Recall leaders of Antioch school board trustee ask for vote to censure her on next meeting agenda
Wednesday, October 13th, 2021
Screenshot of Householder’s post on her official Facebook page on Oct. 10, 2021, of a video of a Saturday Night Live skit poking fun at parents who speak at school board meetings.
Join Trustee Mary Rocha in effort; accuse Householder of cyber-bullying; also ask for social media policy
She supports call for U.S. “Justice Department, FBI, Homeland Security and Secret Service to help monitor threat levels and assess risks to students, educators, board members and school buildings.”
“The Antioch School Board has not been immune to these vicious commenters during Board meetings.” – AUSD Trustee and Board President Ellie Householder
Won’t say what threats she or other board members have received
By Allen Payton
In an email to Antioch Unified School District superintendent, Stephanie Anello, the proponents of the recall of trustee and board president Ellie Householder, have asked that a vote to censure her be placed on the next meeting agenda.
They join Trustee Mary Rocha who called for the same thing at the end of the school board’s last meeting. Under Future Agenda Items Rocha said, “At this time, I’d like to bring forward a censureship of Trustee Householder and the need for Vice President Lewis to bring it forward, so the chair does not remove it.” (See related article)
If the censure vote occurs and is approved, it will be the second time Householder has been censured by the school board. She was censured, last year for comments made on her Twitter feed against Rocha. (See related article)
Recall leader, Lindsey Amezcua posted a copy of the letter on Facebook, Tuesday morning in which she wrote:
“Good afternoon Superintendent Anello,
We, the undersigned, are writing in to request the following items be added to the October 27th, 2021 Board of Education meeting, as allowed by Ed Code 35145.5.
Our first requested addition is the censuring of President Householder. Her escalating attacks on parents, teachers, and staff is unbecoming of a School Board trustee. We have been called disgusting and hostile, made fun of with passive-aggressive reposts of skits, and had our concerns dismissed as cyber-bullying.
Our second requested addition is the establishment of a social media policy for our school board trustees. We believe there should be clear parameters for what is allowable to post and what is not. This will prevent further incidents of disrespect and subsequent requests for censuring. #WeAreAUSD”
One of the examples Amezcua pointed to was Householder’s post on Monday, Oct. 10, on her official school board Facebook page of a video from a Saturday Night Live skit poking fun at parents who speak at school board meetings. She included the comment, “The accuracy” followed by a laughing face emoji.
An email was sent to Householder asking for comment on the accusations and if she will allow the censure vote to be placed on the agenda, Tuesday afternoon.
In another post on her official Facebook page on Friday, Oct. 1, Householder included a link to an article entitled, “WATCH: Education officials testify about supporting schools during COVID, School board group asks US for help policing threats” and wrote, “The Antioch School Board has not been immune to these vicious commenters during Board meetings. I applaud U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the The National School Boards Association for recognizing and taking action against this. I would be lying if I didn’t say the countless hours of threats isn’t concerning.
“Threats toward school board members typically are handled by local law enforcement. But the association asked for the federal government to get involved to investigate cases where threats or violence could be handled as violations of federal laws protecting civil rights. It also asked for the Justice Department, FBI, Homeland Security and Secret Service to help monitor threat levels and assess risks to students, educators, board members and school buildings.”
In an exchange with AUSD teacher Michael Sagehorn beneath that post, he wrote, “Nope- I read it. Does not apply to you. Please resign. Apply for the California State Senate/Assembly Fellowships. That might be a better place for you.”
She then posted a link to a page on the website for Equal Rights Advocates, a women’s rights organization, about cyberbullying and harassment, with tips for students, parents and educators, but not board members.
Further, in the same thread, Sagehorn wrote, “Ms. Householder- no one has threatened you. You’ve been called to task for poor decision making, public behavior, and attempts to restrict others who disagree with your leadership style a fair hearing. This news article doesn’t apply to you, miss.” She did not respond. However, Householder did respond to another comment writing, “it’s almost as though they are proving the article right…”
She was asked by this reporter beneath her Facebook post, “Have you called the police or filed any complaints about any threats you have received as a school board member? Can you please share what specific threats you received, please? Also, in what format did you receive them – over the phone, via text, via email, snailmail, note on your car or left at your house, or directly and in person?” Householder did not respond.
Gina Gherlone Lingenfelter posted another comment writing, “Does anyone else remember the quote “They were shook, y’all?” Anyone remember what this is in reference to? Pretty certain I remember Ellie Householder referring to a fellow board member after an out-of-control protest at that board members house. Seems like she was happy about the fact that her colleague felt threatened. Any thoughts? Pot, meet kettle.”
Householder tweets 8/4/2020
Amezcua responded by sharing a screenshot of Householder’s tweets, for which she was censured, last year, about the protest at the district offices during a school board meeting in which Trustee Rocha was almost shoved to the ground. Householder commented, “she is SHOOK YA’LL”. The school board voted to censure Householder for her tweets. (See related articles here and here)
As board president, Householder controls which items are placed on the agenda, and has twice unilaterally removed a vote to remove her as board president. (See related articles, here and here).
She was asked, again via email on Tuesday, Oct. 12, “what specific threats have been made against you and/or other school board members by members of the public? Did they occur during public meetings, by email, by phone call, text or in person? How did you handle them? Did you contact the police? How were they resolved if at all?” As of publication time on Wednesday, Oct. 13 Householder did not respond.
The agenda for the regular board meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 27 will be released on Friday, Oct. 22.
Please check back later for any responses from Householder and any other updates to this report.
On Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021 at approximately 6:00 am, the APD SWAT Team executed a search warrant in the 
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