SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – The successful campaign to recall three members of the San Francisco school board is now seeking applicants to replace them, according to a news release.
Mayor London Breed has the power to appoint three people to the San Francisco Board of Education to replace Alison Collins, Gabriela López and Faauuga Moliga, who were ousted Feb. 15. Moliga resigned after the votes came in; Collins and López still sit on the board.
“The mayor is choosing who she will appoint to the school board, and we want to present her a list of vetted candidates that the community backs for this important job,” stated Autumn Looijen, co-founder of Vote Yes to Recall the School Board, in the news release. “We ask all interested candidates to complete our form and participate in the open screening process.”
Interested individuals can fill out an online form. After a Feb. 27 deadline, there will be a moderated Q&A in the recall’s Facebook group.
“The more information the mayor has, the better decision she can make,” Looijen continued. “We intend to help her see which candidates have strong backing from the parent community that worked so hard on the recall.”
Whoever Breed appoints will serve until a regularly-scheduled open election for the seats is held in November.
KRON4 reported last week that Looijen and Siva Raj, a fellow parent who co-founded the recall effort, were planning on helping Breed decide who to appoint. Tara Ramos, co-chair of the campaign against the recall, was concerned the process would be too politicized.
Moliga got his seat on the school board after being appointed by Breed.
Breed said during a Feb. 16 City Hall news conference that she will be asking “a lot of very hard questions” as she determines who to appoint to serve on the board this year.
“We’re going to be looking for well-rounded school board members who are focused on the schools; who are focused on our children and their success; who are focused on collaboration and working together; who are focused on wanting to hear from different perspectives, whether they’re in agreement with those perspectives or not,” she said.
She also defended the recall on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, saying that “the city as a whole” was upset because “we failed our children.”
When asked to rebut Collins’ assertion that white supremacists “are enjoying” her recall, Breed said that “the fact that we’re still even listening to any of the recalled school board members is definitely a problem.”