Farmington Harrison assistant principal suspended over comments regarding cheerleaders

School board president resigns unexpectedly

Farmington Harrison High School (WDIV)

FARMINGTON, Mich. – An assistant principal at Farmington Harrison High School said that the cheer squad's routine during a pep rally was inappropriate and made a comment that the girls looked like strippers.

That administrator, Angela Leach, has been suspended while human resources investigates. Leach has apologized for the comments.

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Parents in the district have differing views on the comment. The majority of the cheer squad is black, and many parents view the comment as racial. Some parents view it as inappropriate, but not racial.

Both sides were able to share their viewpoints at a Farmington School Board meeting Tuesday night.

"I just want to respectfully say to all of you that the denial of of racist or racist bias should be an embarrassment,” said Mabel Fox, who had two children go through the district.

UPDATEFarmington Harrison assistant principal reassigned

“I think this has turned into an 'everyone is guilty now no matter what' kind of era,” said current Harrison parent Heidi Schmidt. “I see it in our country, and I’m sad to see it come to our school district.”

In an unexpected move, Farmington Public Schools' Board of Education school board president Jim Stark announced his resignation from the Board of Education in a letter that was read at the School Board meeting.

Local 4 tried to reach out to Stark, but a phone call was not returned.


About the Authors:

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.