On February 8, 2023 the tabulation committee convened to count the vote. The three person tabulation committee initially counted the votes. A clerical error was made by unintentionally counting the election results from one school twice. The error resulted in a final vote tally of 135 to 126 in favor of the Merit System.
After the initial canvassing, District administration realized the clerical error and duly reconvened the tabulation committee to re-tabulate the vote so that an accurate representation of the vote could be presented for certification to the Board.
Re-tabulation was conducted by the same tabulation committee which consisted of The board President, the Director of Human Resources, and a CSEA appointed committee member. The re-tabulation was also observed by the Assistant to the Superintendent. The votes for each school site were counted again by the committee to verify accuracy and consistency with the previous count. The tabulation committee confirmed that a clerical error had, in fact, resulted in an erroneous vote tally. After recounting, the tabulation committee certified the new vote tally of 120 to 123 in opposition to the Merit System.
Tonight the board approved the certification of the vote and the merit system will not currently be implemented in Rio.
However, the District hears the concerns from staff and will work hard and collaboratively to continue to improve processes, increase communication and transparency, and promote fairness and equity to all district employees.