Petition triggers special election

The Lake County Office of Education (LCOE) has determined that enough valid signatures were submitted by the registered voters of the Middletown Unified School District to require a special election to fill a board seat and to terminate the provisional appointment of Annette Lee.

Lee and Allison Berlogar were appointed to the board on Dec. 1, 2021, after the resignation of board members LaTrease Walker and Thad Owens. A petition to terminate Lee’s appointment and initiate a special election was filed with LCOE within 30 days of Lee’s appointment.

The Office of the Lake County Registrar of Voters assisted LCOE in validating the signatures. A requirement of 1.5% of the of the 6,129 voters registered in the district’s last election was required to trigger the special election. Ninety-two valid signatures were required for the petition to be successful.

With the success of the petition, the Middletown Unified School Board will function with one vacancy until the outcome of the special election is determined.

On Jan. 24, 2022, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg called a special election to be held on June 7.

It is estimated that the special election could cost the Middletown Unified School District $50,000.

Falkenberg said, “I will use the full authority of my Office to reduce the cost of the special election for the Middletown Unified School District. Any savings can then be used in the classroom to serve our students.”

The board position filled in the special election will expire in December 2022.