Ballots are being sent out Monday for a special election for a seat on the Garfield Re-2 School District’s board of directors.
That’s after a recall petition for former president Tony May over his support of the conservative American Birthright Standards for social studies, among other things.
Organizers of the recall accuse May of using his seat to push a political agenda, as well as bullying and intimidating district staff and parents.
May has also stirred up controversy among community groups like Voces Unidas, which he said pushed “radical agendas” in a 2023 email.
This past winter, the Coalition for Responsible Education in Re-2 got well over 2,000 signatures for their recall petition. May filed a protest that an independent judge struck down, and when he appealed that decision, a district court judge dismissed that as well.
New Castle resident Scott Bolitho is challenging May for the seat, after former school board members requested he run.
He said he’s hoping to take the political temperature down, and focus on listening to community voices, as well as really dig into what the district needs to succeed.
“I'm not looking to make any drastic sweeping statements or put forth any of my beliefs or whatever else like that,” he said. “I want to be able to learn from the existing board. I want to learn from the administrators, and I want to learn from the teachers.”
Bolitho said he’s had his kids in Re-2 schools for the past 18 years, and he knows the community well, but he expects there will be a steep learning curve on the governance side of things.
He also said he’s been talking a lot with community members and parents about what they want from their school board members.
“Number one, the political agenda. They don't want politics in the school board, they just want the school to act as a school and to keep politics out of it,” he said. “That's probably one of the main things that I have been getting feedback on from the people who I've talked to.”
The election will take place on August 27th, and drop boxes are available at Silt and New Castle town halls, the Garfield County Courthouse in Glenwood Springs, and the county administration building in Rifle. Early in-person voting will start in Rifle on August 19th.
May has yet to respond to any of Aspen Public Radio’s requests for comment, but in a written statement to the Post Independent in December, he called the recall an “unwarranted distraction” from educating Garfield County kids.
