Ryan McQueen recall, Regional School Unit 21, Maine (2023)
| Regional School Unit 21 recall |
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| Officeholders |
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| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2023 Recalls in Maine Maine recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Ryan McQueen from his position on the Regional School Unit 21 school board in Maine ended when he resigned in March 2023. The effort started after McQueen published social media posts that the school district superintendent in a statement called disturbing, offensive, and hateful.[1][2] When he resigned, McQueen said, "I did not volunteer for this position to be attacked and slandered."[3]
McQueen was elected to a partial two-year term on the board in June 2022. He was elected unopposed.[2]
The school district held a recall election against a different member of the school board, Tim Stentiford, on March 29, 2022. A majority of voters (77%) voted to retain Stentiford, defeating the recall. Click here to read more about that effort.
Recall supporters
Arundel resident Sarah Cote filed the notice of intent to recall McQueen.[1] “Free speech is not freedom of consequences,” Cote said. “You’re allowed to say whatever you want on social media, but you have to understand if you hold a position of power, there are consequences.”[2]
Superintendent Terri Cooper released a statement about McQueen's social media. "We are aware of disturbing and offensive posts made online by a sitting school board director,” Cooper said in the statement. “The posts on Twitter were hateful toward transgender people, people of color, and women. Individual board members do not speak for the board or the RSU 21 school district.”[2]
School Board Chair Erin Nadeau said in a statement, "When the Board was made aware of the online posts, our immediate reaction was that they were hateful and bigoted messages that targeted individuals and communities that are often marginalized, which is the antithesis of the messaging we want students, community members, and district staff to receive."[1]
Recall opponents
In his resignation letter, McQueen said, "I did not volunteer for this position to be attacked and slandered."[3]
McQueen did not respond to requests to comment on the recall effort or his resignation.[1][2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Maine
Cote filed the notice of intent to recall on March 22, 2023. To get the recall on the ballot, recall supporters would have had 14 days to collect 231 signatures. The number of signatures was equal to 10% of voters who cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election.[2]
2023 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 48 school board recall efforts against 97 board members in 2023. Sixteen of those board members faced recall elections. The recall elections were held on January 10, 2023, August 1, 2023, August 8, 2023, August 29, 2023, November 7, 2023, and December 12, 2023. The school board recall success rate was 13.4%.
The chart below details the status of 2023 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Regional School Unit 21, Maine
- Art LeBlanc and Tim Stentiford recall, Regional School Unit 21, Maine (2021-2022)
- Recall campaigns in Maine
- Political recall efforts, 2023
- School board recalls
- States that allow school board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 News Center Maine, "RSU 21 school board member resigns following 'hateful' social media posts," March 23, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Press Herald, "RSU 21 decries ‘disturbing, offensive’ posts by school board director," March 22, 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Portsmouth Herald, "Ryan McQueen quits RSU 21 School Board after 'hateful' social media posts spark complaints," March 23, 2023
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