Governance gets Reprieve

Judge refuses to remove Highland Park schools manager

But he’s willing to hold a hearing

By Melanie D. Scott Free Press Staff Writer

   MASON — An Ingham County circuit judge denied a request seeking to immediately remove Highland Park schools emergency manager Jack Martin for a second time, but he said he was willing to conduct a hearing on the issue.

   Chief Judge William Collette said Thursday he would not remove Martin and would allow him to finish the school year, but he said Martin’s reinstatement as emergency manager deserves a closer look.  

   Gov  . Rick Snyder appointed Martin to head the financially strapped school district in January but asked him to step down weeks later after Collette ruled the state financial review team, which advised Snyder to appoint an emergency manager, violated the Open Meetings Act.

   Collette’s decision made Martin’s appointment invalid. The review team reconvened publicly and again declared a financial emergency in the Highland Park district. Snyder reappointed Martin on March 2.

   Highland Park school board Secretary Robert Davis, who filed the lawsuit alleging the Open Meetings Act violation, said Martin should not have been reappointed.

   “This is not a loss,” Davis said. “The judge just set it for a hearing and invited us to argue all of the issues.”

   Martin did not return calls seeking comment.

   Highland Park parent La-Keisha Brown said she was pleased with Collette’s decision to leave Martin to run the struggling district.

   “The kids have been through enough, and sometimes I think they get lost in the legal stuff,” Brown said. “They should let him finish the school year.”

   Collette said he was not prepared to remove Martin but will allow for a hearing because he thought the review team had a term of 60 days. He was under the impression that when the team reconvened, the members’ terms had expired.

   But Assistant Attorney General Michael Murphy said the review team does not operate on terms and members serve at the will of the governor.

   Collette said that was the opposite position taken by attorneys representing the state in a previous hearing.

   “I have never seen a more convoluted change of position in any case,” Collette said. “The whole thing remains in existence when I was told it was out of existence.”

   A second issue on whether Public Act 4, the state’s emergency manager law, violates the Headlee Amendment also will be heard by Collette, said Andrew Paterson, Davis’ attorney. No date is set.

   Paterson said the Headlee Amendment prohibits the state from making local governments add new services or costs without a vote of the people. He alleges that by making Highland Park schools pay for Martin’s $100,000-a-year salary, the state is in violation of the law.

   “We were seeking an injunction from paying those costs,” Paterson said.

   ! CONTACT MELANIE D. SCOTT: 313-222-6159 OR MDSCOTT@FREEPRESS.COM  

Emergency manager Jack Martin

Governance: AAA or EAA? (But WHAT about the KIDS?)

Editorial

A sobering situation in Highland Park schools

   
What is to become of the poor Highland Park school district?

   The district got its most recent round of fixes Friday, as Gov. Rick Snyder reappointed Jack Martin to the position of emergency manager and then transferred most day-to-day personnel functions to the Detroit Public Schools for the remainder of the school year. Earlier in the week, the governor had arranged to get money to teachers and other staff who had not gotten their paychecks on time the week before.

   The fixes will get students through to June, but they don’t really solve anything. For small districts like Highland Park, the problems go beyond the steps even an emergency manager can take.

   Yes, Highland Park suffered from fiscal mismanagement, putting the district $1.7 million behind in its bills by last November, when Snyder first declared a financial emergency. And the district ran deficits in five of the last six fiscal years. Only 969 students remained as of November, down from more than 3,000 as recently as 2006.

   When you ask school districts to compete, there are going to be winners and losers. Highland Park looks like a loser. Yet what other district would want to merge with it, absorbing its debts and retirement burden? Nor is there precedent for simply leaving a geographic area unserved by a district, even though the Republican team in Lansing seems to prefer standalone charter schools and sometimes undercuts traditional school districts.

   In Highland Park, teachers and other staff deserve kudos for coming to work last week even though they did not get the biweekly paychecks due them Feb. 24. But more confusion may follow, as parents must decide whether to use the $4,000 bounty on each student’s head and leave for another district or charter school, using a list that was to be available to parents Friday.

   And what about next year? One solution might be to put Highland Park schools in the Educational Achievement Authority that Gov. Rick Snyder is trying to get in place by next fall. But many questions remain about its structure and financing — and whether it, too, will indirectly push more costs onto traditional districts.

   Highland Park’s payless payday stirred remarkably little controversy, perhaps on the assumption that it was a glitch. Perhaps, though, it’s the canary in the coal mine.

   When Kalkaska schools went broke nearly 20 years ago, school refinancing became a major topic in the state. Eventually, then-Gov. John Engler and the Legislature put together the plan now known as Proposal A and campaigned hard for its passage with voters in 1994.

   These days, districts fall into emergency management and still no one takes on the big questions, chief among them how to handle long-promised retirement benefits when fewer and fewer students attend the traditional district schools that have to cover the legacy costs. Nor is anyone asking whether Michigan should dismantle or rearrange school district boundaries or even abandon the idea of assigned neighborhood schools altogether. Certainly that’s where proponents of choice seem to be headed, without saying so forthrightly.

   Yet, in Highland Park and everywhere else in the state, there needs to be a school where, when you go, they have to take you in. Until Michigan’s leaders figure out how to make all this work, and chart a path from here to there, there is no good answer to the question of what to do about the poor Highland Park district.

Jack Martin

Quick-fix for Emergency!

DPS to co-manage Highland Park district

Agreement is aimed at helping students

By Lori Higgins Free Press Education Writer

   The troubled Detroit Public Schools district will co-manage the fiscally foundering Highland Park School District for the next four months under a new agreement announced Friday by the state.

   An agreement was signed Friday by Jack Martin, the newly reappointed emergency manager for the Highland Park district; Roy Roberts, emergency manager for DPS, and state Treasurer Andy Dillon.

   “This unique agreement will ensure that students, who did not cause the district’s financial emergency, will have the ability to finish the school year at HPS,” Dillon said in a news release.

   DPS — itself in financial and academic turmoil — started assisting Friday with the management and operation of the district, including handling personnel-related functions. Martin will continue to handle Highland Park’s financial issues.

   As for why DPS was chosen, despite its own problems, Sara Wurfel, spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Snyder, said there were multiple issues, including that DPS is already managing some services for Highland Park; the proximity of the districts, and because it ensures Highland Park kids can remain with their teachers and classrooms. Leadership also was key.

   “With Roy Roberts at the helm of DPS, he’s really making strides at turning things around, both financially and academically,” Wurfel said.

   But the move was criticized by Robert Davis, secretary for the Highland Park district’s Board of Education.

   “It’s an absolute joke,” said Davis, who has filed lawsuits against the state’s emergency manager law. “DPS has its own issues, and for them to try and enter into an agreement with a failing school district is kind of contrary to what he’s saying he’s about,” Davis said, referring to Snyder.

   Davis said he would decide by Monday whether to take legal action to challenge the agreement.

   Board President John Hollo-way declined to comment because he said he hadn’t heard about the agreement. The agreement comes amid deepening financial turmoil for Highland Park — which has an $11-million deficit — that resulted in employees not getting paid Feb. 24. They got paid Friday after the state decided earlier this week to give the district a $178,000 advance on its March 20 state-aid payment.

   Last week, Snyder signed emergency legislation that provides $4 million to allow students in the Highland Park district to complete the school year despite the district’s insolvency.

   The legislation provides a supplemental 2012 appropriation of $4,000 for each student enrolled in Highland Park, mon ey that could have been used to maintain current operations under new management or to follow students who transfer elsewhere.

   DPS will receive that $4,000 per pupil. Highland Park has 969 students, down from 3,179 in 2006.

   “Our mutual goal will continue to be to educate the children first,” Roberts said. “Detroit Public Schools is willing to fill a role as current legislation allows to ensure that Highland Park students can continue to learn in a stable and consistent fashion.”

   Martin, a certified public accountant and former federal education official, was reappointed Friday morning to his role as Highland Park emergency manager, at an annual salary of $100,000. Snyder first appointed Martin to the post in January. But a judge ruled recently — in response to a lawsuit Davis filed — that the state review team whose recommendations led to the appointment had violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.

   DPS has been under the leadership of an emergency manager since 2009 and is undergoing a comprehensive restructuring to improve achievement. DPS students have posted the worst scores on a rigorous national exam in recent years.

OTHER OPTIONS

   The state updated a website on Friday that it created to explain the crisis in the Highland Park School District with a list of nearby schools parents can send their children instead.

   The list, prepared by the Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency, lists the names of the schools and how many openings they have available at each grade level.

   Sixty schools are listed, many of them charter schools.

   To see the list, go to http://www.michigan.gov/highlandparkschools and click on “List of Schools With Openings in the Area.”

To the TEACHERS at Highland Park Schools (THANKS! We are not worthy)

Highland Park teachers, staff to get paid

District receives 2nd advance on state aid

By Lori Higgins Free Press Education Writer

   The Michigan Department of Education gave the Highland Park School District an advance on its state aid Wednesday, meaning employees will get paid Friday — a week late.

   The $178,000 advance on the March 20 state payment — the second advance the district has received this year — will provide a short-term fix to a financial crisis in the district that has led to an $11-million deficit.

   Despite the lack of a payday, employees came to work every day this week.

   More news could come Friday, the end of a seven-day waiting period Gov. Rick Snyder has to reappoint an emergency manager for the cash-strapped district. Earlier this year, he appointed Jack Martin, a certified public accountant and former federal education official. But that appointment was invalidated by a court ruling.

   For now, though, the focus is on paying staff.

   “The teachers of Highland Park have stepped up and shown extraordinary commitment to their students by coming in this week, even though they did not receive a paycheck last Friday,” state Superintendent Mike Flanagan said in a statement.

   “Neither the teachers or students are responsible for the financial mismanagement of the Highland Park School District. This action today acknowledges the efforts the teachers are putting forth.”

   The Department of Education said the $178,000 advance is being given with assurances from the district that the money will go toward payroll.

   Last week, the Legislature pushed through emergency legislation to provide $4 million to allow Highland Park’s students to complete the school year, despite the district’s insolvency. But that didn’t provide money to pay employees.

   “It’s a good thing,” John Holloway, president of the district’s Board of Education, said of the latest advance.

   The state appointed Martin as emergency manager in January and is going through that process again because a judge found that the state review team whose recommendations led to the appointment had violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.

   Holloway and board Secretary Robert Davis said the advance is a step the state needed to take.

   “The state only did what they should have done in the first place,” said Davis, whose lawsuit against the state’s emergency manager law prompted the court ruling.

   The district’s Board of Education approved a resolution Tuesday night requesting an advance of $248,000. The $178,000 the state is providing will be used with existing district financial resources to cover the payroll expenses of $237,000, according to the Department of Education.

   Asked what will happen for future payrolls, Holloway said he’s not sure. “We do not know at this point what the governance will be for this district,” he said.

   The governor’s office sent a letter to parents late last week, telling them they could decide in coming days to either have their child continue in the Highland Park district — which would be run by a different district or charter school operator — or have their child transfer to another district or school that has available space.

   Sara Wurfel, a Snyder spokeswoman, said the state is working with the Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency and others on a variety of fronts, “including compiling a list of all the area schools with available space to make it as easy as possible to know and consider their options.”

   The state has also launched a website to explain the financial emergency in the district, www.michigan.gov/highlandparkschools 

Payless Payday (#1)

Highland Park schools stay open; staff goes unpaid

By Bill Laitner Free Press Staff Writer

   The financially troubled Highland Park schools stayed open Friday, but teachers and other employees had a payless payday, as expected, amid a third day of confusion over who is running the district.

   “I feel fairly certain that they are going to get paid next week,” school board President John Holloway said.

   The leadership vacuum came after a lawsuit filed by school board Secretary Robert Davis forced Gov. Rick Snyder to suspend an emergency manager Tuesday whom Snyder appointed in January.

   Holloway said he was buoyed by Snyder signing legislation Friday aimed at keeping the district’s school buildings open for the rest of the academic year. The new law lets students stay in the Highland Park district or transfer to another that accepts them, financed by $4,000-per-student stipends that follow them.

   Yet Davis said he doubted there would be paychecks soon. In this week’s legislation, the state didn’t give the district a cash advance, as it did in January and earlier this month, Davis noted.

   Jack Martin, a Bingham Farms CPA who was the state-appointed emergency manager , was sidelined when a Lansing judge ruled that a state review team whose recommendations led to Martin’s appointment violated the state’s Open Meetings Act. The group met repeatedly behind closed doors, Davis’ lawsuit argued.

   The same team met publicly Wednesday, again recommending the appointment of an emergency manager. By law, it appears that Snyder can’t reappoint Martin until next week, state Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, said Friday.

   A website, www.michigan   .gov/highlandparkschools  , with updates on the situation and a video from Snyder, went online Friday.

Proverbial Reprieve (Letter from the Governor)

$4M to let Highland Park kids finish year

School board won’t oppose a reappointment of manager

By Dawson Bell and Bill Laitner Free Press Staff Writers

   Emergency legislation to provide $4 million to allow students in the Highland Park schools to complete the school year despite the district’s insolvency was approved Thursday by the Legislature. Gov. Rick Snyder will sign the measure into law “as soon as he gets it” on his desk, a spokeswoman said.

   The legislation provides a supplemental 2012 appropriation of $4,000 for each student enrolled in Highland Park, money that could be used to maintain current operations under new management or to follow students who transfer elsewhere.

   On Thursday night, the Highland Park school board voted not to oppose reappointment of an emergency manager to oversee the district — expediting a likely decision by Snyder, as early as today, to return outside oversight.

   The Legislature’s move was backed by Snyder and Republican legislative leaders who said it was the only viable option to keep Highland Park’s students in school with minimum disruption to their lives and education.

   Democrats, who voted almost unanimously against the bill, called the resolution shortsighted and ideological and predicted that chaos and uncertainty will continue.

   House Minority Leader Rep. Richard Hammel, D-Flushing, said Republicans rejected a proposal that would have allowed the Wayne County intermediate school district to assume operations in Highland Park, allowing students to complete the school year without changing schools and teachers.

   But the bill’s supporters said it would allow an outside entity, including an intermediate district, to take over the district under an agreement with Highland Park’s emergency manager. What Democrats objected to, according to Ari Adler, spokesman for House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, was also giving students the option to transfer to another district or charter school.

   Bolger and his House colleagues were adamant that no additional funding be provided to the Highland Park school board or administration.

   “We’re not going to obligate taxpayers to pay one more dime for a dysfunctional school district,” said state Rep. Al Pscholka, R-Stevensville.

   The district has an $11-million deficit, is under the on-again, off-again control of a state-appointed emergency manager and is unable to pay its bills. Employees are not expected to receive paychecks today as scheduled.

   Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said the governor was pleased by the action, but many uncertainties remain.

   “We’re trying to minimize disruption … and keep the kids in school … in their own buildings if possible,” Wurfel said. But she said there was no guarantee an alternative arrangement would be finalized quickly enough to avoid temporary suspension of classes.

   Legislative Democrats said they believed the district would be handed over to Detroit Public Schools, which also is in a financial crisis and under emergency management. In fact, Highland Park is surrounded by districts and charters in deficit. In addition to DPS, the Hamtramck Public Schools is in deficit, as is North Pointe Academy, a charter school.

   But before oversight could be transferred to any other entity, it’s almost certain to be returned to an emergency manager — and that could happen as soon as today, district officials and some state legislators said.

   “I can assure you, our message has gotten to Lansing,” Highland Park school board President Robert Holloway said Thursday night following the board’s 5-0 vote not to challenge reappointment of an emergency manager.

   “The rest is up to the governor. He could appoint someone at any time” to resume emergency control of the district, Holloway said. Parents and students in the audience said they wonder each day whether the schools will be open.

   “I’m just hoping I can finish my year here,” said Tiquarius Bell, 14, a ninth-grader at Highland Park Community High School.

   “I don’t know what to do,” said his mother, Veronica Brown, 32, who has four children in the district’s schools.

   Some in the audience opposed the board’s vote and castigated the board. “They say the teachers won’t get paid. … You should go to jail for that!” shouted Juanita Midds, 65, whose granddaughter is an 11th-grader.

   But more applauded the vote and called for reappointment of Jack Martin, a CPA named by Snyder last month to run the district who was removed when the appointment was ruled illegal under the state Open Meetings Act.

   The ruling to suspend Martin came after two lawsuits challenging the secrecy of the appointment process were filed by Highland Park school board Secretary Robert Davis, who skipped Thursday’s meeting. Davis skipped the meeting because his voting would have been a conflict of interest with his lawsuits, Holloway said.

   State Sen. Bert Johnson, who attended the board meeting, said he wasn’t happy to see the board cede control to Lansing. Earlier, at a Highland Park recreation center, Johnson led a meeting of speakers opposed to emergency managers. School officials could only have delayed, but not stopped, having an emergency manager reappointed, he said.

   The district’s officials are only partly to blame for the fiscal mess, added Johnson, who represents Highland Park, Hamtramck, Harper Woods, the Grosse Pointes and part of Detroit.

   “Just like in the Detroit Public Schools, there’s some mismanagement, some corruption, some long-standing abuses that everybody allowed to happen,” he said. “But the bigger problem has been long-term disinvestment,” he said, as the areas lost population, jobs and state revenue sharing.

   " CONTACT DAWSON BELL: 517-372-8661OR DBELL@FREEPRESS.COM  . LORI HIGGINS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.

State Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, said he wasn’t happy to see the school board cede control to Lansing.

Highland Park likely can’t pay teachers

Lawmakers won’t advance state aid

By Megha Satyanarayana and Dawson Bell Free Press Staff Writers

   Highland Park teachers likely will not get paid this week, and state lawmakers said Wednesday that the district won’t have access to state funds unless it reinstates its emergency manager.

   The latest twist comes amid continued legal wrangling about the validity of emergency managers and as — for the third time in six months — Highland Park Schools cannot meet its $220,000 payroll.

   After advancing the district its state aid payment twice to cover its expenses, lawmakers said they will not advance state aid a third time. The state Legislature is crafting a bill to either merge the district with another, or bring in charter operators.

   “We’re done dealing with the Highland Park school district,” said Ari Adler, spokesman for House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall. He said authorizing funds to be spent directly by district officials “is not going to happen.”

   Highland Park Schools came under state scrutiny in August, after multiple years of operating in a deficit. Although the district has shrunk from some 3,179 students in 2006 ago to 989 in January, spending per student has outstripped revenue and many of the district’s children are residents of Detroit.

   On Jan. 27, Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Jack Martin, former chief financial officer for the U.S. Department of Education, to run the district. Several days later, a school board member filed a suit alleging that meetings held by the financial review team that recommended an emergency manager were in violation of the open meetings act.

   Last Wednesday, a Lansing judge agreed with that assessment, invalidating Martin’s appointment. Lawyers on both sides are still trying to iron out the details of the ruling. In response, the state held a public meeting Wednesday for the financial review team to go over its findings again, and the team again recommended an emergency manager be placed over the district.

   At the meeting, members of the financial review team said that without an emergency manager, the district may not makeit through the school year.

   Treasury Department Spokesman Terry Stanton said it was unclear when Martin or another emergency manager would be reinstated.

   During his short tenure, Martin had kept the board and superintendent in their jobs, which Public Act 4 invalidates.

   “He didn’t come here with a big stick,” said board member Alma Greer. “We were working in collaboration. He was working with the citizens. This puts us in a precarious situation.”

   A district in limbo isn’t sitting well with students and their families.

   “I don’t want to repeat seventh grade again because of some choices that people made,” said Kiara Smith, 12, a student at Barber Focus School.

   Her brother, DeAndre Ross, 19, said he was concerned that switching schools mid-year would mess up his credits and keep him from graduating.

   Deputy Superintendent of the Michigan Department of Education Carol Wolenberg said the department would do its best to make any transition seamless for students.

   But Robert Davis, a Highland Park board member who filed a motion to halt the meeting Wednesday and who filed the open meetings act suit, said the financial review team’s recommendation is still invalid because the team met eight times.

   “They have to redo all eight meetings,” Davis said. “What the review team attempted to do today has no effect. This unlawful action will be invalidated as well.”

PUBLIC HEARING

   State Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, will hold a public hearing tonight in Highland Park to discuss state-appointed emergency managers.

   The hearing will be held at 6p.m. at the Ernest Ford Recreation Center, 10 Pitkin. It will include testimony by officials from Pontiac; Flint; Benton Harbor; Highland Park; River Rouge, and Detroit —all of which have emergency managers or are at risk of having one appointed.

   -BILL LAITNER

BOARD MEETING

   Highland Park Schools will hold a special board meeting today to discuss the recommendation that an emergency manager be reinstated. It will be at 7 p.m. at district headquarters, 20 Bartlett. For information, call 313-957-3000.

KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL/DETROIT FREE PRESS

   DeAndre Ross, 19, a student in Highland Park Schools, is concerned that switching schools mid-year might prevent him from graduating.

Do the Math

Highland Park schools might be shut down

Snyder: District down to its last $40,000

By Dawson Bell and Bill Laitner Free Press Staff Writers

   The Highland Park school district is on the brink of financial collapse and could shut down as early as next week without emergency intervention, Gov. Rick Snyder said Tuesday.

   Widespread and long-term mismanagement have left the district virtually broke, with only $40,000 on hand to meet the payroll Friday, Snyder told reporters in a briefing at the Capitol with state Superintendent Michael Flanagan, Treasurer Andy Dillon and Jack Martin, whose appointment as the schools’ emergency manager has been suspended as the result of a lawsuit over the process by which he was selected.

   “It’s a terrible situation,” Snyder said. “We’ve got to come up with an option for these kids. This is not business as normal at all.”

   Snyder and Flanagan said they will ask the Legislature for authority to contract with another school district or a charter school to operate Highland Park for the rest of the year. Such a contract could cost “several million dollars,” Snyder said.

   The governor also said he hopes to be able to reappoint Martin quickly.

   In the meantime, the district is back in the hands of the elected school board and superintendent.

   “If the Highland Park board has a solution (to meet payroll and other financial obligations), we’re happy to let them,” Snyder said.

   But Dillon said the district has not demonstrated the wherewithal to operate on its own. Twice this school year, the state has had to make accelerated school aid payments to Highland Park, he said.

   Although the district is among the highest-funded in the state, at about $14,000 per pupil per year, the district spends about $16,000 a year per pupil and finished the 2011 school year with an $11-million deficit, Dillon said.

   Highland Park also has seen a precipitous decline in enrollment, from 3,179 in 2006 to fewer than 1,000 now.

   Martin asked to meet with the board Tuesday evening to discuss the situation, said Robert Davis, a school board member and plaintiff in the lawsuit that challenged his appointment.

   Davis said the emergency manager process is “fatally flawed” and called on Snyder and administration officials to work with the district’s elected officials to address the crisis.

   If money is available to pay another district or charter operator to run Highland Park, why isn’t it available to pay the district to run itself? Davis asked. “Their actions show they would rather play politics … and just take over,” Davis said.

   Snyder and Flanagan said the crisis is complicated by the lawsuit Davis filed, challenging the right of state financial review teams to meet privately. An Ingham County judge ruled last week that the private sessions violated the Open Meetings Act.

   The review team is to meet publicly today in Detroit, and Snyder expressed confidence they would again recommend he appoint an emergency manager. But Snyder said it will take cooperation from the school board to get Martin back on the job quickly.

   Hours after Snyder’s announcement, four of the seven members of the Highland Park School board and Superintendent Edith Hightower met with Martin in the board offices.

   “Effective today, they are now back in charge of the school district,” he said, before sitting down with two board members at a time — avoiding a quorum of at least four that would violate the Open Meetings Act, he said.

   “My big concern is for (administrators) to talk to the teachers and let them know — this situation is not permanent, but we may be missing one payroll,” Martin said, while meeting with board members Alma Greer and Debra Humphrey. Teachers were to get paychecks Friday but likely won’t, he said. The last payroll was about $260,000, and the district could be short more than $150,000 of that, he said.

   “We’ve really borrowed all we can (from the state). It really is out of the governor’s hands until he sees where the Legislature stands” on extending further aid to the district, Martin said in a second meeting, which included board President John Holloway.

   Holloway and other board members agreed with Martin’s suggestion that the board call a special meeting for 7 p.m. Thursday to respond to whatever recommendation is issued today by the state financial review team. Holloway, 79, a former Highland Park police chief, said Davis’ lawsuits put the district’s leadership into temporary confusion.

   “He’d doing what any citizen has a right to do” in challenging the state law, Holloway said.

   Davis is a well-known activist whose lawsuits are known for challenging laws he considers anti-union.

   Several school board members said they were just getting to know Martin, a dapper Bing-ham Farms-based accountant, before Davis’ lawsuit led to Martin’s suspension Tuesday as the district’s emergency manager. Snyder appointed Martin on Jan. 27, but Martin’s authority was challenged after a judge ruled Feb. 15 that the appointment process was illegal.

   Board members said they were split on whether to accept Martin or anyone as financial manager, although he was given a mostly positive reception by parents and some board members in a meeting three weeks ago at Highland Park Community High School.

   “I couldn’t see anything but good coming” from his appointment, Humphrey said Tuesday, while awaiting her turn to meet with Martin. “He kept everybody informed (and) has not taken anything away from the district,” she said.

   Martin could have dismissed the school board but asked board members to keep meeting and advising him, she said. And he could have dismissed the superintendent, who said she earns $125,000 a year. Martin was paying himself at the rate of $100,000 a year to manage the district, he said this month.

   ! CONTACT DAWSON BELL: 517-372-8661

   OR DBELL@FREEPRESS.COM  

Gov. Rick Snyder says emergency action is essential to keep Highland Park schools going. “We’ve got to come up with an option for these kids,” he said Tuesday.