BOISE, Idaho — For voters in the Basin School District, this November's general election isn't just about putting someone in a school board seat but instead removing one.
A group of concerned parents and members received enough signatures on a petition to make the November ballot to allow voters to remove Basin School District Board member Patrick Minto. He was elected in 2023 and sworn in on Jan 2024.
The group told KTVB they started to have concerns as soon as he was sworn in. The concerns are specifically related to Minto's motives to be on the board.
According to Rebekha Lulu, a parent and member of the petition committee, said Minto told constituents he was there to lowers taxes and cut certain programs. She added it made parents feel he would make decisions not in the best interest of the students.
As the year went on, parents continued to have concerns, Lulu said.
After Mint engaged in a scouting match with community members, parents felt like he was creating and environment out of fear and intimidation, she said.
"We feel that board members responsibility should be to put our students first, without wrangling over ideologies or trying to advance a personal agenda," Lulu said. "It should be also to value the input of constituents, concerns and points of views, whether he agrees with them or not. Patrick Minto has proven that he's incapable of serving in this position with an unbiased and fair perspective and seeking the benefit of all of the students."
KTVB attempted to reach Minto.
The ballot language provides this statement from him: "The issue here is i refused to support ISBA's gender policy, which forced pronoun usage, use of female bathrooms by male students, and potentially hiding gender transitions from parents, in contravention of current state law."
He claims former board members, who voted for the gender policy are who are leading the petition, according to his statement on the ballot. You can view his full statement here.
Lulu denied the claim from Minto and said there's people from all political points of view supporting the petition. She said the ballot initiative has nothing to do with what Minto is claiming.
"Rather than truly addressing our genuine concerns and the impact they have on our kids and our community, he used a classic divisionary tactic," Lulu said. 'He's focusing instead on gender policies and former board members and things that aren't relevant to our recall effort."
Lulu added the initiative is about making sure school board members are there for the right reason.
The school district is one of Idaho's smaller districts with less than 400 students. The petition will need a simple majority to pass, in addition to the number of votes being more than they were when Minto was elected.
When asked how many votes they'd need, Lulu said 72.