OAK PARK, Mich. – Discussions and demands for accountability continued in the Oak Park School District on Monday night, as the school board addressed several controversies.
The school board’s search for a new superintendent is among the agenda items during Monday night’s meeting. There’s also a vacancy on the school board that needs to be addressed.
The Investigators at Local 4 have been following a whistleblower lawsuit and other issues in the school district since its former superintendent abruptly retired last month.
“We need to clean house. We really need to clean house,” Dr. Kevin Keys, III said.
Keys is a community advocate and an Oak Park schools alum.
He’s been among the outspoken critics of the school board and administration.
Some residents began asking tough questions of the school district back in March.
That’s when former superintendent Angel Abdulahad abruptly retired.
At the time, he had been under investigation by the district for three months, when the public learned that a wrongful termination lawsuit was filed by the district’s former budget director.
That lawsuit claims ongoing patterns of harassment and unethical behavior, including allegations of misuse of public funds.
The district’s attorney said Oak Park School District and the board adamantly deny any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, an interim superintendent has been appointed to lead the school district.
The Oak Park Teachers Union and other community members have been calling on the school board to have a national search for a superintendent.
During Monday night’s meeting, the district’s search firm is supposed to outline the procedures for the superintendent search.
That will be taken up on May 6.
Regarding the open seat on the school board. Keys was the lone applicant for that seat and had a public interview before the Board of Education on March 31.
It was a meeting where some of the board members asked personal questions that night. The vote was three to three, so it did not pass.
Now, the county ISD is taking up the process of filling that vacancy.
If they are not successful, then the state Board of Education may have to step in.
Several residents and district staffers reached out to the Investigators at Local 4, in Keys’ case a district invoice sent to him said they would be they charging $19,924.27 for copies.
We put in a records request and were able to inspect documents for a fraction of that price.
We have obtained those documents and are reviewing them.