Conservative Orange Unified School District members concede defeat after recall vote
A pair of conservative Orange Unified School District board members have conceded defeat after they faced a recall vote in the primary elections earlier this month.
Trustees Rick Ledesma and Madison Miner both acknowledged their defeat at this week's school board meeting, months after the district was mired in chaos and debate over a number of controversial policies.
In recent months, OUSD has been called into question after board members approved a policy that required school staff to inform parents if their child requested to change their pronouns, to ban the LGBTQ+ Pride flag and to temporarily suspend their digital library for alleged "age inappropriate" books. On top of this, they also voted to fire the beloved superintendent.
The district is one of many in Southern California where similar instances have occurred over nearly identical issues.
Darshan Smaaladen hopes that the vote will send a message to other districts.
"Voters want school boards that are looking out for their best interest and not doing anything that is a personal agenda or personal benefit," Smaaladen, the Co-Chair of the recall effort, said. I think both of those things were in play with our recall. And, having the voters support us really validated what we were feeling as parents."
Now, new trustees can be appointed to their positions, but they will have to run in the Nov. general election in order to finish the two years remaining on the ousted board members' terms.
Miner and Ledesma both addressed the community at their final meetings.
"I just wanted to say a smooth transition of power is part of democracy and while those efforts have been hindered over the last year, I as a board trustee will not contribute to that destruction," Miner said. "It has been an honor to serve this community and I will continue to do as I was prior to this election."
"I want to thank the OUSD voting community — generation upon generation that voted for me — over 25 years I've been on this board, and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart," Ledesma said.
