Nikkie Whaley recall, Washington Elementary School District, Arizona (2023)

• Recall efforts
  • Recall efforts by state
  • Recall efforts by office
  • Recall efforts by year
  • Upcoming recall elections
• Local recalls
  • City council recalls
  • Mayoral recalls
  • County commission recalls
  • County official recalls
  • School board recalls
  • Sheriff recalls
  • Special district recalls
• State and federal recalls
  • State executive recalls
  • State legislator recalls
  • U.S. Congress recalls
• Laws governing recall
  • States that have pre-petition signature requirements for recalls
  • States that require grounds for recalls
• Analysis
  • What are recalls?
  • Recall terms
  • 2024 mid-year analysis
  • 2023 year-end analysis
  • 2023 mid-year analysis
  • 2022 year-end analysis
  • 2022 mid-year analysis
  • 2021 year-end analysis
  • 2021 mid-year analysis
  • 2020 year-end analysis
  • 2020 mid-year analysis
  • 2019 year-end analysis
  • 2019 mid-year analysis
  • 2018 year-end analysis
  • 2018 mid-year analysis
  • 2017 year-end analysis
  • 2017 mid-year analysis
  • 2016 year-end analysis
  • 2016 mid-year analysis

Washington Elementary School District recall
Officeholders
Nikkie Whaley
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
Signature requirement
8,776 signatures by August 1, 2023
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2023 Recalls in Arizona Arizona recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

An effort to recall Nikkie Whaley from her position on the Washington Elementary School District Governing Board in Arizona did not go to a vote in 2023. The effort failed to qualify for the ballot.

The recall effort began in April 2023. At the time the recall petition was filed, Whaley was serving as president of the board. To get the recall on the ballot, supporters would have had to collect 8,776 signatures by August 1, 2023.

The recall effort started after the board voted unanimously to end a student teaching contract with Arizona Christian University.

Whaley was appointed to the five-member board in March 2017 and elected to a two-year term in 2018. She was re-elected to a four-year term on the board on November 3, 2020, where she received the second-most votes (23.1%) in the at-large race for three seats.

Recall supporters

The recall petition listed the following grounds for recall:

"

Nikkie Whaley put the education of the children in the Washington Elementary School District in jeopardy by ascribing to a hateful, anti-Christian narrative. Despite a successful relationship with Arizona Christian University spanning eleven years, and no complaints about the student teachers from this school, Ms. Whaley approved an agenda to end this successful relationship based on what she perceived as a "potential" mindset and her personal beliefs. Student teachers from Arizona Christian University, have gone on to become successful teachers in the district. Now, because of the unjustified attacks based solely on religion, the district is faced with additional teacher shortages and a fiscal impact because of a discrimination lawsuit against the Board. Since this ill-advised decision by the Board, more than seven administrators and twenty-five teachers have resigned, some specifically in response to this discriminatory decision. For these reasons, it is imperative that Ms. Whaley be recalled, and a suitable replacement be found to fill her position on the Washington Elementary School Board.

”

In response to the vote to end the student teaching contract, a spokesperson for Arizona Christian University said it was an attack on the university's commitment to Christian values. "The school board's recent decision to ban ACU students from serving as student teachers was done for one reason only: our University's commitment to our Christian convictions," the spokesperson said in a statement. "That's wrong, it’s unlawful, and it will only hurt the district’s students."

Recall opponents

When announcing that the board would be ending the student teaching contract with Arizona Christian University, Whaley said the university's "policies do not align with our commitment to create a safe place for our LGBTQ+ students, staff, and community." The university's mission statement includes a commitment to promote "traditional sexual morality and lifelong marriage between one man and one woman."

"This is not a rejection of any particular faith as we remain open to partnering with faith-based organizations that share our commitment to equity and inclusion," Whaley said.

Whaley said she did not agree with the portrayal of cutting ties with Arizona Christian University as being anti-Christian. "For me, this is not a concern about Christianity," Whaley said. "There are plenty of Christian denominations who are LGBTQ-friendly."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Arizona

The recall petition application was filed with the Office of the Maricopa County School Superintendent on April 3, 2023. To get the recall on the ballot, supporters would have had to collect 8,776 signatures by August 1, 2023.

About the district

Washington Elementary School District is located in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Washington Elementary School District is located in Maricopa County, Arizona. It is classified as a large city school district by the National Center for Education Statistics. The district served 22,682 students during the 2018-2019 school year and comprised 32 schools.

During the 2018-2019 school year, 75.9% of the district's students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 14.9% were English language learners, and 16.1% of students had an Individual Education Plan (IEP).

Racial Demographics, 2018-2019
Race	Washington Elementary School District (%)	Arizona K-12 students (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native	3.7	4.5
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander	2.8	2.9
Black	9.4	5.5
Hispanic	53.5	45.6
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.4
Two or More Races	3.8	3.3
White	26.5	37.8

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

2023 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

Ballotpedia tracked 48 school board recall efforts against 97 board members in 2023. Sixteen of those board members faced recall elections. The recall elections were held on January 10, 2023, August 1, 2023, August 8, 2023, August 29, 2023, November 7, 2023, and December 12, 2023. The school board recall success rate was 13.4%.

The chart below details the status of 2023 recall efforts by individual school board member.

See also

• Washington Elementary School District, Arizona
• Washington Elementary School District, Arizona, elections (2022)
• Washington Elementary School District, Arizona, elections (2020)
• Washington Elementary School District elections (2018)
• Washington Elementary School District elections (2016)
• Washington Elementary School District elections (2014)
• Recall campaigns in Arizona
• Political recall efforts, 2023
• School board recalls
• States that allow school board recalls

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Washington Elementary School District
• Office of the Maricopa County School Superintendent