Demands for special and recall elections in the San Dieguito Union High School District are a contemptible union power grab and unconscionable waste of public money. Hopefully, constituents will see these divisive tactics for what they are.

San Dieguito Union High School District trustees approved Lucile Lynch as interim superintendent on a quick turnaround after the departure this week of its leader of nearly three years.

With the understanding that public education exists to put student interests first, the public needs to know what teachers earn, how superintendents receive increased pay, and what might need to be cut from student services in the future to accommodate regular and often massive wage increases.

With a new school board and fresh perspectives, perhaps San Dieguito Union High School District constituents can look forward to greater transparency, more fiscal responsibility and an emphasis on the interests of students ahead of adults.

The race for San Dieguito Union High School District’s Area 4 seat offers voters stark choices. With three candidates hoping to replace retiring school board member Joyce Dalessandro, the election could turn the tables on a union-dominated school board. Although school board races are technically nonpartisan, this one, as with many others, is decidedly not.

Is it the last act of sitting school board members to recruit and select their replacements? The idea of retiring and letting anyone run who wants to is apparently not something San Dieguito Union High School District board members do.