CARLSBAD, Calif. — Ty Humes knew he was stepping into the still-raging school reopening battle when he decided in late April to apply for an open trustee position on the local school board where he lives in North County San Diego.
But the 14-year district resident, a successful businessman, biotech entrepreneur, community volunteer and father of two, didn’t realize he would be placing a union target on his back by taking on the mostly volunteer position. It boasts a meager $400-a-month stipend.
Three weeks ago, Humes was unanimously appointed to the vacant trustee seat on the San Dieguito Union High School District board after public interviews with seven highly qualified candidates. The student representatives who participated also voted for him.
After interviewing all of the candidates, the board narrowed the field to their top three. Humes, who had served as president of a local Del Mar school foundation for six years, was the only candidate in all four voting trustees’ lists of top three finalists, so the board moved to wrap up the process and formally appoint him.
In addition to his long list of business credentials, Humes is African American and has two biracial children attending local schools, providing a rare instance of diversity on the historically all-white school board.
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Despite his impressive credentials, local teacher union representatives began circulating a petition immediately after Humes’ selection to hold a special election to try to oust him.
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In less than three weeks, the San Dieguito Faculty Association, the local teachers and professional staff union, collected the required 400 signatures to hold a special election and are moving forward with it even though it would leave the area Humes represents without a voting trustee (the appointment is terminated once the 400 signatures are certified) until a special election is held, which local authorities estimate could cost the school district $500,000. The school district is already in the red and using money from its general reserves to try to balance its budget.
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Throughout the fall of 2020, as parents pushed for reopening schools, the union threw up roadblock after roadblock. In late October, the superintendent and union ignored a school board vote requiring teachers to provide remote instruction from their classrooms to prepare for the reopening process.
In December, the local union, the San Dieguito Faculty Association, or SDFA, with legal assistance from the CTA, issued a cease-and-desist order blocking the district from reopening after winter break as planned.
In February, the district applied to the state for a waiver to return to in-person learning, but the SDFA and its allies organized an email campaign to block it even though it had already been approved by the San Diego health authorities.
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Muir fears the teacher union’s opposition to Humes stems from his and the board’s support for a safe reopening of schools.
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More:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/a...test_case_for_teacher_union_clout_145775.html
