By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Due to an error on the petition form, the effort to recall members of the Brandywine Board of Education were not accepted.
Josef Martinu, one of the organizers of the petition and a group called Save Our School (SOS), said he received a letter from the Berrien County Clerk on Saturday notifying him that due to a technicality on the petition, there were not enough validated signatures to be accepted.
Berrien County Clerk Louise Stine said she was not able to validate all of the signatures turned in because the heading of the petition must include the name of the city or township, in which the votes were collected.
The Brandywine school district is made up of Niles, Bertrand and Milton townships and the only township that was listed in the heading was Niles.
Stine said there was the minimum of 495 signatures required to go through with the recall.
There were a total of 576 signatures turned in for the recall of board president James Curran, with 420 of those signatures being validated.
There were 576 total signatures turned in for the recall of Phillip Bozung, with 421 signatures that were validated.
Curran and interim superintendent Gary Campbell said they plan on holding a meeting with the press on Wednesday to give an official statement regarding the recall.
Martinu said the petition was originally filed last year for a variety of reasons including "fiscal irresponsibility."
Martinu said he looks forward to seeing improvements in the Brandywine school district and plans on running for the school board in the coming election this summer.