Grosse Pointe superintendent leaving role at embattled district

Grosse Pointe Woods ― The Grosse Pointe Public School System's superintendent announced his retirement from the district Wednesday, following months of fighting between a deeply divided school board and administrators over details of the district's budget and other priorities.

Jon Dean's retirement, effective June 30, 2024, was announced after a closed session of the board. He will remain superintendent until Aug. 31, then stay on with the district as a consultant until the end of June.

Dean became superintendent in May 2021 and has been with Grosse Pointe schools since 2012, working as deputy superintendent for educational services for nine years.

"I will always be grateful for our GPPSS teachers and administrators," Dean said in a statement to the district community Wednesday night. "They have made this place special for me and my children and will continue to make this a special place for all our students. I will continue to be a champion and supporter of this district. I am fortunate to have had the amazing opportunity to live and serve in this community."

The board of education met Wednesday in a closed session, emerging after 8 p.m.

Board president Ahmed Ismail said Dean came to the board with a retirement proposal seven days ago, the board did not come to him seeking one.

“He is retiring from K-12 education. He is an adjunct professor at Wayne. I understand he is awesome at it and I think it is something he wants to pursue,” Ismail said of Dean's departure. “I’m going to miss him. I had a good relationship with Jon. I think he is a fine person. He will do well at whatever he does.”

Trustee Colleen Worden told the board on Wednesday she is vehemently opposed to Dean leaving. She voted no on accepting his retirement.

“It is irresponsible to let a highly effective superintendent who has served with grace and intelligence, and dedicated, to let him go like this. Be driven out. Especially two weeks before school,” Worden said. 

The board voted 4-2 to hire Christopher Fenton as interim superintendent starting Sept 1. Ismail said Fenton is a former deputy superintendent who expressed interest in the job.

Some board members took issue with Ismail offering up Fenton as a candidate in a motion before the board could discuss the issue.

"We are a board of seven people," Wordon said. "We should have an open discussion about it ... it's another series of secret meetings."

Also departing the district is Rebecca Fannon, its spokesperson, who has taken a communication job with the West Bloomfield district, and deputy superintendent Amanda Matheson, who is taking a post in northern Michigan.

All three departures come after months of division between the board and administration over details of the school budget and other district priorities.

Public meetings have gone nine hours and have included pickets and protests from teachers. Dean is a former high school math teacher who served as an elementary principal in several districts and served as an assistant superintendent for human resources in a Metro Detroit school district.

Dean, who has a doctorate from Wayne State University and a degree from Saginaw Valley State University, earned $289,603 a year as superintendent.

Fannon has worked for the district for 18 years and earned $83,467 a year. Her resignation is effective Sept. 8.

A small group of parents, taxpayers and the media gathered at Barnes Elementary School for the meeting, including Kelly Larson, a member of Alliance for GP Public Schools, a grassroots group of concerned parents.

"We kind of saw this coming once the election happened and so wanted to see what we could do about it," Larson said. "Traditionally, folks don't worry about the school board. We never had to before."

In January, the board rejected plans for a youth health clinic at Grosse Pointe North High School, despite angry objections from some in the community.

"This is not OK, the chaos they are causing ... I printed out our administration page for this school system and half of these folks are either leaving or gone," Larson said. "Not only is it upsetting, but it's unacceptable."

Asked what she felt she could do by being at the meeting, Larson said to ask for change.

"We need to be more inclusive and put the kids first," she said.

The district's $103 million annual budget for the next school year includes the elimination of 15 teaching positions, an end to Spanish instruction in grades three and four, and communications job cuts. It adds $10,000 for an enrollment marketing study and $35,000 for a branding study.

Budget cuts are being driven partly by a decade-long enrollment decline in the Wayne County district, which has steadfastly rejected opening itself to non-district residents through schools of choice as a potential way to boost enrollment.

The Grosse Pointe district had about 6,636 students and received $10,350 per pupil in funding for the 2021-22 school year. GPPSS has lost 20% of its enrollment in the last decade and expects enrollment to decline every year for the next four years to an estimated 5,667 students.

Last month, board members debated three plans to cut $3 million to $5 million from next school year's budget, drawing opposition from district residents, principals, teachers, students and parents during a more than nine-hour meeting on May 22. Proposed cuts that affected the classroom came under the most scrutiny.

In March, the district saw its bond rating downgraded, driven by continued enrollment declines and a board decision to dip into the fund balance to maintain programming and staffing levels. District officials said its 2021 fund balance of $14.85 million declined to $9.68 million as of June 30, 2022.

The Grosse Pointe Public School System Board of Education's $103 million annual budget for the new school year eliminated 15 teaching positions, which came on top of 19 retirements and 34 resignations from members this year, including some who accepted jobs in other districts, said Taryn Loughlin, the union's co-president.

Meanwhile, the Grosse Pointe Public School System and the Grosse Pointe Education Association reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement for the 2023-24 school year.

The first day for students is Sept. 5.