Kristin van Reesema recall, Chelsea School District, Michigan (2021)
| Chelsea School District recall |
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An effort to recall Kristin van Reesema from her position as the president of the Chelsea School District Board of Education in Michigan did not go to a vote in 2021. Recall petitions were not submitted by the deadline on December 31, 2021.[1]
The recall effort began in June 2021. Recall supporters said they were seeking the recall after van Reesema declined to hold a special meeting in March 2021 to discuss increasing in-person instruction in the school district to 20 hours a week. Van Reesema responded by saying she was proud of the way the district had responded to the challenges it faced.[2]
Van Reesema's position on the seven-member board was due to expire on December 31, 2022.[1][3]
To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.
Recall supporters
The recall petition listed the following reasons for recall:[2][4]
| “ | Kristin van Reesema an elected Chelsea School Board trustee and current CSB President declined to hold a special meeting at the request of two or more board members along with parents in the CSD; as a result no public discussion took place regarding the decision to increase in person learning to 20 hours by Mar. 22, 21 deadline. Therefore, CSD lost approx $800,000 in funding from HB4048/Public Act #3 2021.[5] | ” |
Recall opponents
In response to the recall effort, Van Reesema said, "I am thankful to the teachers, administration, staff and community for their support this past year. I am proud of how the Chelsea School District responded to the challenges we faced together."[2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
Recall supporters submitted petition language with the Washtenaw County Clerk's Office on June 16, 2021. A clarity hearing on the petition was held on June 29, 2021.[2] The petition was approved in the clarity hearing. Van Reesema filed an appeal against the decision in the circuit court on July 8, 2021.[6]
To get the recall on the ballot, recall supporters had to collect approximately 2,451 signatures by December 31, 2021. The deadline was based on Van Reesema's term end date as Michigan law does not allow recall petitions to be circulated during an officeholder's last year in office.[1][7]
Supporters submitted an initial petition on June 3, 2021, but it was rejected in a clarity hearing on June 15, 2021.[2]
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.
2021 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 92 school board recall efforts against 237 board members in 2021. Recall elections against 17 board members were held in 2021. The school board recall success rate was 0.42%.
The chart below details the status of 2021 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Chelsea School District, Michigan
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Washtenaw County Chief Deputy Clerk / Register & Director of Elections Edward R. Golembiewski," January 3, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The Sun Times News, "Recall effort underway in the Chelsea School District," June 18, 2021
- ↑ Chelsea School District, "Board of Education," accessed June 29, 2021
- ↑ Washtenaw County Clerk, "Recall Petition: Kristin van Reesema," accessed June 29, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ MLive, "Chelsea school board member's recall appeal delays signature collection," July 15, 2021
- ↑ The Sun Times News, "Chelsea school district recall effort moving to the next step," June 29, 2021
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