YPSILANTI, MI – Community members are asking the courts to remove an Ypsilanti Community Schools board member who has moved out of the district.

A writ of mandamus was filed Friday, Sept. 27, in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, seeking to remove board Vice President Brenda Meadows, claiming her board seat should be vacated after she moved outside the district on May 30.

Ypsilanti residents Andrew Fanta and Mark Wilde informed the board of Meadows’ residency status during its Sept. 23 meeting, providing records of a change of residence to her new home in Ypsilanti Township, putting her in the Lincoln Consolidated Schools district.

Fanta and Wilde are asking the Ypsilanti School Board to conduct an immediate search and appoint a new member for the seat, which they believe is vacant. Michigan law requires school board members to be residents of the district in which they serve.

“As to how we conduct our business, we should follow the law,” Fanta said. “The law is unambiguous. It is clear … you have a vacant seat.”

During the meeting, Meadows briefly addressed her status of residence, only mentioning she owns a house at 410 N. Harris Road in Ypsilanti and the new residence on Creekway Drive she has claimed as a principal residence since May 30.

“I pay taxes on both properties and I visit both properties frequently. I pay taxes on both properties, so I own both properties,” Meadows said during the meeting.

After speaking with the district, Michigan Association of School Boards legal counsel Brad Banasik provided an email to board members informing them a school board member is immediately ineligible to serve on the board as soon as he or she moves into a residence outside of the school district.

“The law doesn’t permit a grace period for temporary relocations,” Banasik wrote in the email.

A board or school district is not legally obligated to verify or investigate the residence of a school board member, Banasik also wrote.

“If the residence of a school board member is questioned, a community member could pursue a court order to have the board member removed from the school board if he or she doesn't satisfy the residency requirements,” Banasik wrote.

In their complaint, Fanta and Wilde provided records showing Meadows changed her residence on May 30, as well as a copy of the warranty deed for the Creekside residence for which she claims 100% homestead exemption.

Despite not being required to investigate a board member’s residence, board member Gillian Gainsley said there is no plausible deniability on the board’s part after it was brought to their attention during a public meeting.

“... Now we have this evidence sitting in front of us and it is a matter of public record,” she said. “I don’t believe that we can ignore it.”

Gainsley made a motion during the Sept. 23 meeting to conduct a formal search for the vacant seat that was and seconded by board member Maria Sheler-Edwards.

At the time, Board President Celeste Hawkins said it was not the board’s responsibility to investigate or ask Meadows to resign. With Hawkins refusing to accept the motion as presented by Gainsley, the board ultimately voted to table the motion until its next meeting.

Hawkins did say before the writ of mandamus was filed that if community members wanted to challenge Meadows’ status as a board member with the courts, they were free to do so.

“As a school board president and as a body, legally I have done the due diligence I needed to make sure we were within the bounds of the law,” Hawkins said. “That is very, very clear. As a body, it is not our responsibility to investigate the residency of a board member.”

The board will reconvene at 7 p.m. on Oct. 2 to vote on searching for the open seat.

In looking over the documents provided by Fanta and Wilde during the meeting, board member Meredith Schindler said it appeared clear Meadows’ primary residence was now located in Lincoln Consolidated Schools.

“I don’t know how you could not step down,” she said. “You know that I have a ton of respect for you and I don’t want this to go any further. I know that you love Ypsi, but this is pretty compelling.”

If the seat is vacated, the board must fill the vacancy within 30 days or the Washtenaw Intermediate School District will appoint a new member. While the board doesn’t play any role in removing a current member, Gainsley said it must start the process of conducting the search.

“I don’t want to be caught in a situation where we don’t have that board seat filled, then somebody outside of our district appoints that seat for us,” Gainsley said.