SEATTLE — The petition to recall Seattle Public School Board President Liza Rankin will not move forward. A King County Judge ruled the petition lacked legal sufficiency during a hearing Monday afternoon. He determined that the petition did not prove that Rankin demonstrated malfeasance, misfeasance, or a violation of her oath of office.
The recall effort came after the district's proposal to close schools, a plan that has since been withdrawn.
“I am glad that the outcome is what it is, so we can get back to the work of representing the community and serving the students," said Rankin.
A group of SPS parents filed the petition last month, and they believe Rankin has not met her responsibilities to students and families.
"It is clear from the public response from this effort that the people of Seattle are fed up and they want change,” said Ben Gitenstein, one of the five petitioners. “They will not put up with this anymore."
These claims come as the school district grapples with a $94 million budget shortfall for the next school year. The district had proposed closing as many as 21 schools at one point and scrapped the plan altogether last week.
"We're going to keep working to get them to hear our voices,” said Rebekah Binns, another petitioner. “This is a win. They stopped school closures for now. They've heard us. They know we are a force to be reckoned with."
The petitioners said they'll continue to advocate for change within the school board. Meanwhile, Rankin is ready to continue her work as the school board president. "I hope the attention that people have paid right now, that they'll stick around because there's a ton of important things going on… The stakes are high for our kids and that's actually who we should be focusing on," said Rankin.
Rankin said the board will be asking the superintendent for preliminary budget recommendations in the coming weeks and he'll present them early next year.
Currently, the petitioners do not plan on making recall petitions for any other board members. They said they're focused on finding good candidates for next year's election, with four open seats on the school board.