School board members may face penalties for not meeting

During the past year the Hamtramck School Board has cancelled 10 meetings. During two months of this year, the board did not even meet at all. That may have violated state law.

By Charles Sercombe
Did the Hamtramck Public School Board of Education violate its own policy – and possibly state law – by not holding any meetings for two separate months this year?
The HPS Board of Education canceled four of their regular monthly meetings this year, and six of their monthly committee of the whole meetings.
On two of those months, July and November, the board failed to meet at all.
That appears to violate the board’s own policy for holding “regular” meetings (section 0164.1), which states:
“The Board shall hold a meeting once each month on a date and at a time and place determined annually by a resolution of the Board.”
The Michigan Department of Education told The Review that according to state law (MCL 380.11a(6)) school boards must follow this requirement:
“Regular meetings of the board shall be held at least once each month, at the time and place fixed by the bylaws.
“Special meetings may be called and held in the manner and for the purposes specified in the bylaws. Board procedures, bylaws, and policies in effect on the effective date of this section shall continue in effect until changed by action of the board.”
Also, according to state law (MCL 380.1804), there are consequences for not holding a monthly meeting:
“Except as otherwise provided in this act, a school official or member of a school board or intermediate school board or other person who neglects or refuses to do or perform an act required by (the Revised School Code), or who violates or knowingly permits or consents to a violation of (the Revised School Code), is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not more than $500, or imprisonment for not more than 3 months, or both.”
While there is a possibility of a fine and jail for board members, the Michigan Department of Education concedes it has no enforcement power.
Instead, the law calls for enforcement by “local law enforcement or the Michigan Department of the Attorney General. Also, an aggrieved party may file a civil lawsuit in a bid to compel the local school board to follow its own bylaws, as applicable, and this provision of state law.”
The Review reached out to Board President Jihan Aiyash and Vice President Salah Hadwan for comment, but they did not respond.
The board has also come under criticism by the Hamtramck Federation of Teachers, who recently held a protest outside the district’s administrative office, where board meetings are usually held, demanding that board members do their work.
“They are not doing their job. We want the board of education to remember we show up when they don’t show up,” said HFT President Toni Coral.
Coral told The Review that she has alerted the state Attorney General’s Office for the board’s failure to meet.

After the beginning of this year, Hamtramck School Board members gave themselves a yearly salary raise of over 700 percent, justifying it by saying that it would attract quality candidates to run for the offices.
Board members had previously been paid a nominal $700 a year,but raised it to $6,000 a year per member, with the board president getting an additional $1,000.
After rewarding themselves with a salary hike, the board then mysteriously canceled one meeting after another.
Coral said boardmembers owe it to the community to “Give back the money.”
The board’s lack of meetings also comes at a time when the district is facing two serious financial blows.
Voters have twice now rejected a request by the district for a 3-mill tax renewal that would have continued to raise $750,000 a year, for the next 10 years, for building maintenance.
Also, the district has suffered a sharp decline of over 100 students enrolled this year, which translates into a loss of about $1 million in state revenue, based on student population in the district.
Posted Dec. 8, 2023