With Dearborn Heights superintendent suspended, union plans vote of confidence
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – There were a lot of hugs, smiles and even tears as Annapolis High School principal Aaron Mollett returned to work Thursday.
It comes more than a week after students, parents and staff members voiced their opposition to the school board's decision to suspend him.
"I think the protest definitely did help. It brought more attention to it. But I think like, either way, he deserved to come back," said Jersey Tackett, an Annapolis High School senior.
None of the district's leadership has said why he was suspended in the first place, not even at Wednesday's school board meeting where they voted to reinstate him.
At the same meeting, board members decided to have Superintendent Tyrone Weeks step back from his role as an investigation is underway. He faces three Title IX complaints involving gender discrimination and a single civil rights complaint.
The Dearborn Heights School District sent this statement to CBS News Detroit:
"We wanted to make the community aware of actions that took place at last night's school board meeting concerning key personnel in the district. A majority of board members voted to lift the paid administrative leave of Annapolis High School Principal Aaron Mollett and return him to his duties effective today, May 18, 2023. In addition, a majority of the board voted to place Superintendent Dr. Tyrone Weeks on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. Thank you to the staff members, students, and parents who came forward to express concerns regarding the direction of the school district. The board has a great deal of work to do to gather information and make the best decisions possible for the district and its students moving forward. As new information becomes available regarding these matters, we will share as much information as is legally possible."
"There's a lack of transparency throughout the district on numerous issues, not just the Aaron Mollett issue," Troy Scott with the Michigan Education Association (MEA) said on Thursday.
The MEA plans to follow up with the district and school board to inform them about a litany of other issues they say must be investigated.
"Major labor violations, such as imposing a virtual learning program without negotiating with the union, refusing to give documents to the union that we're entitled to under the Public Employment Relations Act. The superintendent lied about the fact that there were 400 parents interested in a virtual learning program," Scott said.
The teachers union doesn't believe Weeks' suspension is good enough; they want him out.
"We need somebody who is going to bring together the district as it has been before," Scott said.
The superintendent's attorney, Todd Perkins, provided CBS News Detroit with this statement:
"It is unfortunate that the Board has decided to take this adverse action against Dr. Weeks. He has served the Dearborn Heights community valiantly and with distinction and given his tireless effort to enhance the educational environment for the children.
In its hastened and errant decision to place him on administrative leave, there has been an abject failure to follow reasonable protocols, succumbing to the vitriolic, rage-filled and uninformed opinions of portions of the community that have been bastardized by others who tarry in bias and denigration of the community's first Black superintendent.
We are confident that Dr. Weeks will be vindicated and cleared of the salacious allegations, and we further believe that the source of many of the complaints will be found to be fueled by race and bias."
According to Scott, MEA plans to have a vote of confidence regarding the superintendent within the next two weeks.
