Rochester Community School District recall, Michigan (2021)

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Rochester Community School District recall
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Officeholders
Barbara Anness
Kevin Beers
Michelle Bueltel
Andrea Walker-Leidy
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2021
Recalls in Michigan
Michigan recall laws
School board recalls
Recall reports

An effort to recall four of the seven members of the Rochester Community School District Board of Education in Michigan did not go to a vote in 2021. Barbara Anness, Kevin Beers, Michelle Bueltel, and Andrea Walker-Leidy were named in the recall petitions. The petitions were rejected in a clarity hearing on May 18, 2021.[1][2]

Recall supporters said that the board failed to oversee the district's learning plan during the COVID-19 pandemic and that they relinquished their authority to the superintendent. All four board members declined to comment on the recall effort.[1]

The terms of Anness, Bueltel, and Walker-Leidy ended on December 31, 2024, and Beers' term ended on December 31, 2022.[2]

To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.

Recall supporters

The recall effort was started by Andrew Weaver, a district parent. He said that the board members failed to oversee the district's learning plan during the COVID-19 pandemic and that they relinquished their authority to the superintendent.[1]

Recall opponents

All four board members declined to comment on the recall effort.[1]

Superintendent Robert Shaner said he was proud of the board members for serving during the pandemic. “Leadership demands courage and strength to do the right thing for the right reasons. We are proud to have dedicated school board members who have the strength and courage to honorably serve in the best interest of our school community, even during a pandemic,” Shaner said.[1]

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

The Oakland County Election Commission unanimously rejected the recall petitions in a clarity hearing on May 18, 2021, citing clarity issues, misspelled names, and the use of ambiguous acronyms. The commission rejected two previous recall petitions against the same members earlier in 2021.[1]

Recalls related to the coronavirus

See also: Recalls related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and government responses to the pandemic

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

External links

Footnotes