Grosse Pointe school board continues
to divide, with audience participation
The bad blood continued to boil Monday night (July 25) as the Grosse Pointe school board’s schism hardened in the wake of the superintendent search, this time over staffing cuts and the controversial Head Start program for Poupard Elementary.
No chairs were kicked this time, but there were name-calling and accusations. Board member Fred Minturn called president John Steininger a “bully,” and Steininger called out Minturn for missing more votes than any other board member. Steininger turned red in the face while talking about Head Start, as did Minturn. A meeting with a routine agenda ran past 11 p.m., with a full house watching every thrust and parry.
It all started during a vote on the reduction of 16 office staffers, part of the cuts made to accommodate deep reductions in state funding. Minturn said he opposed the cuts because they were made before the terms were met for the new labor contracts, which tie staff salaries to the district’s level of fund equity. Steininger countered that the district needs to maintain a “wait and see” position on implementing the contracts’ terms.
Minturn persuaded the board to wait until next month to vote on laying off five teaching assistants.
Although it was not on the agenda, Minturn resurrected the Head Start vote from the previous meeting, which he did not attend. The vote denying classroom space at Poupard to the federally funded early-childhood program has proven to be unpopular with a vocal portion of district residents, who have harshly criticized the voting majority (Steininger, Tom Jakubiec, Cindy Pangborn and Joan Dindoffer). Those members reiterated their reasons for voting the program down (cost and space), and repeated district policy that school premises could not be used by outside groups during school hours. Allowing one group and denying others could put the district in danger of litigation, Steininger said.
“This isn’t some fly-by-night religious group that wants to come in and use our school for a while,” Minturn retorted. “This is a federally supported, longtime, successful, accepted program that we should embrace.”
Eventually, Dindoffer was able to table the decision with a compromise of exploring other possibilities for pre-K education, which passed unanimously. (Board treasurer Brendan Walsh, who frequently votes with the minority, was absent.)
The audience was vocal throughout the meeting. When discussing the reduction in clerical staff, Minturn said, “We’re not doing what’s best for the students. You four can vote any way you want but we’re not doing what’s good for the students these days. This is just another example.” The crowd erupted with applause and a cry of “amen.”
The public comment section lasted longer than usual as well. Many residents from the Pointes and Harper Woods voiced their opinions, often in support of Head Start and against further cuts to staff.
One resident noted the “mean-spirited edge” of the meeting and how some board members referred to Poupard pupils as “those students.” Some residents found irony in how the board aims to cut teaching assistants -- the assistants who help children who are unprepared, who could have benefited from a program such as Head Start. Others alleged an elitist attitude. One resident recalled working for Head Start in Chicago and spoke highly of the program.
In other business, the board unanimously approved the hiring of Matthew Outlaw as principal of Grosse Pointe South High School, succeeding Al Diver, who resigned earlier this year following an investigation of adult materials being sent and received, by Diver and others, on school computers. Outlaw had been assistant principal at Grosse Pointe North. Ben Bandfield was hired as assistant principal at North, and will also serve as athletic director.
