West county school board member targeted in recall effort resigns

Laurie Fadave, one of three school board members in the West Sonoma County Union High School District targeted in a recall effort by her constituents, resigned from her position late last month, residents learned Friday.

Her resignation, noted in the school board’s agenda for its meeting next Wednesday, Aug. 18, was received with joy by west county residents who have been gathering signatures for the past few months to try to place her name on a ballot in a recall election early next year. Fadave was one of three school board members who voted to advance the consolidation of Analy and El Molino high schools in March, which resulted in the creation of West County High School.

Recall efforts will continue against Kellie Noe, school board president, and Jeanne Fernandes, vice president, organizers said.

“I was surprised,” said Milan Buttke, a recall organizer, about Fadave’s resignation. “But maybe she’s seeing how people are affected by her choice.”

But Fadave, a retired teacher who resigned just seven months into her four-year term on the school board, dismissed the notion that the recall influenced her decision. Instead, she said, personal reasons had driven her choice.

“I think I’ve done what I can do," she said. ”It was really time to step back and take a look at projects that I had in mind to work on during my retirement that had been completely left aside while I was on the board.“

Noe said that she had been “shocked” to learn in July that Fadave was resigning, and she praised her for “her energy and the leadership she brought.”

“She has a unique perspective, being a former teacher and especially a teacher in our district,” Noe said. “I really appreciated her insights.”

Fadave, though a newcomer to the school board, has lived in west Sonoma County “pretty much all of my life,” and all five of her children graduated from Analy High School.

She taught English at Analy for 17 of the 40 years she has been a teacher before retiring in 2016. She ran for the school board in 2020 and was elected in November, taking her seat at her first meeting the following month.

“I ran for the Board of Trustees because I believe that there is a need for someone with ‘in the trenches’ experience to provide perspective on the ways in which the Board’s decisions impact the students and teachers, and the direction and quality of education and services in the district,” Fadave wrote in a text to a reporter earlier in August.

But Fadave ran afoul of many of her constituents after voting in favor of the high school consolidation in March. The move effectively closed El Molino High School, moving Laguna High School students onto its Forestville campus and shifting around 500 El Molino students to join 1,100 Analy students on the Sebastopol campus.

Incensed residents launched the recall effort almost immediately against Fadave, Noe and Fernandes.

Residents also sued the school district over the consolidation, claiming that its process did not follow the requirements laid out in the California Environmental Quality Act. The court date in that case is set for Sept. 22.

The consolidated school, which the board voted to name West County High School for the coming year until students help determine a permanent name, kicked off its academic year Thursday.

Fadave said she was pleased with what she heard about the first day of school on the campus, and that she has “no regrets” over her vote to consolidate.

“I’m really proud of the way the students have responded and the staff and teachers have responded through all of this,” she said. “The students are the resilient ones, and I know going forward if we follow their lead we’ll come out OK.”

Ame Nultemeier, another recall organizer, expressed gratitude to Fadave for relinquishing her position on the board.

“We’re very grateful that she made the right decision, and we hope the other two follow her lead,” she said.

Noe and Fernandes have both said in interviews that they have no plans to resign before their terms expire in November 2022. But both also said they plan not to run for reelection.

“I really want to fulfill the commitment I made to voters,” Noe said. “And I feel it’s important to have strong leadership and stand behind the decision that was made.”

The remaining board members may decide Wednesday whether to replace Fadave through appointment or by holding a special election. It will be the board’s first in-person meeting since the onset of the pandemic. Attendees will be required to present either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test, according to the school district.

Some residents are determined to show up.

“We’re excited to see who will step up and be the next one in her place,” Buttke said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.