Choosing to Abstain

Last week, the School Board meeting included an Information/Action item that recommended a change to the approved school year calendar. I chose to abstain from this vote—something I have not done before as a board member.

Since the meeting, I’ve received questions and comments about my decision to abstain. As an elected official accountable to the community I serve, I believe it’s important to explain any vote I cast--or in this case, my decision not to vote.  (This is why I have maintained a public record of all my votes since taking office, along with my commentary on particularly significant votes, in multiple languages.)
 

As a board member, I have always sought to understand an issue as thoroughly as possible in order to make an informed, responsible decision. This involves asking questions (often I ask a lot of them!); listening carefully to the perspectives of families, staff, and students who will be affected by a vote; studying how other school divisions have handled the same issue; and when necessary and possible, working with my colleagues and APS staff to explore compromises or alternative solutions.

Because of this, I don’t like Information / Action items. Normally, an issue and a related recommendation are presented an Information item and not voted on as an Action item until the subsequent board meeting. This allows board members time to deliberate and it gives the community time to understand what’s being proposed and advocate.

In this case, the School Board learned about the proposed calendar change Tuesday afternoon. It was shared with the community on Wednesday, and the board was to vote on Thursday.

The issue at hand was (is) deeply important to many in our community. It was also divisive: in the space of about 24 hours, the School Board received hundreds of emails. I carve out time to read all incoming emails, but in this case I was not able to because I also have a full-time job.  Additionally, from Thursday morning right up until the time of the meeting, I was receiving new information about the possible consequences of this vote. In the very limited amount of time available, I could not study what other school divisions were doing in response to the same issue, and I could not explore whether there were possible compromises or ways to mitigate the negative impacts of a vote in either direction.

There are completely valid reasons why this was presented as an Information / Action item. It is also true that I was deeply conflicted about the decision (to learn more about that, you can watch the meeting video and listen to my comments beginning at 3:31:20). With the time I’d had to deliberate and the information that was still coming in, I could not cast a responsible, well-informed vote. So my decision was to abstain.

Board members may abstain from a vote for a few different reasons. Abstention is different from recusal: in abstention, the board member participates in the discussion but declines to vote. In recusal, the board member has a conflict of interest and does not participate in the discussion or the vote.

I understand that an elected official’s decision to abstain may be seen as an abdication of decision making responsibility. And I believe that it’s my job to cast votes that are reflective of serious thought, study, and engagement. Last week, those two principles were in conflict.

I’m not a career politician and I don’t have a degree in any related field; I made a judgment call. It’s entirely possible that I should have made a different call, and if you believe I should have done so, I welcome your constructive feedback.