Democratic Club

by Mary Larson

LW contributor

The Democratic Club continues to urge all Leisure World voters, regardless of party affiliation, to refuse to sign the petitions to recall three Los Alamitos School District trustees when and if they are certified for distribution in the community.

Before these recall petitions can be circulated, they must be certified by the Orange County Registrar of Voters. If certified, recall supporters will have 90 days to collect approximately 2,000 signatures of voters from each of the three trustees’ districts.

The Registrar of Voters estimates the cost for this proposed recall election would be up to $192,948 plus about $3.40 per signature for verification. This would all have to be paid for by the Los Alamitos Unified School District.

The Registrar of Voters has rejected the recall supporters’ petitions to seek signatures for the third time. No reasons have been given to the public for this rejection. They now have a limited time to resubmit their petitions for approval.

This recall effort began in September 2021, when notices of intent were sent to trustees Chris Forehan, Scott Fayette and Megan Cutuli. Forehan and Fayette were first elected to the board in 2020; Cutuli was elected to her fifth term on the board in the same election. Leisure World residents voted in all three of these trustee areas in 2020. They will again be asked to vote on the possible recall if a sufficient number of people sign the petitions.

In response to the threat of a recall, Forehan, who was the featured speaker at the club’s December meeting, said he and the other trustees have always acted in the best interest of the students, staff and community. They are proud of all that they have accomplished, including efforts to maintain school environments in which every child feels safe and valued.

Among the original complaints coming from recall supporters regards opposition to the district’s plan to initiate—at the request of the students and their families—a non-political, optional ethnic studies curriculum. This course, named “Ethnic Studies: Cultural Experiences in the United States,” was first offered this fall as an elective for Los Alamitos High School juniors and seniors. The intent of the course is to expand students’ awareness of the role of ethnic groups in a diverse American society in order to build community and solidarity across various groups and differences. Readers are encouraged to Google “LAUSD ethnic studies curriculum now on public preview” to learn more about the curriculum.

People can also purchase a copy of “A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America” by Ronald Takaki, which serves as the core text for the class, from Amazon.

For more information about the recall effort, LW Democrats and supporters are invited to subscribe to the club’s free electronic newsletter by calling editor Mary Larson at (562) 296-8521 or emailing democraticclubsblw@ gmail.com.