By ELIZABETH FERSZT
Contributing Writer
Jackson Public Schools Board of Education held its regular meeting Tuesday night where they removed Board Member Derek Dobies from his position as vice president, by his own motion to resign, but did not remove him from the board entirely.
But before that drama, a lengthy presentation was given from JPS College and Career Training Representative, Nancy Louis Peters, about JPS graduation rates, and FAFSA completion rates – which were at 75% to 80% across diverse socio-economic and diverse ethnic, racial, or demographic backgrounds, and those chronically absent; the board heard responses and comments from newly appointed Superintendent Jeremy Patterson.
Various citizens attended the public comment section before the Dobies issue.
When his agenda item came up, Dobies spoke clearly about his missteps and said he wanted now “to focus on the work.” He said he had apologized to all board members about his edits to the contract for Superintendent Patterson and tried to explain that he assumed they had read the edits.
Dobies was referring to language he had inserted unilaterally into the recent employment contract for the newly hired superintendent of JPS. The wording or language obligated the superintendent to also join or participate in a professional trade or labor union, the American Federation of School Administrators.
According to reporting from Luke Moorehead at WKHM, “AFSA is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO of Michigan, a labor union of which Dobies is chief of staff, which raised concerns that Dobies’ vote to ratify the contract presented conflict of interest and ethics problems.”
Dobies said that joining with AFSA, the normal bargaining unit for public school teachers and administrators, would simply foster a “collaborative culture” and “improve labor relations.” He said there was no monetary gain involved.
Dobies cited various policy rules, and other rules such as JPS Policy 144.3, MCL 1203, part B(1) –triggered by financial interest, “I received no financial gain” Dobies said. “I don’t own stock in the corporation.” He said that he “did not violate the ethics policy because he did not have conflict of interest.”
“There is not a direct conflict of interest on employee teachers – they only pay 40 cents per paycheck for the teachers union; this is essentially moot.”
Dobies again apologized openly to the Board. Yet a board member said it took him two weeks to call board members, and “there is no gotcha in good faith bargaining.” She said he did an interview with M-live – “to throw President Hunt under the bus” – regarding the altered contract language, shortly after it was found out.
Other board members or Trustees agreed, but some noted that in stripping him of his leadership role as vice president and prohibiting him from holding other offices within the school board other than Trustee, was enough.
The Board then voted to censure (or publicly rebuke) Dobies for his actions in altering the contract of Jeremy Patterson, who himself said he did not feel compromised by it.
Dobies will retain his seat as JPS Board of Education Trustee but has been removed from VP office and censured on the record.
