TEHACHAPI, Calif. -- The effort to recall three Tehachapi School Board Trustees heats up as the deadline to turn in signatures nears.

The school board addressed the demotion of a Jacobson Middle School principal in closed session Tuesday night.

And during public comment, the group working to recall three trustees, Friends of Recall, asked for their resignations in an effort to save the district money.

That's been one of the biggest issues of the recall effort, the cost to remove the board members, which has been quoted as being between $150,000 and $300,000.

The Friends of Recall asked that the members resign by 5 p.m., Wednesday or they will take their 4,000 or so signatures to the Kern County Elections Department on Thursday by 5 p.m.

"We request the resignations of Trustees Mary Graham, Holly Hart and Patty Snyder," said Tim Trujillo of Friends of Recall. "Your resignations will avoid the cost and the pain to the district and the community."

But several speakers at the meeting voiced their support for the trustees and Board President Mary Graham defended herself as well.

"65 percent of the voting public elected me, as trustee for the Tehachapi Unified School District," Graham said after Trujillo spoke. "Until those same voters have an opportunity to go to the polls, I will continue my service to this district."

Graham said that those pushing for the recall are solely responsible for the cost, not the board members.

A fourth board member was also the target of the recall, but Gary Warner resigned recently because he took a new job in a different area.

The principal at the center of the debate, Eric Triguiero, has since left the district after his demotion earlier this year.