Recall efforts against Cupertino Union School District board members Sylvia Leong, Phyllis Vogel, and Lori Cunningham persist as the recall team is attempting to get 11,542 signatures by April 6, 2022. The primary reasoning behind the recall efforts is that Leong, Vogel, and Cunningham all opposed school reopenings throughout the pandemic.
In October, the school board voted to close three schools within the district after voters failed to pass a parcel tax that would have provided desperately needed funding. The measure fell just short of the two-thirds majority required, where similar parcel taxes elsewhere in the South Bay passed handily.
The RECALL CUSD effort alleges board member Sylvia Leong cut a backroom deal with CUSD to prioritize CLIP (Chinese Language Immersion Program), lacks transparency, and will close more schools forcing kids to leave. Leong was the former PTA president of CLIP and recall supporters believe she prioritizes CLIP over CUSD schools.
Phyllis Vogel is also under fire for supporting school closures. Additionally, the recall group claims she abandoned equity and pushed lottery schools thus making CUSD elitist and inequitable, is complicit in CUSD’s steep enrollment decline, and failed twice to pass a parcel tax while choosing to spend millions on dubious special elections.
Arguments against board member Lori Cunningham, who survived an earlier recall effort, claim that Cunningham doesn’t prioritize kids because she’s the recipient of teacher union money, is condescending and says she’s being harassed when in a corner, and doesn’t believe the community stands up for her.
The notices to recall Leong, Vogel, and Cunningham were filed in October, and recall supporters are polling at public events and publicizing recall efforts online.