School board members are no-shows

The Hamtramck Board of Education failed to get enough board members to attend its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday where board members were scheduled to perform their yearly evaluation of the district’s superintendent.

By Charles Sercombe
The Hamtramck Board of Education has once again failed to hold a meeting.
The board’s regular monthly meeting was scheduled for this past Wednesday, but only three boardmembers showed up, meaning there were not enough members present, in other words a “quorum,” to hold a meeting.
Boardmembers Victor Farris, Moortadha Obaid, Regan Watson and Board Vice President Salah Hadwan were no-shows.
Those boardmembers who attended were Daz’Shavon Hall, Abdulmalik Algahaim and Board President Jihan Aiyash. They waited for 45 minutes before announcing the meeting could not be held.
The board was supposed to conduct its yearly evaluation of Superintendent Jaleelah Ahmed in a closed session during this meeting.
If the board fails to perform an evaluation of Ahmed before the year ends, her contract is automatically extended one more year and she is eligible for an additional 6 percent “merit pay” ($11,700) on top of her $195,000 salary. Ahmed also receives an additional $24,000 per year for overseeing the district’s Recreation Department.
This isn’t the first time the board has failed to meet. During the past year, the board has canceled four of their regular monthly meetings, and six of their monthly committee of the whole meetings.
In both July and November, the board failed to meet at all during those months, which appears to be a violation of a state law which requires boards of education to meet at least once a month.
Boardmembers could face misdemeanor charges, and, if found guilty, could each be fined $500, or jailed for up to three months, or both.
The board could still schedule a special meeting before the month ends. The board had previously cancelled their monthly committee of the whole meeting for December.
After waiting 45 minutes, teachers and district staff members filed out of the board’s meeting room, uttering comments like “this is a joke” and “unbelievable.”
The Review has previously reached out to Aiyash, who is the sister of State Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D) who is from Hamtramck, and Hadwan about the board’s previous cancelled meetings, but they did not respond.
Aiyash missed just about every board meeting in 2022 without an explanation, and Boardmember Watson has not attended a meeting since February.
Earlier in the year, the board awarded itself pay raise of over 700 percent. For most of them, that equals $6,000 a year.
Boardmember Farris said that by increasing the board’s pay, more qualified candidates will seek office. This is his first year as a boardmember.
Posted Dec. 15, 2023