An Act to Establish a Recall Process for Pubhc School Board Members
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1443
Committee Amendment CA_B_H563 (House)
Amends: 30-A MRSA §2506

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ".B " to HP 939, L D 1443, "An Act to Establish a 
Recall Process for Pubhc School Board Members" 
Amend the bill by str1kmg out everythmg after the enacting clause and msertmg the 
following 
'Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §2506 1s enacted to read 
§2506. Recall of school board member 
Except as otherwise p10v1ded by municipal 01dmance or chartei, a member of a school 
board may be 1ecalled from office pursuant to this section For purposes of this sect10n, 
"school boaid" has the same meaning as m Title 20-A, section 1, subsect10n 28 
1. Petition for recall. On a wntten pet1t10n pursuant to subsection 5 contammg a 
number of voters equal to at least 20% of the numbe1 of votes cast m the mumc1pahty at 
the last gubernatonal electmn, an election must be held to determine the 1 ecall of an elected 
member of a school board rep1esentmg the voters of that mumc1pahty 
2. Notice of intention. In order to m1tiate a 1ecall election under subsection 1, the 
m1t1ator of the petit10n shall file a notice of mtention of recall with the mumc1pal clerk of 
the municipality m which the school boaid member was elected A notice of mtent1on of 
recall under this subsect10n must mclude the name, address and contact mformat1on of the 
person fihng the notice, the name of the school board membe1 sub1ect to recall under this 
section and a general statement of the reason why the recall 1s sought Only a pet son 
registered to vote m the mumc1pahty m which the school board member was elected may 
file a notice of mtentmn of recall under this subsection 
3. Petition forms. W1thm 3 busmess days of receipt of a notice of mtention of recall 
under subsection 2, the municipal clerk shall p1 epare pet1t1on fonns f01 the collectmn of 
signatures under subsection 4 and send notice to the m1tiator of the petition undei 
subsection 2 that the petition fo1ms a1 e available The mumcipahty may cha1 ge the 1mt1ator 
of the pet1t1on a reasonable fee for p1eparmg and p1ov1dmg the petition forms undet this 
subsection A petition form under this subsection must include 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
ROS 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"~' to HP 93 9, L D 1443 
A At the top of the form, the name of the school board member sub1ect to recall, the 
general statement of the reason why the recall is sought, the name and contact 
information of the initiator of the petition and the date by which the signatures must be 
submitted to the mumcipal clerk under subsection 4, 
B Spaces for each voter's signature, actual street address and printed name, and 
C. Space at the bottom of the form for the name, address and signature of the person 
circulating the petition form 
4. Collect10n and submission of signatures. A petition form under subsection 3 may 
be circulated or signed only by a registered voter of the municipality m which the school 
board member was elected A circulator of a pet1t1on fmm shall fill in the information 
reqmred under subsection 3, paragraph C and sign the form prior to subm1ss10n of the form 
to the mumcipal clerk The initiator of the petition under subsection 2 shall collect the 
petition forms from all ctrculators and submit the signed petition forms to the mumcipal 
clerk withm 14 days of receipt of notice from the clerk that the petit10n forms ai e available 
under subsection 3 A mumcipal clerk may not accept a petition form submitted more than 
days after sending notice of availability to the imtiator under subsect10n 3, and any votei 
signatures on that form are invahd 
5. Petition certification and notification. Withm 7 business days of 1eceivmg 
petition forms undei subsection 4, the mumcipal clerk shall determine whether the petition 
forms meet the criteria undei subsection 4 and certify the vahdity of any signatm es on the 
petit10n forms If the municipal clerk finds that the number of vahd signatures submitted 
under subsect10n 4 meets or exceeds the requuements under subsection 1, the cleik shall 
certify the petltmn and immediately send notification of the certification to the mumctpal 
officers, the m1t1ator of the petition and the school board member sub1ect to the 1ecall. If 
the mumc1pal clerk finds the number ofvahd signatures submitted under subsect10n 4 does 
not meet the reqmrements for a petition under subsection 1. the mumcipal cle1k shall file 
the petition and the petition forms in the clerk's office and notify the init1at01 of the pet1t10n 
6. Scheduling recall election. Withm 10 busmess days of cert1ficat10n of the petition 
under subsect10n 5, the mumc1pal office1s shall schedule a iecall elect10n to determme 
whether the school board member sub1ect to the recall petition should be recalled The 
election must be held no less than 45 days nor more than 75 days after certification of the 
petition under subsection 5 unless a regular mumcipal election is scheduled to be held 
within 90 days of the certification of the petition under subsection 5, in which case the 
recall election must be held on the date of the regulai municipal election If the municipal 
officers fail to schedule a recall election w1thm 10 days of certificatmn of the recall petlt10n 
unde1 subsection 5. the mumc1pal clerk shall schedule the recall election pursuant to the 
date requrrements of this subsect10n. 
7. Ballots for recall election. If the school board member sub1ect to the recall does 
not resign from the member's position withm 10 business days of certification of the recall 
pet1t10n under subsect10n 5, the ballots for the recall election under subsect10n 6 must be 
prmted A ballot fm a i ecall election unde1 this section must read. 
"Do you authonze the recall of (name of school board member) from the 
(school unit) school board? 
Yes 
No" 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
ROS 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,i,, to HP 939, L D 1443 
8. Results of recall election. W1thm 2 busmess days of a recall election unde1 
subsection 6, the municipal cle1k shall certify and record the election results and notify the 
municipal officers of those results If a ma1onty ofvote1s vote to remove the school board 
member, the recall takes effect on the date the elect10n results are rec01ded pursuant to this 
subsection ' 
Amend the bill by relettermg or renumbermg any nonconsecutive Part lette1 or section 
number to read consecutively 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the mmonty report of the committee, replaces the bill The 
amendment authonzes a mumc1pahty to hold a recall elect10n for a membei of a school 
board elected ft om that munic1pahty Only a person registered to vote m the mumc1pahty 
that elected the school boatd member may mttiate, circulate or sign a recall petit10n A 
school board member may be recalled for any reason 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT