Chico Unified School District recall fails

CHICO » An effort to recall four sitting members of the Chico Unified School District school board has failed.

Keaton Denlay, manager of Butte County elections, said the petitions that had been approved for circulation were not returned by the Oct. 12 deadline. “They didn’t turn anything in,” Denlay said.

The Butte County Clerk-Recorder’s Office needed 10, 809 signatures per board member for the recall to be a success, Denlay said.

It is unknown how many signatures were collected since nothing was turned in.

In March, Chico Parents for InPerson Learning got the ball rolling with the recall effort and began circulating online petitions to have board members Caitlin Dalby and Tom Lando as well as Vice President Kathleen Kaiser and President Eileen Robinson recalled from the board. The effort started after the four board members voted in favor of continuing a hybrid morning/afternoon in-person instruction schedule for the remainder of the 2020 and 2021 school years in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think it was a very knee jerk reaction done without processing the consequences,” Kaiser said. “We didn’t see it as a rational response in terms of dealing with the pandemic.

“We were able to keep students in school for full days and help students regain the learning costs of online only and then two hours a day. So far the school district has been doing extremely well protecting kids and staff. We were one of the few school districts in California that had kids in person at all. We were doing it two hours

a day and were able to clean classrooms and it was so significant for students to see their friends and teachers in person. Human contact was very significant. Also, how do you recall four members of a five member board? It would have been a nightmare.”

Chico Parents for In-Person Learning advocated for a return to full, in-person learning within the Chico Unified School District. CUSD board trustee Matt Tennis voted against staying in the a.m./p.m model and had formed the parent group in 2020 before being elected to the board. Dalby and Tennis were both elected to the board in November.