the three board members following their vote on Feb. 15, 2022, to make facial coverings optional in local schools, contrary to state requirements at the time that all persons in schools mask up indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About three weeks later, on March 11, 2022, Gov. Jay Inslee and state officials lifted the indoor masking mandate for schools after a steady decline in COVID-19 infection rates in Washington.
The Richland School Board’s mask-optional vote came during a special meeting and was opposed by two other board members.
Four days before that meeting, Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said in an email that until the statewide mask mandate was eliminated, it would be a “willful violation of the law” to enact board policy or practices to remove masking or allow noncompliance in school buildings. Others advised such actions could jeopardize state funding and resources and open the district up to potential liability.
In the aftermath, Richland schools were closed for two days until the decision was reversed.
Upset by the board’s majority decision, a citizens’ recall campaign was initiated last April that – after legal reviews in Benton County Superior Court and the Washington Supreme Court – ultimately led to Tuesday’s ballot.
Voters were asked to mark “yes” or “no” that the three members violated district policies and procedures, and violated the state’s Open Public Meetings Act by taking final action at a special meeting when the mask-optional topic had not been listed on the agenda.
Tuesday’s ballot also contained responses from all three board members, who said they took action because local students were suffering emotionally and academically at a time when many other states had already lifted masking requirements.
Byrd described the recall effort as a “pure political attack.”
Bird said the mandates “ruined lives and was a violation of our constitutional rights.”
Williams said “parents, not the government, know what is best for their children.”
Recall supporters, in turn, said the issue was not about masks or partisanship, but an expectation that board members act “ethically, lawfully, and in the best interest of the Richland School District,” according to the organizers’ website.
Byrd’s seat on the board is not up for re-election until 2025. If she is removed from office, the position will be open for an interim appointment.
Both Bird and Williams’ positions were listed on Tuesday’s ballot, but Bird was not a candidate, having declared he is running for governor in 2024.
Williams is facing two challengers in her re-election bid. Based on preliminary tallies, opponent Katrina Waters was leading the three-way race with 49% of the vote, followed by Williams at 26.8% and Aaron Riggs at 23.8%.
The top two candidates will advance to the November general election.
It’s conceivable that Williams, the current board president, could be removed from office, but later return if she prevails in November.
If the three members are recalled, it will leave the five-member school board without a quorum. In that case, under state law, the regional educational service district, ESD 123, would appoint a person from within the school district’s boundaries to serve on the Richland board, said Shawna Dinh, district public information officer.
With a quorum then established, the appointee and current board members Rick Jansons and Jill Oldson would vote on director replacements. If, for some reason, the board fails to fill a position within 90 days of the creation of a vacancy, the ESD’s board of directors has the authority to appoint a replacement, said Dinh.
The Richland School District is one of Washington’s larger school districts, with more than 14,100 students enrolled during the 2022-23 school year and employing nearly 800 classroom teachers working at 18 schools, according to the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Benton County has nearly 59,500 registered voters, with 52,681 residing in the Richland School District and eligible to vote on the recall measures. Countywide turnout is at 25.8% for the primary election. That number will rise somewhat, but only another 3,500 ballots are projected for tabulation, according to Chilton.
