MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, Mich. — Members of the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy board says they need more time to develop a corrective action plan to address curriculum and staffing issues in the district.
Throughout the meeting it was clear that several of the board members want new management of the district, which is currently overseen by New Paradigm for Education, a managing firm out of Detroit.
"I'd like to make a motion to add to the agenda, one is to stop payments to New Paradigm currently, pursue terminating this contract for breach of contract," Board Trustee Antonette Robinson said at the meeting.
She made that motion at the beginning of the meeting, and after a closed session with their attorney, the motion was rescinded.
The PSA board approved the job description posting for superintendent, and they said they are not looking to appoint an interim at the moment. They also heard from principals in the district.
The principals of Dr. Martin Luther King Academy and the high school both said that the biggest stressors for their teachers right now are student behavior and being short staffed.
New Paradigm's Founder Ralph Bland said there was other management in the district before their organization, citing the national full-time and substitute teacher shortage.
But the PSA Board's Vice President Joseph Warren said that New Paradigm was untruthful when they came in, saying they had a pool of substitutes to offer the district.
"You say you're a full service management company and we're not getting the services," he said. "Out of respect for Muskegon Heights and our students, then why would you stay here and be a hindrance to our students and community knowing they're not receiving the education you promised us."
The PSA board also made their contract with a consulting firm official at the meeting, approving a contract with the National Charter Schools Institute out of Mount Pleasant.
One of the consultants with that non-profit is Dr. Don Weatherspoon, who was brought on as the district's emergency manager when the district went from public to charter about ten years ago.
Weatherspoon and two others at the meeting say they'll work with both of the district's boards as well as New Paradigm to save the schools and keep them open.
The next PSA board meeting will be on Friday, October 21.
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