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Britton Deerfield Schools recall, Michigan (2018)
| Britton Deerfield School Board of Education recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Yvonne Thomas Brian Bartush Doug Mayher Jr. |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| November 6, 2018 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2018 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
A recall election seeking to remove four of the seven members of the Britton Deerfield Schools Board of Education in Michigan was approved by voters on November 6, 2018. Board vice president Ben Allshouse, board secretary Yvonne Thomas, board treasurer Brian Bartush, and board member Doug Mayher Jr. were voted out of office.[1][2]
The four members were targeted for recall after the board voted 6-0 to not renew the contract of former high school principal John Eisley on April 28, 2018. Recall supporters also listed the board's failure to post meeting minutes in a timely manner as a reason for the recall effort.[3]
The targeted board members said they could not discuss the reasons behind their decision to not renew Eisley's contract. They also said that board meeting minutes were available at the school district office.[3]
Allshouse, Thomas, Bartush, and Mayher were joined in voting to not renew Eisley's contract by board President Todd Ost and board member Doug Armstrong. The seventh member of the board, Brian Delmotte, was absent from the meeting.[4] Recall supporters said the other three members of the board were not targeted for recall because they were up for regular election in November 2018. Recall supporters said they had candidates ready to run against them in the general election.[3]
Recall vote
| Brian K. Bartush Recall Election, Britton Deerfield Schools, 2018 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Jim Mueller |
40.4% | 564 | |
| Nonpartisan | Marcie VanBlack | 39.6% | 553 | |
| Nonpartisan | Brian K. Bartush Incumbent | 19.1% | 266 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.9% | 13 | |
| Total Votes | 1,396 | |||
| Source: Lenawee County Elections, "November 6, 2018 General Election OFFICIAL Results," accessed November 30, 2018 | ||||
| Benjamin Allshouse Recall Election, Britton Deerfield Schools, 2018 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Linda Emery Wielfaert |
49.6% | 691 | |
| Nonpartisan | Matt B. Perkins | 32.5% | 453 | |
| Nonpartisan | Benjamin Allshouse Incumbent | 16.7% | 233 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 1.1% | 15 | |
| Total Votes | 1,392 | |||
| Source: Lenawee County Elections, "November 6, 2018 General Election OFFICIAL Results," accessed November 30, 2018 | ||||
| Douglas Mayher Jr. Recall Election, Britton Deerfield Schools, 2018 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Cassandra Kormos |
44.1% | 611 | |
| Nonpartisan | Lee A. Hoffman | 41.5% | 575 | |
| Nonpartisan | Douglas Mayher Jr. Incumbent | 13.1% | 182 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 1.2% | 17 | |
| Total Votes | 1,385 | |||
| Source: Lenawee County Elections, "November 6, 2018 General Election OFFICIAL Results," accessed November 30, 2018 | ||||
| Yvonne Thomas Recall Election, Britton Deerfield Schools, 2018 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Jamie M. Logan |
42.4% | 577 | |
| Nonpartisan | Shannon Miller | 40.3% | 548 | |
| Nonpartisan | Yvonne Thomas Incumbent | 16.3% | 222 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 1% | 14 | |
| Total Votes | 1,361 | |||
| Source: Lenawee County Elections, "November 6, 2018 General Election OFFICIAL Results," accessed November 30, 2018 | ||||
Recall supporters
The recall effort was started by Greg Gaw. On the petitions, he listed the board's vote to not renew Eisley's contract and the board's failure to post meeting minutes in a timely manner—which Gaw said was a violation of the Michigan Open Meetings Act—as the reasons for the recall effort.[3]
Gaw said he started the effort after speaking with school district community members who said they felt that board members were not meeting expectations.[3]
Gaw also mentioned that there was concern over updating the district's curriculum, falling enrollment, lack of diversity in afterschool activities, and the budget. “We’re on a state watchlist for funds. It’s public record to see that we’re spending more than we’re bringing in. It’s the board’s job to stop that,” Gaw said.[3]
Recall opponents
At a clarity hearing for the recall petitions on June 22, 2018, board secretary Yvonne Thomas said that the board's meeting minutes were kept at the school office and available to anyone. Board treasurer Brian Bartush said that Michigan law did not require school board meeting minutes to be posted online. “They are not posted to the website on a regular schedule,” Thomas said. “They are posted as a courtesy.”[3]
The board members also said they could not discuss the vote to not renew Eisley's contract. “When we make decisions based on documents that can’t be shared for specific reasons, how can that be the basis for a recall?” Thomas said.[3]
“Being a school board member, you try to do the best job for the school board,” board member Doug Mayher Jr. said. “Instead of asking questions and trying to find out, it’s easier to file a petition.”[3]
Superintendent Stacey Johnson spoke in support of the board's stewardship of the district. “This board has done more work in the last two years than any school district I’ve worked in,” Johnson said. “We would have been closed, probably two years ago, had the board not done the work that they needed to do.”[3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
The recall petitions were approved by the Lenawee County Election Commission at a clarity hearing on June 22, 2018. The targeted board members had 10 days to challenge the commission's decision.[3]
To get the recall on the ballot, recall supporters had to submit 311 signatures from registered voters (equal to 25 percent of the votes cast in the 2014 gubernatorial election in the school district) to the county. The signatures had to be gathered within 60 days of each other.[3] Recall supporters submitted the signatures to the county in August 2018, and the county verified enough signatures to schedule the recall election for November 6, 2018.[1][5]
2018 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
A total of 33 school board recall efforts nationwide were covered by Ballotpedia in 2018. They included 74 board members. Twelve recall elections were held in 2018. The school board recall success rate was 28.4%.
Of the 12 efforts that made it to the ballot in 2018, eight were approved and the 20 targeted members were removed from office. Another two recall elections were defeated, and the targeted members kept their seats. One effort saw a mix of results: three members retained their seats, while the fourth was removed from his. Another recall election was held after the board member resigned. Her replacement was elected through the recall. The chart below details the status of 2018 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Britton Deerfield Schools, Michigan
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2018
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Tecumseh Herald, "No challenges for BD recall signatures," September 6, 2018
- ↑ Lenawee County Elections, "November 6, 2018 General Election UNOFFICIAL Results," accessed November 7, 2018
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Lenconnect.com, "4 Britton Deerfield board members face recall effort," June 25, 2018
- ↑ Britton Deerfield Schools, "Special Meeting April 28, 2018 Minutes," accessed June 29, 2018
- ↑ WLEN, "Britton Deerfield Schools Board of Education Recall; Four Members to Potentially be Back on November Ballot," August 23, 2018
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