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.
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