Troy School District recall, Michigan (2023)

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Troy School District recall
Officeholders
Gary Hauff Nancy Philippart Karl Schmidt Nicole L. Wilson
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
Signature requirement
Signatures equal to 25% of voters in the school district in the last gubernatorial election
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2023 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

An effort to recall four of the seven members of the Troy School District Board of Education in Michigan did not go to a vote in 2023. Gary Hauff, Nancy Philippart, Karl Schmidt, and Nicole L. Wilson were named in the recall petitions. Recall supporters did not collect enough signatures to put the recalls on the ballot.

The recall effort began after the board voted 6-1 on May 16, 2023, to change the structure of math classes taught in middle school. Prior to the vote, students were able to enroll in honors math classes starting in sixth grade. The new structure had all children take the same math classes in sixth and seventh grade and gave students the option to enroll in honors math classes in eighth grade. Hauff, Philippart, Schmidt, and Wilson all voted in favor of the change to the math structure. Board members Emina Alic and Matt Haupt also voted in favor, but they were not able to be recalled because they had not yet served for one year on the board.

Recall supporters

In a post on their website, recall supporters outlined three main reasons for the recall:

"

1) Troy School District has reduced the scope of its curriculum and courses it offers by eliminating the four classes referenced in the petition language. This reduction in choice will harm student opportunity. 2) Troy School District has not presented a data supported analysis that demonstrates the replacement curriculum is effective and superior to the existing curriculum and courses. 3) Troy School Board Members, during the 2023-05-16 Board Meeting, heard over 30+ (> 90%) Public Comments that voiced opposition to the proposed Curriculum changes, yet still voted to approve the curriculum change.

”

Recall opponents

Philippart said that teaching math had to evolve. "We don't need our kids to be supercomputers," Philippart said. "We need to ... change with the times."

Troy School District Superintendent Richard Machesky said:

"

Here are the facts: There is no plan to remove honors opportunities from the Troy School District. ... Our changes to the 6th and 7th grade math structure are deliberately designed so that students have a better preparation for advanced mathematics in high school and beyond — and so that more students are prepared to take AP and advanced math. ... The change in structure simply moves the timeline for the selection of an advanced track to 8th grade.

”

"Instead of a heavy focus on computation, these new courses will require students to identify problems, find solutions and apply those solutions to new concepts," Kerry Birmingham, a school district spokeswoman said. "This will make students more successful when they decide to enter Honors Algebra 1 in 8th Grade or when they decide to take a newly designed 8th Grade Mathematics course."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

The first petitions filed with Oakland County were rejected in a clarity hearing on May 31, 2023. Recall supporters filed a second round of petitions in June 2023. The language on those petitions was approved by the Oakland County Election Commission on June 20, 2023. The board members did not file appeals against that ruling, allowing recall supporters to begin circulating petitions.

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. Recall supporters in the Troy School District estimated that they needed 8,000 signatures per board member.

2023 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

Ballotpedia tracked 48 school board recall efforts against 97 board members in 2023. Sixteen of those board members faced recall elections. The recall elections were held on January 10, 2023, August 1, 2023, August 8, 2023, August 29, 2023, November 7, 2023, and December 12, 2023. The school board recall success rate was 13.4%.

The chart below details the status of 2023 recall efforts by individual school board member.

See also

• Troy School District, Michigan
• Recall campaigns in Michigan
• Political recall efforts, 2023
• School board recalls
• States that allow school board recalls

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Troy School District
• Oakland County Elections and Voting