School board will look into an attendance policy for its members

The Hamtramck School Board is considering a policy on boardmember absences. File photo

By Charles Sercombe
The Hamtramck Board of Education wants to do something about its poor attendance record.
Last year, the board failed to meet at least once in three separate months. Some of those meetings were canceled ahead of time, but there has also been another nagging reason: not enough board members show up in order to call a meeting to go forward, and some miss meetings for months on end.
According to state law, public school boards are required to meet at least once a month, and violations of the law include a fine and jail time.
One boardmember, Regan Watson, has not attended a meeting since last February; nor has she provided a reason for her absences.
Board President Jihan Aiyash missed just about every meeting in 2022. Aiyash says she notified the then-Board President, Sal Hadwan, that she would not be attending.
However, Aiyash never explained her absences to the public, nor would she answer emails from The Review about those missing meetings.
The board does not have a policy on absences in its bylaws – something that most public bodies do have.
In Watson’s case, she stopped attending after the board stripped her of the title of board treasurer after initially re-appointing her to that role at an earlier meeting last year.
Aiyash says she has tried contacting Watson in various ways and has yet to get a response. Watson has also not replied to The Review for an explanation.
“Regan Watson has been completely ineffective since she checked out,” Aiyash said. “She has not responded to calls or texts or emails from me, from the superintendent’s office, from the superintendent’s secretary. I know she’s around. I know she exists.”
Posted Feb. 2, 2024