Westwood Heights Schools recall, Michigan (2017)

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Westwood Heights Schools Board of Education recall
Officeholders
Lester Fykes Trina Sanders DeWayn Allen Alvera Cobb
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2017 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

An effort to recall Lester Fykes and Trina Sanders from their positions on the Westwood Heights Schools Board of Education in Michigan was rejected by the Genesee County Board of Election Commissioners on August 2, 2017. Board members DeWayn Allen and Alvera Cobb were also targeted for recall, but the petitions against them were rejected by the county clerk in July 2017 because they had been in office for less than one year. The recall effort started after the four targeted board members voted against extending the contract of former Superintendent Salli Stevens. The other three members of the board voted in favor of the contract extension.

A recall effort against three different members of the board was approved by voters on February 24, 2009. Those three members were targeted for recall after former Superintendent Deborah Hunter-Harvill demoted and reassigned administrators in the district soon after she was hired. Fykes helped circulate petitions for that recall.

Recall supporters

The recall effort was started by Iinan Lannon on July 17, 2017. She said Fykes and Sanders violated the Michigan Open Meetings Act, carried out what she called a "personal vendetta" against former Superintendent Salli Stevens, misused school district funds, and withheld information from other school board members. She also said the two board members, along with Allen and Cobb, "are trying to run everything just the way the four board members want to run it."

Lannon also said the four members did not share information with the other members of the board before voting to hire a search firm to find a replacement for Stevens. The board voted 4-3 to not renew Stevens' contract earlier in 2017 with Fykes, Sanders, Allen, and Cobb voting in favor.

"It gets worse and worse and worse as time goes on and it's distracting from what's best for the kids," said Lannon. "They don't seem to be trying to resolve that and they seem to be going off on all this tangent stuff and nothing's getting done."

Recall opponents

Before the petition against him was rejected, Fykes said, "I'm going to hire a lawyer to pursue the language of me misusing, appropriating school funds for personal use. That's libelous."

After the petition against her was rejected, Sanders said, "I agree with the board's decision. I have done nothing wrong and the allegations that were stated against me were false...I'm glad I can move on and focus on our community and the children in our school district."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

Iinan Lannon filed recall petitions against the four board members on July 17, 2017. The recall petitions against DeWayn Allen and Alvera Cobb were rejected because they had held office for less than one year, and recall petitions against Lester Fykes and Trina Sanders were rejected due to lack of evidence to back up the claims of the petition, according to MLive.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Westwood Heights Schools' recall. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Westwood Heights Schools recall, Michigan (2017) - Google News

See also

• Westwood Heights Schools, Michigan
• Westwood Heights School District recall, Michigan, 2009
• Recall campaigns in Michigan
• Political recall efforts, 2017
• School board recalls

External links

• Westwood Heights Schools
• Genesee County Clerk/Register Office