School board rejects contract renewal

Michelle Imbrunone and her attorney Robert Lusk dispute the findings of an investigation into her handling of staff members of the Hamtramck Public School District.

By Charles Sercombe
A top administrator in the Hamtramck Public School District, who had been put on administrative leave, will not be returning to her job.
Last week, the Hamtramck School Board voted not to renew the contract for former Human Resources Director Michelle Imbrunone.
(Boardmember Jihan Aiyash was absent from the meeting, and has been absent from meetings for the past two months.)
Both Imbrunone and Superintendent Jaleelah Ahmed have been on leave since October.
Ahmed took a family medical leave, citing the stress caused by dealing with Covid. Ahmed had planned to come back in January, but the board placed her on leave, pending an investigation.
Imbrunone has also been under an investigation. The board has not specified what the investigations are about.
Imbrunone’s attorney, Robert Lusk, had a copy of the results of Imbrunone’s investigation at last week’s meeting, and disputed its conclusions.
He said the report’s findings were “a foregone conclusion.”
The person who performed the investigations, Mujhad Elhady, has been acting in the role of human resources director.
Lusk said Elhady had a self-interest in coming up with a negative conclusion.
“The fact in the matter is, he has an interest in the conclusion he reached,” Lusk said. “He is the person, presumably, holding the job that Ms. Imbrunone would otherwise have with a raise in salary.”
In the March board meeting, Imbrunone’s position was eliminated, and a new position was created, called Executive Director of Human Resources, which will be combined with another new position, called Director of District Support Services.
The combined positions have a salary of $115,500. No one has been appointed to that position, but it is believed that Elhady is in line for it.
The board did not respond to Lusk’s comments, nor to the findings of Elhady’s report.
The Review received a copy of the district’s report on Imbrunone through a Freedom of Information Act request.
According to some of Elhady’s findings, it was determined that Imbrunone:
• Breached district policies and procedures
• Had an inability to work with others
• Was insubordinate to superiors
• Made inappropriate evaluations of employees
Imbrunone’s attorney, Lusk, said, in a letter to the board, that she cannot respond to the charges because they “are so broadly stated she cannot prepare a response.”
Lusk said, in his letter, that the charges are “vague and ambiguous.”
He also noted that the board had previously given Imbrunone high marks in her work evaluation, which he insisted should have resulted in an automatic renewal of her contract.
Teachers had complained bitterly about the management of Ahmed and Imbrunone. They said the two were responsible for making involuntary job transfers among teachers, and that Imbrunone was a “bully.”
At least one administrator has filed a lawsuit against the district: former vice principal of Kosciuszko Middle School, Christina Adamczyk, who was transferred to a teaching position.
Her husband, David Adamczyk, was also at last week’s board meeting, where he warned the district of further legal action if the district does not fully comply with a Freedom of Information Act request he submitted weeks ago.
Over 30 teachers and staff members resigned from the district during Ahmed’s tenure as superintendent.
Lusk pointed out that teachers and others in education throughout the state also transferred to new jobs during Covid, and that what happened in Hamtramck was not unusual.
“There were resignations all over the state,” Lusk said. “What happened here is not significantly different than what happened in districts nearby.”
Posted April 22, 2022