Antioch school district staff by 97.5% support vote of No Confidence in Board President Householder
“…the employees of the AUSD have No Confidence in Ellie Householder’s ability to lead the Antioch Unified School District.”
Separate online petition started to remove her from school board
By Allen Payton
The Antioch Unified School District staff, including teachers, classified and management employees, announced Wednesday night, that 97.5% approved a Vote of No Confidence in Antioch School Board President Ellie Householder. A total of 669 staff members voted in favor, only 15 district employees voted no and three voted to abstain.
The three groups are the Antioch Education Association (AEA) representing the teachers, California School Employees Association Antioch Chapter 85 (CSEA) and the Antioch Management Association (AMA), representing the principals and district leadership. The A A members voted 441-8-0, the CS A members voted 213-6-2 and the AMA members voted 45-1-1.
The AEA announced on their Facebook page, Wednesday night, Sept. 22, “The employees of the Antioch Unified School District have overwhelmingly voted in support of a Vote of No Confidence in School Board President Ellie Householder.”
Also on Wed. night, on the CSEA’s Facebook page, the AEA’s post was reposted with the comment, “Resounding vote of ‘no confidence’ in Ellie Householder.”
In addition, during public comments of the school board regular meeting, representatives of the three employ groups issued the following statement:
“A vote of no confidence is defined as ‘a formal vote by which people indicate that they do not support a leader, government, etc.
In an electronic secret ballot election held from September 18-22, 2021, 97.5% percent of votes cast were in support of a Vote of No Confidence in Ellie Householder as the President of the AUSD School Board. Only 15 votes were cast in opposition, representing only 0.02% of the total ballots cast. The breakdown of votes is as follows: 98.2% of certificated staff (AEA), 97.8% of management staff (AMA), and 97.3% of classified staff (CSEA) stated their lack of confidence in the Board President.
The following violations of Roberts Rules of Order and the Brown Act have occurred at board meetings presided by President Ellie Householder:
- Allowing a substitute motion to go through on a non-debatable motion such as “motion to table”
- Efforts to limit or eliminate public comment by removing agenda items without consensus of the board
- Efforts to shorten public comment by reducing the time limit allowed after comments had been submitted
- Stopping public comments midstream when she felt it wasn’t appropriate or directly related to the agenda item
- Requesting staff to use personal judgement on which public comments should be entered into public record and which should not
- Abusing her presidential authority by not recognizing staff and board members’ requests to speak or provide input during a public meeting
- Asserting that the president must not only collaborate on, but approve, the board agenda. Ed. Code and Board Policy do not require the board president’s approval, just collaboration on the development
- Abusing her authority by calling and/or adding agenda items at special meetings, that were neither urgent, nor necessary
- Violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), by publicly posting unauthorized video of students without permission
For all of these reasons, the employees of the AUSD have No Confidence in Ellie Householder’s ability to lead the Antioch Unified School District.
Valorie Luke, President, Antioch Education Association
Scott Bergerhouse, President, Antioch Management Association
Josh Isenbarger, President, California School Employees Association, Chapter 85”
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Online Petition Launched to Remove Householder from School Board
In addition, Change.org petition was started by Emily Smith with the title, “Remove Ellie Householder from the District Board”. As of Thursday afternoon, Sept. 23 it had garnered 144 signatures.
It includes the message, “As we have watched multiple ‘emergency’ meetings set up by Ellie Householder, it has become evident that she is not fit for her position. She has unilaterally removed the agenda item involving her removal, TWICE! She has violated The Brown Act and does not follow Roberts Rules unless it is convenient for her argument. Ellie has turned out district into a laughing stock [sic] and has silenced the other trustees on the board. These are just a few examples of why Ellie Householder is not fit to be the board president. She is refusing to allow the Board to act as a board, silencing them and refusing to recognize them. These are all elected officials. She has been abusing her power, and refuses to listen to other trustees. Let your opinion be heard and let the district know the community wants Ellie Householder out!”
Efforts to reach Householder for comment on both the vote and petition were unsuccessful prior to publication time. Please check back later for any updates to this report.
the attachments to this post:
CSEA AEA AMA EHouseholder
AUSD staff Vote of No Confidence EHouseholder
