Wyandotte school board passes resolution regarding appeals process for volunteers

Appeals will never be granted for people with criminal record

WYANDOTTE, Mich. – A special meeting to address the ongoing investigation into a Wyandotte school volunteer accused of sex crimes against children was held Tuesday.

At the meeting, school officials passed a resolution to never have an appeals process for any volunteer with a criminal background.

Michael Jerry Beebe, 47, was a volunteer in the Watch DOGS program at James Monroe Elementary School, police said. Police began to investigate allegations against him in May, and was arrested July 25.

"Mr Beebe was approved by the superintendent (Catherine Cost)," said Kevin Sutton, who conducted the investigation. "He expressed he turned his life around at that time and indicated to Dr. Cost he never expected to have a daughter, and expressed a sincere desire to be involved with her activities at school."

It was determined that Cost and the school board followed policies.

A full 14-page report from the investigation will be available to the public Wednesday.

Parents reached out to the school district more than a year ago, reporting that his behavior was inappropriate, but no action was taken until earlier this year.

The issue at hand is whether the superintendent and principal overstepped their reach when they allowed Beebe to volunteer despite being aware of his violent criminal history.

Parents' disappointment reached higher levels once they learned superintendent Catherine Cost decided to disregard Beebe's criminal history.


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

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