By Peter Day
Senior Reporter
LUCERNE VALLEY — Next Tuesday Lucerne Valley voters will go to the polls to consider recalling school board trustee Dawn Turnbull.
Those who vote to recall Turnbull will then get the opportunity to vote for her replacement as a trustee on the Lucerne Valley Unified School District’s governing board. Educator Tom Hagen, a 26-year resident of Lucerne Valley, is the lone candidate to appear on the second item on the Feb. 2 ballot. If the majority of those casting votes decides to remove Turnbull and voters select Hagen’s name, he will become the next school board member.
Recall proponents are hoping Tuesday’s election will end a year-long odyssey that included name calling and heated social media posts. Starting with Turnbull accusing the school district of shorting her daughters' lunch money Turnbull expected to go toward the purchase of yearbooks and a disagreement over an in-lieu-of-health-insurance-coverage payment, grew into bitterness between Turnbull, her then estranged husband Mike Kalinowski and his girlfriend Keri Gasper, who would later formally start the recall drive.
Turnbull also repeatedly brought up an incident several years ago in which longtime school board member Tom Courtney inadvertently patted her on the buttocks when the two hugged after a meeting with former LVUSD superintendent Mike Noga. Courtney apologized for what he categorized as faux pas, which Turnbull referred to as sexual harassment.
Turnbull’s allegations against the LVUSD prompted the school district to formally censure her twice for going against school board policy, and last summer the district issue a detailed response addressing more than 70 complaints and allegations by Turnbull. The school district also retained an attorney to help deal with the issue.
"She speaks against fellow board members, talks about school employees and their children, says hateful things about Mrs. Davis, but let me remind you not one person on that board or the recall community has ever said a bad word about any of Dawn's kids or family members," Gasper said earlier this week.
After Turnbull was absent from school board meetings for more than three months, the district considered formally declaring her seat vacant, which would have paved the way for the remaining four board members to appoint a replacement. But when the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters office approved the recall petition, the board decided to not pursue that course of action and instead let Lucerne Valley voters decide the fate of Turnbull’s seat. Turnbull has not attended school board meetings for the last eight months.
"Dawn Turnbull is so concerned about money, yet she is getting paid to sit at home and never attend board meetings anymore. Why is that?" Gasper asked. "If she truly cared about the students she would stand up and fight, but she hides at home abandoning her chair."
Turnbull maintains the other board members, except for one unnamed member, are "orchestrating the recall" and that she is not to blame.
"There are so many problems with this Board and their decisions," Turnbull said via email earlier this week. "When I state the correct information I am bullied by members of the Board who do not understand the system, program or facts. They refuse to listen and instead I am harassed, ridiculed and outcast-ed by other members of this Board because I have dared to ask questions about spent funds, unaccounted for expenditures and missing money, the details of which I cannot disclose outside of Board meetings."
Furthermore, according to Turnbull, she remains independent and unaffected by outside influences as a board member.
"The truth is, I am for the parents, children and teachers of the district, I don't get back-room deals and contracts, I don't have family members working in pork-barreled positions, and I don't owe anyone any favors. I am not the one who should be removed from this board."
The deadline to apply for a mail ballot was Jan. 27. Mail ballots must be postmarked on or before Tuesday, Feb. 2 and must be received in the county elections office no later than Feb. 5.
Early voting is available at the San Bernardino County Elections office, 777 E. Rialto Ave., San Bernardino. Election day voting at your assigned polling place is 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. To find your assigned polling place, look on the back or your voter guide, visit www.sbcountyelections.com or call 800-881-VOTE.