Christian School Board Members Stood for Truth, Now May Lose Seats

by Jim Brown
June 1, 2004

(AgapePress) - Three Christian members of a California school board are the target of a recall effort after refusing to adopt a pro-homosexual non-discrimination policy for the district.

In April, the trio angered residents in their Westminster, California, community by deciding not to amend the school district's non-discrimination policy to include special protections for homosexuals and transsexuals. And more recently, the trustees voted 3-2 to strip their board president, Jim Reed, of his title and administrative powers -- a move that only added fuel to the recall fire.

Board trustee Judy Ahrens says stripping Reed of his position and administrative responsibilities was warranted because he showed contempt for the board's majority decisions and often openly opposed the other board members efforts. "We felt we were very justified in removing him so we could conduct some business. It seems like there was so much disruption in the meetings," she says, "and we need to carry on the business of the people."

The trustee says Reed even used his position to try to prevent the other board members from expressing their opinions. "There were times he would even say, 'I'm not calling for the vote because I don't like the vote.' Just outrageous things he was doing. You can't have a person not abide by a certain format at a meeting," she says.

Now that the board has a new president, Ahrens hopes school board business will proceed in a more orderly manner. "We just needed somebody to conduct the meeting fairly, who represented all of us on the school board," she says. But obviously, she notes, the recall effort has further things, "because we have all the recall people show up at the meetings with their signs."

Recall organizers are attempting to gather over 7,000 signatures for a petition in favor of removing the three school board members. If those behind the recall succeed in obtaining enough signatures, they will be able to get an initiative on the November ballot to seek to oust the three conservatives from the board for their Christian beliefs.