Mystery flyer asks where is the HPS District superintendent?

HPS Superintendent Jaleelah Ahmed

By Charles Sercombe
Does anyone know the exact whereabouts of Hamtramck Public School Superintendent Jaleelah Ahmed?
If so, you could receive a $250,000 reward.
Well, not really, but a spoof flyer is making the rounds in town offering a “reward” for locating Ahmed, who spent most of 2024 and all this year doing something other than coming to work.
Although Ahmed is not doing work for the district, she is still collecting her $224,000 a year salary.
It’s unknown who printed and distributed the flyer.
You might ask yourself, how does one get a job that pays a six-figure salary and doesn’t require actual work?
That’s the mystery surrounding Ahmed, who appears to be in a suspension-like limbo, but the Hamtramck Board of Education and Interim Superintendent James Larson-Shidler refuse to clarify her status.
Ahmed’s latest departure occurred in February of 2024 after she received a poor job performance rating from the school board. The reason for that rating was never explained, but, following that, Ahmed took a two-month paid medical leave.
That leave somehow then turned into a paid suspension, although the district refuses to call it that. Ahmed has two years left on her contract.
Her relationship with the district has been rocky ever since she was appointed superintendent in 2019.
Ahmed’s relationship with teachers and staff members quickly soured, resulting in a number of veteran employees leaving the district. Many of those who left complained about the “toxic” work environment that Ahmed had created.
It got to the point where Ahmed took her first paid medical leave in October of 2022, saying she needed to recover from the pressure from dealing with the covid pandemic.
That leave then morphed into a paid suspension by the board of education that was also never explained.
In the meantime, Ahmed filed lawsuits against the district and teachers’ union – both of which were eventually thrown out of court.
She returned in 2023, and remained at work for several months until February of 2024.
In the flyer circulated around town, there are a few erroneous allegations made, but it does cite her creating a “toxic” work place.
The flyer listed a school district phone number “for anyone who has information” about her.
Posted March 21, 2025