With just days to go in the race to fill four seats on the AAPS Board of Education, Deirdre Piper has withdrawn from the crowded field of 10 candidates.

She sent this statement is response to a question about her withdrawl from the race:

After years of serving the students of AAPS and debating whether or not to run for school board, I was excited to finally throw my hat in the ring this year. Unfortunately, after the initial shock, my mother’s sudden, unexpected death in September forced me to reconsider my ability to actively campaign given the ongoing reaction of both myself and my family at this time. Because schools and education are so important to me, I do hope that in a couple years’ time I will find myself in a better position to run.

Deirdre Piper, 40, is a certified teacher and has been a substitute teacher in AAPS for five years. She has said she’s building a business. Piper has an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of California-Berkeley and a master’s in reading education from Wayne State University.

She responded to a question about whether she was in support of the annexation of the Whitmore Lake district via email:

I cannot find a compelling reason to support the merger. In my opinion, the two school boards rushed to place the merger proposals on the ballot on only a wing and a prayer. Although I am a proponent of creative solutions, no one has convinced me that this is the right thing for Ann Arbor schools. There is a time to look after your own self-interest so, while this would be a boon to Whitmore Lake’s problems, I cannot get beyond the fact that it will 1) raise my taxes but 2) not guarantee that my third grader will not have 29 or more kids in his class again next year.

Piper’s decision to withdraw from the race comes after the deadline for officially withdrawing. Her name will still appear on the ballot. Nine candidates remain in the hunt for seats on the BOE.