Recall election underway in Waverly

"We felt like our voices had been silenced."

WAVERLY, Neb. (KLKN)-  Some parents in Waverly are unhappy with choices made by the school board president in district 145 ward 4.  They are so unhappy there are efforts to recall his position.

The petition is surrounded by an emergency resolution, which was used during the height of the pandemic to give the superintendent power to make changes regarding the Coronavirus and schools.  This emergency resolution was voted to stay in place until May of 2022, and many parents do not agree with that decision.

“We as parents do not get to elect the Superintendent, we elect the board members from our ward. So we really felt like our voice had been silenced,” said Brandy Withrow a Waverly parent.

The school board President feels this resolution is necessary, as COVID is ever-changing.

“If an emergency meeting came up, by open meetings law, we have to have X number of days notice to find a day when we can have the members present. Sometimes that’s just too long when we are dealing with COVID and all of the things that we need to deal with right now. So he has to be able to make some decisions on the fly, to make sure that we are doing the best for the health and safety of our students and staff,” said Andy Grosshans Ward 4 Waverly board of education representative.

Parents feel the reason for the recall has become clouded by misinformation.

“The topic of the recall was about giving up the voice of the parents. It wasn’t about COVID procedures, it wasn’t about masking, it was about our elected leaders not silencing us,” said Withrow.

Andy Grosshans says quote, “It doesn’t really silence anything.”

“Dr. Worrell is not going to do anything that he doesn’t know he has full board support on. If he did something like that, we absolutely have the authority to call a meeting and essentially undo what was done,” said Grosshans.

Parents want to make it known, this decision to recall an elected official is not a political one.

“We are a group of a melting pot of amazing parents who truly care about their students. We all have opinions on both sides of every line that can possibly be drawn about this topic. The main thing that we all get along perfectly about is remaining in control,” said Withrow.

Another Waverly parent, who choose not to go on camera, sent in this statement.

The Emergency Resolution (ER) gave all the control and decision-making power to only one person, the superintendent or superintendent’s designee, regarding all Covid measures. Andy Grosshans, Dist. 145 School Board President, chose to silence the representation he was elected to uphold, by voting to renew the ER. The ER also voluntarily suspended voting privileges of board members, again this school year, regarding Covid measures. The vote was on July 5, 2021, over the holiday weekend.

This Recall is about lack of representation, not masks, as the recall petition clearly states. However, the vote allowed the superintendent, Dr. Worrell, alone, to mandate masks, with no input from parents or voters. The announcement of the measures was four days before the school year started and occurred before the county mandate. Dr. Worrell can also override the current board policy in the name of Covid. When parents reached out to request an emergency special board meeting from their elected board representatives, many received no response. Constituents felt ignored and was denied representation. Most neighboring schools had this meeting. According to Mr. Grosshans on his social media page, around 60-67% of Nebraska schools did not renew the ER. Yet, he voted to extend the ER to May 2022, totaling 28 months or so.

Mr. Grosshans stated, “Because the resolution was less understood, conversations to encourage signatures on the petition became about the masks.” Personally, I was present for over 40 signatures of the 107 signatures acquired. The petition recall statement was read to all signers, as required by law. Why is it enough of an emergency to vote for the Emergency Resolution control, but not enough of an emergency to have an emergency meeting for voters to be heard? Mr. Grosshans explained per Open Meetings Law and school attorneys input, “these things do not rise to the level of an emergency meeting.“