An Act to Establish a Recall Process for Public School Board Members
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1443
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: SAYRE, INGWERSEN, GERE, MOONEN, MURPHY, SARGENT, RAFFERTY
Amends: 20-A MRSA §1005, 30-A MRSA §2505

Legislative Document
No. 1443
H.P. 939
House of Representatives, March 30, 2023
An Act to Establish a Recall Process for Public School Board 
Members
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SAYRE of Kennebunk.
Cosponsored by Senator INGWERSEN of York and
Representatives: GERE of Kennebunkport, MOONEN of Portland, MURPHY of Scarborough, 
SARGENT of York, Senator: RAFFERTY of York.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §1005 is enacted to read:
§1005.  Recall of school board members
1.  Grounds for recall.  Notwithstanding any provision of law or municipal charter to 
the contrary, a school board member may not be recalled unless the school board member:
A.  While acting as a school board member, has behaved in a manner that relates to and 
adversely affects the administration of the school board member’s office and the rights 
and interests of the public;
B.  Has committed an act of misconduct in office;
C.  Has failed to perform duties prescribed by law; or
D.  Has willfully misused, converted or misappropriated, without authority, public 
property or public funds entrusted to or associated with the school board.
A school board member’s discretionary performance of a lawful act or a prescribed duty is 
not a ground for recall.
2.  Procedure.  For a school board member to be recalled from a school board, 25% of 
voters in the municipality in which the member was elected or, if the member was elected 
at large, 25% of the voters in the school administrative unit who voted at the last 
gubernatorial election must sign a petition to recall the member from the school board. The 
recall must be approved by a majority of voters in an election in which the total vote is at 
least 25% of the number of votes cast in the municipality or, if the member was elected at 
large, 25% of the number of votes cast in the school administrative unit in the last 
gubernatorial election.
Sec. 2.  30-A MRSA §2505, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 324, §1, is amended 
to read:
Except as otherwise provided by the municipality's ordinances or charter, an elected 
official of a municipality may be recalled from office pursuant to this section. For purposes 
of this section, "official" has the same meaning as section 2604, subsection 2, except that 
this section does not apply to the recall of a member of a school board, which is governed 
pursuant to Title 20-A, section 1005.
SUMMARY
This bill provides that public school board members may only be recalled for specified 
behavior or misconduct and may not be recalled for the discretionary performance of a 
lawful act or prescribed duty of the school board member. The petition to recall the school 
board member must be signed by 25% of the voters who voted in the last gubernatorial 
election in the municipality or, if applicable, the school administrative unit, from which the 
school board member was elected and must be approved by a majority of voters in an 
election in which the total vote is at least 25% of the number of votes cast in the 
municipality or, if applicable, the school administrative unit, in the last gubernatorial 
election.