ALAMEDA COUNTY — A majority of voters support the recall of two Sunol Glen Unified School District board members, according to early results of a special election spurred by a controversial flag ban last year.
The fates of board president Ryan Jergensen and trustee Linda Hurley’s tenure with the district are in voters’ hands, following the duo’s push last fall to only allow Sunol Glen School to display “flags required by law” — the state of California and U.S. flag.
Although the resolution does not specifically mention Pride flags, the rule change came about three months after the flag was flown on school property and immediately sparked intense backlash across the tiny, one-school district set in a bucolic valley south of Pleasanton in rural Alameda County. The ban passed in a 2-1 vote last September, following a rowdy meeting that quickly descended into chaos, with the entire audience being thrown out. The board’s third member, Ted Romo, vigorously dissented.
File photo of Ryan Jergensen, left, President at Sunol Glen Unified School District, and Peter “Ted” Romo arguing after Sunol Superintendent Molleen Barnes read part of her report during a school board meeting debating whether or not to ban Pride flags at Sunol Glen School in Sunol in 2023. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A recall campaign quickly gained momentum, as the small elementary school located in a town of roughly 900 residents turned into a political battlefield between parents and administrators — a notable shift away from the recent spike in conservative policies that have gained traction in school board meetings and elections across the country.
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More than half of the 473 ballots counted late Tuesday were in favor of recalling both Jergensen and Hurley, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. Election officials do not expect to confirm final results until after the Fourth of July weekend. It is unclear how many more ballots are left to count, but the registrar reported Tuesday that there are 828 registered voters living inside the Sunol school district’s boundaries.
Molleen Barnes, Superintendent at Sunol Glen Unified School District, in 2023, holds up a Pride flag and American flag as she reads her report during a school board meeting debating whether or not to ban Pride flags at Sunol Glen School in Sunol. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Opponents of the flag ban argue that the policy promotes censorship and bigotry, in addition to accusations that Jergensen and Hurley betrayed the public’s trust by approving the rule after Alameda County sheriff’s deputies helped clear more than 100 people out of a packed cafeteria where the meeting was held.
Several parents have since said that a recall election was their only recourse after the board majority failed to reach a compromise. The ban was passed less than three months after the district’s superintendent flew a Pride flag on school property in June 2023. Earlier that month, a Pride flag had been ripped off the school’s chain link fence.
File photo of Superintendent Molly Barnes supporters holding up signs against Ryan Jergensen, left, President at Sunol Glen Unified School District, and boardmember Linda Hurley during a Sunol Glen Unified School District board meeting in Sunol in 2023. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
In November, teachers of CFT Local 1494 at Sunol Glen School adopted a vote of no confidence against Jergensen and Hurley and publicly supported their recall.
But Jergensen has long maintained that both he and the resolution “have been misrepresented,” saying in September that the flag ban was “the most inclusive action possible.” He said the decision was a way to protect the district from potential lawsuits.
Supporters of the district’s new policy said that the U.S. flag already represents inclusion, and the resolution would “limit distractions and exposure to special interests not related to the school’s curriculum.” Others claimed that discrimination against the LGBTQ community in Sunol was a “made-up premise.”
Sunol Glen is the district’s sole educational site, serving roughly 270 students in grades K-8; out-of-district students make up three-quarters of the school’s enrollment.
If early results hold, Romo would be the last remaining member of Sunol Glen’s three-seat board. Romo and Jergensen were elected to four-year terms in 2022, while Hurley was elected to a two-year term that same year.
The Alameda County Board of Education is expected to temporarily appoint at least one of the potentially empty seats.
Sunol Glen’s election will become a historical outlier if Jergensen and Hurley are successfully recalled after final vote tallies are certified.
According to Ballotpedia, there were an average of 34 recall efforts against an average of 80 school board members each year nationwide between 2009 and 2022. Those recall campaigns — spurred by a variety of allegations ranging from bad behavior to mismanagement of funds — resulted in just 10 percent of the targeted school board members being removed from office.