Highland Park Schools' Emergency Manager Removed
LANSING (WWJ/AP) - A state-appointed emergency manager for the Highland Park school district will be temporarily sidelined from his job while the state reacts to a court order saying that state review teams analyzing city and school finances must meet in public.
Gov. Rick Snyder and other state officials made the announcement Tuesday.
The move sidelines Highland Park schools emergency manager Jack Martin until the state can reconvene the review team that led to his appointment last month. The review team's public hearing is set for Wednesday.
Snyder could reactivate Martin's appointment soon after that meeting.
Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette last week voided the decisions made by the state-appointed Highland Park review team because it didn't comply with the state's Open Meetings Act.
The district's emergency manager has been controversial from the start,with some saying the move to take over the financially ailing school district was unconstitutional.
Jack Martin, a CPA and the former CFO for the U.S. Department of Education, is the emergency manager. Martin said the first way he hopes to implement change is by meeting the community.
"I plan to have pretty much an open door to parents so that they can voice their concerns, they can give me their suggestions," he told WWJ Newsradio 950. "And I'll be happy to look at anything that anyone has to offer that's gonna help educate the kids and keep the district moving smoothly."
Highland Park schools currently face an $11.3 budget deficit while student enrollment continues to plummet, down 58 percent over the past five years.
As enacted, a new state law allows the governor to take over a local government or school district by appointing an emergency manager to assume the authority and responsibility of locally elected officials. It includes the power to terminate collective bargaining agreements and even dissolve a unit of government.
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