Trenton Bowens recall, Benton Harbor Area Schools, Michigan (2023-2024)

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Benton Harbor Area Schools recall
Officeholders
Trenton Bowens
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
Signature requirement
2,151 signatures
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2024 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

An effort to recall Trenton Bowens from his position on the Benton Harbor Area Schools Board of Education in Michigan did not go to a vote in 2024. Recall supporters did not file signatures before the petition expired after 180 days.

The recall petition against Bowens was filed with the Berrien County Clerk’s Office in the summer of 2023. It was approved for circulation at a clarity hearing on July 19, 2023. This was the fifth recall petition filed against Bowens in 2023. The four previous petitions were rejected in clarity hearings.

The recall effort started after the board voted on 4-3 against replacing a boiler at Benton Harbor High School on March 14, 2023. Bowens was one of the four members to vote against the replacement.

At the time the fifth recall petition was filed, Bowens was serving as vice president of the seven-member board. His term was scheduled to end in 2024.

Recall supporters

The first, third, fourth, and fifth recall petitions against Bowens were filed by Shari Szilagyi. In the first, fourth, and fifth recall petitions, Szilagyi referenced Bowens' vote against replacing a boiler at Benton Harbor High School.

In the third recall petition, Szilagyi referenced comments Bowens made at the clarity hearing for the first recall petition. The third petition said that Bowens “maliciously lied about the petitioner in his public comments to the Election Commission Board on April 25th, 2023.”

The second recall petition against Bowens was filed by fellow school board trustee Elnora Gavin. Gavin said that the high school's boilers were 70 years old and did not work properly, leaving classrooms uncomfortably cold. She said that the board was given an estimate on replacing the boilers two years earlier. “Trustee Bowens had an opportunity to deal with this issue over several years,” Gavin said.

“The teachers and our students are cold and Trustee Bowens is delaying the process and I’m not convinced that he won’t stop delaying the process of caring for our kids and our staff,” Gavin said. “Trenton has been the most damaging trustee on the board. He is the one who tried to take the item off the agenda (in March), aggressively coming after the president for even having it on the agenda. To me, he’s the one slowing the process up the most.”

Recall opponents

During public comments at the board meeting on March 14, 2023, Bowens said he voted against replacing the boilers because there were no quotes on how much it would cost. He said prices had changed significantly since the last time the board had received a quote. “I do not think it was wise to vote to commit to any major financial contracts without knowing the full extent of the cost,” Bowens said.

In response to the second recall petition filed against him, Bowens said in a statement:

“

I will not be distracted by Trustee Gavin’s antics or motives or personal vendettas with those that disagree with her. The public wants a school board that is drama free and putting the children first, that’s what we have been doing and that’s what I will continue to do. I remain focused on making sure the students are empowered, educated and gaining the skills to compete in a 21st Century.

”

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

To get a recall on the ballot in Michigan, recall supporters must collect signatures equal in number to 25% of voters in the jurisdiction in the last gubernatorial election. They have 60 days between the collection of the first signature and the collection of the last signature on the petition. Recall petitions are eligible to collect signatures for 180 days. To get the recall against Bowens on the ballot, recall supporters would have had to collect 2,151 signatures.

Before a recall petition can be circulated, it must be approved in a clarity hearing. A clarity hearing on the fifth petition's language was held on July 19, 2023, and it was approved. The fourth recall petition was filed on June 13, 2023, and the clarity hearing was held on June 30, 2023. It was rejected by the Berrien County Election Commission.

The clarity hearing on the third recall petition was held on June 12, 2023, and the petition was also rejected. The second petition was filed on April 25, 2023, and rejected in a clarity hearing on May 9, 2023. The first recall petition was filed on April 6, 2023, and the clarity hearing was held on April 25, 2023, where it was rejected.

2024 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

Ballotpedia tracked 40 school board recall efforts against 83 board members in 2024. Recall elections in 2024 removed 14 members from office, including three who resigned before the election, and retained seven members in office. The school board recall success rate was 13.4%.

The chart below details the status of 2024 recall efforts by individual school board member.

Recall context

See also: Ballotpedia's Recall Report

Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.

The chart below shows how many officials were included in recall efforts from 2012 to 2024 as well as how many of them defeated recall elections to stay in office and how many were removed from office in recall elections.