The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Recall petition signed
By Kathleen Conat, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: April 12, 2007
Language for recalling four trustees of the Ypsilanti Public Schools' Board of Education was submitted Friday to the Washtenaw County Clerk's office, according to Derrick Jackson, elections clerk for the county.
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Petition language naming trustees David Bates, Amy Doyle, Cameron Getto and Linda Horner was submitted by Katherine Weathers, a parent and president of the Ypsilanti High School Boosters Club. Doyle and Getto have resigned for unrelated reasons. (See related story.)
Weathers said the petitions were the culmination of several issues on which she and others did not agree with the board.
"We have a board that listens to public input then pulls out a written statement that proves they were not really listening," she said. "They don't listen to the students, either."
In the petitions, Weathers cited votes on the issue of the Braves team nickname, a vote to give the board's vice president a say in setting the agenda, and conspiring with others for the forced resignation of Layne Hunt as high school principal as the reasons for the recall.
She does not include Horne in the resignation item. Doyle and Getto, however, are accused of attempting to circumvent the Open Meetings law by rotating board members in and out of a meeting.
Weathers said she had intended also to petition for the recall of Trustee Andrew Fanta, but was precluded by state law. Fanta is unopposed for reelection on May 8.
Superintendent James Hawkins is named in the petition as one of those with whom the board trustees conspired to bring about Hunt's resignation. Hawkins was reached while on the spring break vacation.
"This is absolutely false," Hawkins said. "These petitions are not justifiable. They are not warranted and they are not in the best interest of the district.
"I have never conspired with anyone. That is a gross prevarication. I am my own man. I make my own decisions. There was no conspiracy and no coercion.
"I work for the Board of Education and everyone else works for me," Hawkins continued. "This decision [to ask for Hunt's resignation] rests on my shoulders. The responsibility for this decision rests on my shoulders. I never have and never will accept being coerced to do anything I don't want to do."
Weathers, while denying the petitions were due to Hunt's resignation, spoke at length about the positive changes she felt Hunt had made in the school.
The petitions will be reviewed by the Clarity Committee, which is made up of Washtenaw County Treasurer Catherine McClary, County Clerk Lawrence Kestenbaum and Probate Judge Darlene O'Brien.
According to Jackson, each petition will be determined separately and now that Doyle and Getto have resigned, their petitions will be discarded.
The committee only will determine if the language used is clear and easily understood. The truthfulness of the statements included in the petitions is not assessed.
Jackson said if the petitions are approved Weathers could then move forward in gaining signatures. The number of signatures needed is determined as being 25 percent of the number of votes cast within the school district in the latest gubernatorial election. Jackson said his staff had not yet determined, at the time he was interviewed, exactly what that number would be.
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