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The group of parents and community members working to remove Sunol Glen Unified School District Board President Ryan Jergensen and Trustee Linda Hurley can now begin circulating their recall petition after receiving clearance from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters’ Office.
According to a press release Thursday from the pro-recall group, United for Sunol Glen, members are eager to begin the circulation process and get the 246 signatures from registered Sunol voters needed by Feb. 20 in order to submit the petition with the county and get the recall on a special election ballot.
“The community is steadfast in its pursuit of recall as the trustees continue to demonstrate through their actions and behavior that they are not able to effectively serve our school district and uphold the principles of responsible governance,” the press release states. “Respected leadership is paramount for the prosperity of the Sunol and Sunol Glen School communities. This recall is a united effort to restore order, respect and good governance to the school board.”
Jergensen has continued to say the recall is a divisive effort by people who live outside the small town.
“While those who want this recall say that they are for all, their actions show they are not looking out for the welfare of all students,” Jergensen told the Weekly. “Some of these people are our neighbors who live in Sunol and are a vocal minority of people who want conformity of thought to their beliefs.”
Hurley also claimed those behind the recall campaign have continuously made false accusations of her and Jergensen, and that those citizens who have had the opportunity to be on the board for years but don’t want to give others like her and Jergensen the chance to lead.
“They aren’t willing to listen or discuss opinions other than their own,” Hurley said. “There are remedies for disagreement. The recall is punitive … This recall team is not putting the kids first; they are putting themselves first.”
Matthew Sylvester — one of the parents involved with the recall advocate group — told the Weekly that if they hit their February deadline, they do not have a strict timeframe for holding a special election but floated the idea of having it in April or May. He also said the recall group has not identified any potential replacement candidates yet.
Jergensen began his first full, four-year term on the three-person Sunol school board after winning the seat in the November 2022 election after serving in a temporary capacity. During that same November 2022 election, Hurley claimed a shorter two-year seat on the board — she will be up for reelection this November.
Over the last year, there have been several incidents that critics have pointed to as why the community needs to recall both trustees.
Most recently, Hurley and Jergensen faced criticism after the Sept. 12 board meeting where they passed a resolution that limits the district and its Sunol Glen School to only fly the U.S. and California state flags.
The decision was followed by a contentious public debate that centered largely on acceptance of the LGBTQ+ Pride flag, which had been raised on the school flagpole in June following vandalism to a pride emblem on a school fence — although the resolution does not list the LGBTQ+ flag by name and the board majority denied they were targeting that or any other group.
Both have also faced criticism for bad governance such as not transitioning the board president title away from Jergensen upon the new year and not allowing enough time for community members to speak during public comments at past board meetings.
According to the pro-recall group, 84% of the Sunol Glen teachers and support staff union members adopted separate votes of no confidence resolutions where they each expressed their distruss in both the trustees.
Hurley and Jergensen were officially served with recall intent notices in early November.
Both trustees have continued to defend their decisions on the flag resolution and said that they will keep on trying to better the Sunol community by working on things like saving the school money as it looks at its $10.9 million Measure J construction costs, despite the recall efforts.
“Without our careful oversight, our citizens are likely to find themselves paying far more for the school’s construction costs,” Hurley said. “I am asking Sunolians to refuse to sign the petition and save our town the cost and headache that will ensue.”
“I hope that the efforts of those standing with me to reject this divisive recall will give all courage to stand for One Sunol, and for everyone to feel welcome and treated with respect and dignity in our community,” Jergensen said.
He called attention to the anti-recall campaign, One Sunol, and said that group is made up of many people around the town who support him and Hurley and who are afraid of the tactics the pro-recall group has been using against the two board members.
“One such tactic has been to label me in ways that are shameful,” Jergensen said. “I am not anti-LGBTQ+, and none of my efforts have ever been about banning flags or limiting teachers’ or anyone’s opportunity for free speech. I have stood for uniting our community, and for nourishing children in the public school.”
He also said that the recall effort is actually harmful to the community because the people from outside the community who are contributing to the recall campaign will be putting the burden of having the school pay for the recall itself, which Hurley echoed as well.
“The question Sunol taxpayers need to ask themselves is are you willing to cost the school district approximately $20,000 for a recall election and approximately $50,000 for a special election?” Hurley asked. “That is what our school will be required to pay if this recall passes.”
According to the pro-recall’s website, the Registrar of Voters’s Office confirmed that given the number of registered voters in Sunol, the estimated cost of conducting the recall election is between $15,618 and $17,262.
And the campaign maintains that the recall is necessary.
“Sunol Glen and the town of Sunol are already paying a very high cost for keeping Jergensen and Hurley in office both financially — legal fees are up 364% at over $50,000 under Jergensen’s leadership — and with a deep loss of community morale,” the campaign stated.
It also continued to state that the recall group is not made up of outsiders and that it is in fact made up of longtime Sunolians, parents and teachers.
“We invite all Sunolians to join their friends, neighbors and the larger school community in support of ensuring the future of Sunol Glen Unified School District,” Thursday’s pro-recall press release states.
