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Residents in the Sunnyside School District will vote in a recall election in May where two out of the five board members could be replaced.
Louie Gonzalez, the school board president, and board member Bobby Garcia have until Thursday to resign, otherwise their names will automatically appear on the ballot, said Ricky Hernandez, chief financial officer at the Pima County School Superintendent’s Office.
The Pima County Recorder's Office validated more than 1,345 signatures for each recall effort Friday.
The two board members also have until Jan. 16 to submit a 200-word statement "defending their actions," Hernandez said. If they choose not to submit a statement the mail-in ballot will only include a statement by the group recalling Gonzalez and Garcia.
At this point, the election is scheduled for May 20, Hernandez said, and it will be conducted entirely by mail-in ballots.
Both recall campaigns started last summer after Gonzalez, Garcia and board member Eva Carrillo Dong voted to extend the contract of Manuel Isquierdo, the district's superintendent.
The group is not recalling Dong because her term expires this year.
The board majority supported Isquierdo despite controversy surrounding his legal and financial troubles, something that upset many parents and community members in the Sunnyside School District.
Members of the group recalling Gonzalez and Garcia said by recalling two board members who support the superintendent, the board majority will shift.
Isquierdo has said there are no issues at Sunnyside and the recall elections are unnecessary.
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