The petition effort to oust three conservative Jefferson County school board members is going so well that organizers say they are expecting to wrap up the signature gathering process by this weekend.

That comes on the heels of a robust campaign fundraising haul that left organizers energized about the recall effort, one that was recently launched by three Jeffco parents.

“We are seeing that the community is really coming together behind these parents,” said Lynea Hansen, a spokeswoman for Jeffco United for Action, the group behind the recall effort.

Recall supporters are seeking to force an election in November that would essentially serve as a referendum on board President Ken Witt, Vice President Julie Williams and Secretary John Newkirk.

The three board members make up the board majority, one that has been embroiled in controversy since they were swept into power by Jeffco voters in 2013.

Organizers have until Sept. 8 to turn in 15,000 verified signatures for each of the three seats they are seeking to recall. Hansen said the group is “over half way” there.

She said there were more than 1,000 petitions still being circulated as of Tuesday. On Wednesday, petition gatherers lined Wadsworth Boulevard at nine Jeffco intersections during the evening rush hour as part of a larger effort to collect signatures.

Organized petition circulation is expected to wrap up by Saturday, Hansen said.

Petition language cites alleged board misuse of taxpayer funds and violations of open meeting laws among grievances driving the recalls.

The recall effort is also motivated by events surrounding last year’s proposed changes to the district’s Advanced Placement History curriculum. The issue made national headlines after thousands of students walked out of classes to protest the changes.

Witt, Williams and Newkirk pushed back through statements issued last month. Witt said he and the other board members are doing what voters asked of them in 2013. During that election, Witt believes voters “loudly demanded” that the new board focus on improving student achievement, creating fair funding of all students and provide more educational choices.

Effort getting financial backing

Meanwhile, organizers report that the money side of the campaign is also looking good.

Jeffco United for Action has raised nearly $44,000 so far, according to a report filed with the Secretary of State’s office last week. Hansen said that’s nearly half the group’s goal of $100,000.

Among the donors listed in the report was former Jeffco schools Superintendent Cindy Stevenson, who contributed $900 to the campaign.

Stevenson was a longtime superintendent who left the district not long after the new board majority took over.

“My heart and my soul are still with Jeffco,” she told The Colorado Statesman. “My heart is with those 84,000 kids and 12,000 employees. But everyone I’ve talked to is so demoralized.”

Stevenson sees the board as a polarizing body and says its decisions have caused teachers to leave for other districts.

“When an organization goes through what Jeffco is going through, you don’t lose your average people, you lose your best people,” she said. “I just think that’s such a tragedy.”

Opponents of the recall effort acknowledge that an election appears imminent, given the low bar of signatures organizers are required to collect.

Opponents say they will work to remind voters of the positive impacts the board has made.

Sheila Atwell, executive director for Jeffco Students First, said the board has given more local control to schools, provided students more choice which schools to attend and raised teacher pay while maintaining accountability.

“I’m not really entirely sure what the recall organizers want to go back to,” she said.

Atwell said she and others opposed to the recall will be attending as many community functions as they can in the coming months.

“We want to make sure the community understands the good things that have happened,” Atwell said. “We don’t want parents being scared by the rhetoric. And it would sad if we lose all this great student achievement.”

Michael Fields, state director for Americans For Prosperity Colorado, a group that also opposes the recall, said the board’s policies are “worth defending.”

“I think there’s a larger, broader community in Jeffco that supports the reform the board pushed,” he said.

— Twitter: @VicVela1