School district’s lawsuits have become a financial drain

For the Hamtramck Public School District, about $1 million has been spent on legal fees for the past four years. The district is facing about a dozen lawsuits, including one filed by Superintendent Jaleelah Ahmed.

By Charles Sercombe
Over the last four years, taxpayers have paid out almost $1 million to cover legal fees for the Hamtramck Public School district.
The Review recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see how much the district has been billed for legal fees since the year 2020.
The district, however, did not provide a breakdown on what each bill was for specifically, other than general legal fees.
Hamtramck’s schools are now facing about a dozen lawsuits from former staffmembers, parents of special needs students and even the district’s own superintendent, Jaleelah Ahmed.
Ahmed filed a federal lawsuit against the district, the teachers’ union and several board of education members after she was placed on suspension in 2022.
In her lawsuit, Ahmed alleges defamation, a conspiracy to fire her, and violating various federal discrimination laws.
This lawsuit is still pending.
Some former staffmembers are suing for being forced out of jobs, citing a “toxic” work environment created by Ahmed and some of her former appointees.
“The current BOE and superintendent have been nothing short of intentional in their deconstruction of individuals and central office teams,” said Heather Dorogi, the district’s former student coordinator, in her resignation letter to the board of education.
In all, there were 333 legal bills submitted to the district, totaling $993,046.
Toni Coral, president of the Hamtramck Federation of Teachers, told The Review that the cost of the legal fees “makes me sad and angry.”
She added: “Things do not have to be this way, but when the Board has provided such poor leadership and guidance, it’s not surprising that there has been fire after fire and a fairly consistent level of chaos.
“When I think about $1 million, I think about the repairs that could’ve been done to our aging and historic buildings. The auditorium at the high school could have been completely refurbished, for example.”
According to school sources, the number of lawsuits has led to a change in the district’s insurance policy, which now demands that the district pay the first $250,000 per lawsuit settlement because of the number of lawsuits filed against it.
Prior to all of these lawsuits, the district was responsible for paying the first $25,000 per lawsuit.
Ahmed had been on a second medical leave for the past month-and-a-half; a leave which she took soon after getting a poor work evaluation from the school board.
The board had given her a rating of “minimally effective.” The board did not explain their decision.
“Minimally effective” is one step up from the poorest job evaluation of “ineffective.”
This rating by the board meant that Ahmed will not get an automatic one-year contract extension, nor a “merit” bonus worth $11,700. In order to qualify for that merit pay, Ahmed had to get an evaluation of “effective” or “highly effective.”
Ahmed was scheduled to return to work on Monday, March 11, but she extended her latest leave of absence.
The evaluation came as a surprise to some in the district, considering that, just several months before, the board had welcomed her back with a $50,000 a year salary hike, and her contract was extended to 2027.
Her yearly salary is now $195,000, plus an additional $24,000 for overseeing the recreation department.
Posted March 15, 2024