A group aiming to recall six of seven Colorado Springs School District 11 board members can start circulating petitions on Friday, the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder ruled Thursday.

El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Wayne Williams approved the petitions on Thursday.

“They’re not spending out money wisely at all,” recall committee member Miriam Kurvink said of the D-11 board.

Students are losing out on the education they should receive, she said.

The three Wasson High School parents are trying to recall almost the entire D-11 school board: President Janet Tanner, Vice President LuAnn Long, Treasurer Nora Brown, Secretary Elaine Naleski, and board members Sandra Mann and the Rev. Al Loma. Board member Bob Null is not targeted in the recall effort.

“It’s not just about Wasson,” Kurvink said. “It’s about the whole District 11 community.”

Kurvink plans to collect signatures Sunday outside the Walgreens and Safeway at Circle Drive and Galley Road.

“We’re trying to get more than 15,000 signatures just in case,” she said, adding there are more than enough possible signers amid the 180,000 registered voters in D-11.

Recall committee members complained that the board did not listen to parents and students during the process that led to school closures.

The school board approved a plan Feb. 6 that will close Wasson as well as Bates and Lincoln elementary schools at the end of this school year. Alternative programs at Irving Education Center and other sites would be combined at Wasson, and an early college program would be added. On Feb. 27, the D-11 board approved the sale of Irving and another school closed in 2009 to charter schools.

Kurvink said D-11 owns multiple parcels of land that could have been sold to keep the schools open. Board members could also have tapped the reserve fund, she said.

“We feel there area lot of unanswered questions,” said recall committee member Dorothy Dykes.

Petitions were initially submitted on Feb. 28 and were denied over small issues on Monday. Recall Committee members submitted revised petitions on Tuesday.

The signed petitions are due to the Clerk and Recorder’s Office before 5 p.m. on May 6. Once submitted, officials have up to 15 business days to review signatures. If the petitions are deemed sufficient, a 15-day protest period begins. If a protest is filed, there will be a hearing and subsequent ruling before an election may be scheduled.

If the recall effort proceeds, there is a price.

In 2006, two D-11 school board members were successfully targeted in a recall effort. A third resigned. The election and other costs associated with the recall cost the district $256,729, according to a county invoice.

—

Contact Kristina Iodice: 636-0162 Twitter @GazetteKristina Facebook Kristina Iodice