Rick Ledesma and Madison Miner recall, Orange Unified School District, California (2023-2024)

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  • 2023 year-end analysis
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  • 2020 mid-year analysis
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  • 2019 mid-year analysis
  • 2018 year-end analysis
  • 2018 mid-year analysis
  • 2017 year-end analysis
  • 2017 mid-year analysis
  • 2016 year-end analysis
  • 2016 mid-year analysis

Orange Unified School District recall
Officeholders
Rick Ledesma Madison Miner
Recall status
Recall approved
Recall election date
March 5, 2024
Signature requirement
13,046 signatures per board member
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2024 Recalls in California California recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

Recall elections against Madison Klovstad Miner and Rick Ledesma, the Trustee Area 4 and Trustee Area 7 representatives on the Orange Unified School District Board of Education in California, were held on March 5, 2024. A majority of voters cast ballots in favor of removing them from office, approving the recall.

The recall effort started after the board voted 4-3 in a special meeting on January 5, 2023, to fire the district's superintendent and place the district’s assistant superintendent of education on paid leave pending a curriculum and academic audit. Ledesma and Miner voted in favor of the superintendent's firing along with John Ortega and Angie Schlueter-Rumsey. The board did not give a reason for the decision. In the same meeting, the board appointed Edward Velasquez as interim superintendent and Craig Abercrombie as assistant superintendent.

Ledesma was re-elected to a four-year term on the seven-member board on November 8, 2022. He defeated two opponents with 51.5% of the vote. Miner was elected to the board in the same election, defeating incumbent Kathryn A. Moffat with 50.2% of the vote. Both Ledesma and Miner ran as part of a candidate slate in 2022 that pledged to support charter school parents and be independent of the teachers union. The other two members of the candidate slate did not win election.

Recall vote

Madison Klovstad Miner recall, 2024

Madison Klovstad Miner lost the Orange Unified Board of Education Trustee Area 4 recall election on March 5, 2024.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
		✖	Yes	53.4	27,674
			No	46.6	24,113
			Total Votes		51,787

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It has been certified. Source

Rick Ledesma recall, 2024

Rick Ledesma lost the Orange Unified Board of Education Trustee Area 7 recall election on March 5, 2024.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
		✖	Yes	53.8	27,782
			No	46.2	23,888
			Total Votes		51,670

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It has been certified. Source

Recall supporters

Recall supporters published the following reasons for recall on their website:

“

NO NOTICE: Ledesma’s Board Majority fired our Superintendent in a complete blindside. Our Assistant Superintendent was removed and put on paid leave, costing us more money every day. The meeting was called within 24 hours during Winter Break, before their first meeting of the year as the new OUSD Board. Both Superintendents were out of town at the time. The majority members had never mentioned their intent during their campaigns, surprising voters of all stripes. NO CAUSE: Ledesma’s Majority did not give any reason for the firing.​ They admit that Hansen and Corella had done nothing wrong. Hansen was appointed in OUSD by a conservative board and has worked well with conservative boards for years. Hansen has many accolades from her time as Supt., including OC PTA's Administrator of the Year. NO PLAN: Three months passed before Ledesma's Majority interviewed Superintendent search firms. They installed crony Edward Velasquez as an “Interim” Superintendent who is not from OUSD. OUSD paid for Velasquez’ travel/lodging expenses for his commute to and from Idaho. They set a vague “academic audit” goal that went undefined and unachieved. Interim Supt. Velasquez unilaterally blocked an online library, causing chaos for students. Just 5 weeks into his contract, Velasquez quit with 1 day's notice. No steps were taken to find a replacement during his employment. Interim Supt. Velasquez' $41,000 price tag added zero value to our district.

”

Recall opponents

In response to the recall effort, Miner said:

“

It’s essential to note that protecting students is my sole purpose, and the radical recall movement has made it clear that their quest for power over the children is nothing more than a strong political maneuver to influence and shape the children of OUSD. This has nothing to do with protecting or educating children.

”

After the board's decision to fire the superintendent, Ledesma said the vote was not a political move. “We are concerned about educational programs and services to the students of OUSD,” Ledesma said. “We think we have drifted away from academics and educating students. We have been focusing too much on the social politics of education.”

The No OUSD Recall website was created in support of Ledesma and Miner. The website included the following reasons why voters should not support the recall:

“

Don’t be fooled, the OUSD recall is nothing but a special interest power grab. The OUSD Board Members targeted by the radical recall effort make up a common sense, student-first majority, and it needs to stay that way. Those pushing the recall falsely claim the board majority violated the Brown Act, which forbids elected officials from meeting outside of the public domain to conduct business. However, the Orange County District Attorney conducted an independent investigation and concluded that no OUSD Board Member who is the target of the recall violated the Brown Act. Ironically, the only Board Member who was found to have broken the law by violating the Brown Act was Kris Erickson, who also happens to be a major supporter of the radical recall effort. Make no mistake, parental rights and quality education for our students are at stake. Do not support the OUSD recall or sign the petition. Those backing the recall want to replace education with indoctrination. If the recall succeeds, they will work to strip away parental rights. There is nothing they will not do or say to gain power at the expense of our children's future.

”

The Orange County Register published an editorial against the recall election on January 11, 2024. Click here to read that editorial.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in California

The notice of intent to recall Miner was filed with the Orange County Registrar of Voters on May 3, 2023, and the notice of intent to recall Ledesma was filed on May 11, 2023. The county had until June 2, 2023, to review the recall petition against Miner and until June 5, 2023, to review the recall petition against Ledesma. Both petitions were approved for circulation.

To get the recalls on the ballot, supporters had to file 13,046 signatures per board member with the Orange County Registrar of Voters. The signatures against Miner were due on November 9, 2023, and the signatures against Ledesma were due on November 13, 2023. Recall supporters submitted 18,370 signatures to recall Ledesma and 18,311 signatures to recall Miner to the Orange County Registrar of Voters on September 27, 2023.

The county had until November 8, 2023, to verify the signatures. The county verified the signatures on October 20, 2023.

About the district

Orange Unified School District is located in Orange County, California.

Orange Unified School District is located in Orange County, California. It is classified as a mid-sized city school district by the National Center for Education Statistics. The district served 26,406 students during the 2018-2019 school year and comprised 40 schools.

During the 2018-2019 school year, 46.6% of the district's students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 22.0% were English language learners, and 13.0% of students had an Individual Education Plan (IEP).

Racial Demographics, 2018-2019
Race	Orange Unified School District (%)	California K-12 students (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.2	0.5
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander	11.8	11.7
Black	1.2	5.4
Hispanic	55.9	54.6
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	N/A	0.5
Two or More Races	3.6	4.5
White	27.0	22.9

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

2024 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

Ballotpedia has tracked 27 school board recall efforts against 55 board members in 2024. Recall elections against three of those board members are scheduled to be held on June 4, 2024, and July 2, 2024. Earlier recall elections in 2024 removed four members from office and retained five members in office.

The chart below details the status of 2024 recall efforts by individual school board member.

2023 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

Ballotpedia tracked 48 school board recall efforts against 97 board members in 2023. Sixteen of those board members faced recall elections. The recall elections were held on January 10, 2023, August 1, 2023, August 8, 2023, August 29, 2023, November 7, 2023, and December 12, 2023. The school board recall success rate was 13.4%.

The chart below details the status of 2023 recall efforts by individual school board member.

Recall context

See also: Ballotpedia's Recall Report

Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.

The chart below shows how many officials were included in recall efforts from 2012 to 2023 as well as how many of them defeated recall elections to stay in office and how many were removed from office in recall elections.

See also

• Orange Unified School District, California
• Orange Unified School District, California, elections (2022)
• Orange Unified School District, California, elections (2020)
• Orange Unified School District elections (2018)
• Recall campaigns in California
• Political recall efforts, 2024
• Political recall efforts, 2023
• School board recalls
• States that allow school board recalls

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Orange Unified School District
• Orange County Registrar of Voters
• OUSD recall website
• No OUSD recall website