Niles Community School District recall, Michigan (2022)
| Niles Community School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Mark Wortham Kyle Zelmer |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2022 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall three of the seven members of the Niles Community School District Board of Education in Michigan did not go to a vote in 2022. Recall supporters submitted petition signatures in July 2022. The Berrien County Clerk's Office did not verify enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot.[1][2]
The recall effort began in April 2022. Board President Mark Wortham, Treasurer Kyle Zelmer, and member David Fish were named in the recall petitions. The petitions were approved for circulation on April 25, 2022.[3][4] To get the recall on the ballot, supporters had to collect 2,389 signatures in 180 days. The signatures had to be collected within 60 days of each other.[5][6]
To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.
Recall supporters
The recall petitions list the three board members' votes on October 18, 2021, to approve a modification to the district’s Return to Learn Plan. A letter from Superintendent Dan Applegate said the modification "included an indoor mask requirement under specific circumstances and did not indicate parental approval was required for implementing the indoor mask requirement," according to Leader Publications.[7]
Recall opponents
Fish and Wortham did not attend the clarity hearing in which the petitions were approved. Zelmer declined to comment on the election commission's approval of the recall petitions.[3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
The Berrien County Election Commission approved the recall petitions for circulation in a clarity hearing on April 25, 2022.[3] Previous recall petitions against the three board members were rejected in a clarity hearing on April 12, 2022.[7]
To get the recalls on the ballot, supporters had to collect signatures equal in number to 25% of voters in the office's jurisdiction in the last gubernatorial election. The total number of signatures needed was 2,389, and the signatures had to be collected within 60 days of each other. The petition had to be submitted no later than 180 days after it was approved for circulation. Supporters filed the petitions with the Berrien County Deputy Clerk in July 2022.[2][5][6] The county did not verify enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot.[1]
Ballotpedia covered 35 coronavirus-related recall efforts against 94 officials in 2022, accounting for 13% of recalls that year. This is a decrease from both 2020 and 2021. COVID-related recalls accounted for 37% of all recall efforts in both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, there were 87 COVID-related recalls against 89 officials, and in 2021, there were 131 against 214 officials.
The chart below compares coronavirus-related recalls to recalls for all other reasons in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
2022 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 54 school board recall efforts against 123 board members in 2022. Recall elections against school board members were held on January 11, 2022, January 18, 2022, January 24, 2022, February 15, 2022, March 29, 2022, April 4, 2022, and November 8, 2022. The school board recall success rate was 7.3%.
The chart below details the status of 2022 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Niles Community School District, Michigan
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- School board recalls
- States that allow school board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Herald-Palladium, "Lakeshore, St. Joseph recall campaigns await signature verifications," August 12, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ABC 57, "Confusion and controversy over recall petitions for three Niles school board members," July 21, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Leader Publications, "Berrien County Election Commission approves petition language against Niles board members," April 25, 2022
- ↑ Niles Community Schools, "Board Members," accessed July 5, 2022
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 National Conference of State Legislatures, "Recall of Local Officials," accessed July 27, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 'Michigan Legislature, "Michigan Compiled Laws Section 168.961, accessed March 15, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Leader Publications, "Berrien County Election Commission rejects petition language against Niles board members," April 12, 2022
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