A San Ysidro School Board member has resigned his seat one week after being served a recall petition.

School board member Jose F. Barajas was served an official recall petition on August 12th seeking to remove him from the board. The petition cited several complaints against Mr. Barajas including his support of three failed school administrators, and his vote in favor of a severance package to then-Superintendent Manuel Paul.

Mr. Barajas submitted a letter of resignation to Superintendent Dr. Julio Fonseca on August 19th.

“I have received a letter of resignation from Board Member Jose Barajas effective immediately,” confirmed Dr. Fonseca. “The Board will take action with regards to this vacancy at the next board meeting,” he added.

Mr. Barajas was served with the recall petition by Esther Gutierrez, Bertha Alicia Gonzalez, a longtime local business woman, and Carmen Ordonez, PTA president from a San Ysidro school. The petition contained the signatures of 10 other registered voters as required by elections law.

“Parents, teachers, and community leaders were ready to walk door-to-door to recall Mr. Barajas,” commented Esther Gutierrez. “I think Mr. Barajas knew he had lost the confidence of the community. I think he is an honorable man but he made some very poor decisions.”

The resignation now ends the recall process and creates an immediate vacancy on the board. The remaining Board members have up to 60 days to either appoint a person to serve the remainder of Mr. Barajas’ term through December 2016, or call for a special election to fill the vacancy.

“A special election could cost the district more than $300,000 according to estimates from the County Registrar of Voters,” commented Dr. Fonseca.

The San Ysidro School District has dealt with several board vacancies over the past five years when board member resigned their seats midterm.

In June 2010, Board member Sandy Lopez resigned after being convicted of wire fraud and was sentenced to 10 months in state prison. Her seat was filled by Jason Wells who lost his reelection campaign last year. In 2013, two vacancies were created when both Yolanda Hernandez and Jean Romero resigned their seats. Mrs. Hernandez resigned in April 2014 after pleading guilty to failing to report gifts from prospective contractors. Her seat was filled by Luciana Riesgo-Corrales who was election last year to a full 4 year term. Ms. Romero resigned in March 2014 and the board chose not to fill that vacancy; instead the seat was filled by election in November 2014.

Mr. Barajas was the last remaining board member with links to the corruption scandal that has plagued the district since 2012 when then-Superintendent Manuel Paul was accused of corruption. Mr. Barajas voted in March 2013 to pay over $211,000 to Manuel Paul after the Superintendent was indicted on charges of accepting illegal gifts from contractors. At the time of the payout, Mr. Paul was also under a federal investigation for accepting $2,500 in cash from a prospective contractor. Mr. Paul later pled guilty to accepting the cash and was sentenced to 60 days in federal prison.

Earlier this year, the District filed a lawsuit against Mr. Paul seeking to recover the payout, alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. That case is currently pending.

“I hope that after the resignations of Mr. Paul, Mr. Barajas, and several staff members, we can move forward without any traces of the misdeeds of the past,” added Ms. Gutierrez. “Our community needs to heal and focus our attention and resources on educating our children.