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A teachers union is raising concerns about what they call an accelerated timeline to fill a vacant board position at Twin Rivers Unified School District. The board plans to replace the retiring trustee within two weeks.
âThis process should be as transparent as possible,â union President Rebecca LeDoux said. âThis is something that is meant for the community to be heard and participate in and it should not be a secretive rushed process.â
District staff said that the process must be executed quickly to avoid triggering a special election that would cost approximately $145,000. Education code says that the board must appoint a new member or order a special election within 60 days of the resignation. If this is not met, then County Superintendent David Gordon will call for a special election.
Board President Michelle Rivas, who has served on the school board for nearly 20 years and whose term would have ended in 2026, submitted a letter of resignation in late May because she is moving out of the district.
The contention surrounds when the 60 days to replace her begins â Superintendent Steven Martinez and attorney Cynthia Smith say that it began when Rivas submitted her letter of deferred resignation in May, while other parties interpret the law to say that the countdown began when she actually left her post on June 25.
Martinez said that a provisional appointment can only be approved at a regularly scheduled board meeting, so the appointee must be approved at the July 9 meeting because the board is not scheduled to meet again until Aug. 27.
If the Twin Rivers Unified board does not make a provisional appointment within the lawâs timeline, the county superintendent of schools will order a special election. Smith said that it is too late to put this item on the November general election ballot, so the earliest a special election could be held is March 2025. The winner would take office at the next regularly scheduled board meeting following the election.
Members of the Twin Rivers Unified teachers union have taken issue with this âunnecessarily expeditedâ timeline to replace Rivas. With the support of the California Teachers Association, LeDoux penned a letter to the superintendent saying that the rushed process is a result of a misinterpretation of the law, âor worse, an intentional attempt by administration to reduce the pool of applicants and reduce the opportunity for public input and transparency associated with this appointment.â
More people should have the opportunity to be a part of the application process, LeDoux said. She said the estimated $145,000 price tag is a âdrop in the bucketâ for a district with a budget of over $400 million.
âIn this short timeline, itâs really limiting to people who might be interested,â she said. âIt feels to me like the voters should really be the ones to make the decision.â
If a board member is appointed, they will have to run for reelection in 2026 to remain in their seat. At the June 25 meeting district staff stressed that filling the seat via appointment would fill the seat months earlier than going the special election route.
LeDoux suspects that this rushed timeline is a purposeful move on the part of the school administration to place a preferred candidate on the board. She characterized the leaving Rivas and Linda Fowler, who lost her reelection campaign, as historically being ârubber stampersâ for the superintendent.
âIf the only voice you ever listen to is the superintendent, then youâre not doing a good job of oversight,â she said. âI think the person he would like to have in that position has the same philosophy.â
What the law says
Twin Rivers Unified administrators cite Education Code 5091, which says that the school board âshall within 60 days of the vacancy or the filing of the deferred resignation, either order an election or make a provisional appointment to fill the vacancy.â Smith said that the submission of the letter on May 20 triggered the 60 day countdown.
In her letter to the superintendent, LeDoux cited Twin Rivers Unified board bylaw 9223, which says that âvacancy resulting from resignation occurs when the written resignation is filed with the County Superintendent of Schools having jurisdiction over the district, except where a deferred effective date is specified in the resignation so filed, in which case the resignation shall become operative on that date. A Board member may not defer the effective date of his/her resignation for more than 60 days after he/she files the resignation with the County Superintendent.â This bylaw is copied exactly from the California School Board Associationâs sample bylaws.
Rivas performed her duties until at least June 25, given that she participated in and voted on items at the board meeting that day.
In a response letter to LeDoux, Smith said that Bylaw 9223 actually supports the districtâs interpretation of the law, saying that the language is necessary to ensure there is no overlap between a provisional appointee and a board member that defers the effective date of their resignation beyond the 60 day window.
A spokesperson from the Sacramento County Office of Education did not know when County Superintendent David Gordon would call for an election in this scenario. Gordon and the deputy superintendent did not respond to direct requests for comment.
A spokesperson from Twin Rivers Unified told the Sacramento Bee that they stood by their interpretation of the law, but did not respond to a question asking why they began the appointment process over one month after Rivasâ resignation letter.
The application deadline to be considered to fill the vacancy was July 1 and interviews will be conducted at a special board meeting July 8.
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