Reality Check is a Bee series holding officials and organizations accountable and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email realitycheck@sacbee.com.
Emily MacDonald, a board trustee for the Woodland Joint Unified High School District, is poised to be recalled in her first term as board trustee.
Early returns from the Yolo County elections office Tuesday night show 63% of voters supporting the recall and just 37% voting to keep MacDonald on the board.
Woodland parents organized the recall effort last fall after comments MacDonald made in a June school board meeting as the board discussed a PRIDE Month resolution.
“While I share with everyone here tremendous respect for the achievements and contributions of Americans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, this coalition forces acceptance of every aspect of transgenderism in order to be considered an ally of the others, and that is wrong,” MacDonald, who was elected in 2022 to a four-year term, said at the June 15 meeting.
The board “must act with great caution in order to protect the increasing numbers of children who are experiencing transgender procedures as a result of social contagion without sacrificing the tiny number of individuals who would identify as transgender even without social contagion, education campaigns, and the social cache attached to a transgender identity in the present.”
MacDonald has the support of local Moms for Liberty members and others who oppose gender identity and sexual orientation being taught or discussed in schools.
“That’s such a good start, and that tracks with percentages we were seeing when canvassing for signatures last fall and from canvassing before the election,” Laura Brubaker, a Woodland parent who helped launch the recall, said Tuesday night.
“It shows that our community truly supports all students,” said Karen Bayne, who worked with Brubaker to organize the recall, “and will vote accordingly.”
This story was originally published March 05, 2024 9:48 PM.
