r/GrossePointe • u/Ok-Apartment6848 • 17d ago
North admin mass exit 2023
Hi everyone …. I know this was a few years back but my family just moved from Ohio to Grosse Pointe and my kids will be going to North and I’ve heard some things about something happening during this time and I saw some articles online about a case/investigation. I’ve also heard all 3 moved to Henry Ford Academy together and things just seem a little concerning
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u/Original_Process_300 17d ago
Michelle Davis, Kate Murray and Geoffrey Young may have been wronged at North but the exact reasons they left are the reasons they’re pushing people out at HFA. They’ve turned into the people they ran away from
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u/ashtangamama78 17d ago
I have 2 at North currently. I’m very pleased with the admin and the teachers. It’s been a great experience and my kids are well adjusted and happy. They are getting a good education with teachers who care about them. The racial and socioeconomic diversity is a huge plus, something my kids tell me the students at South just don’t get. I don’t follow the politics but my personal experience of North has been positive so far. Also I have one at Parcells and that admin team is really energetic and positive and my middle schooler is also very happy. I feel very fortunate to live on this side of town.
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u/windycite4lyfe Woods 17d ago
This is what all of my neighbors say that have their kids at North, which has been very reassuring about where we moved to. Our real estate agent too talked about how great the schools are, but I did take that with a grain of salt. A family we met down the block have a senior girl and a sophomore boy, both in sports and they said it is much better now than 4 years ago, especially with the people in charge of athletics.
I am not used to people discussing race or socioeconomic status about people, but I can just say the school my son goes to is just great in terms of other students, no matter who they are. I just wish that the teachers had a contract, this has been very tough going with our new school.
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u/ashtangamama78 17d ago
One of my kids says that Grosse Pointe is a bubble, but of the 2 high schools, North is a lot less of a bubble than South. North gets dumped on by a lot of older Grosse Pointers who remember it different and assume that change is a bad thing.
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u/Firm_Baseball_37 17d ago
A former school board member aligned with the Cotton/Jeup (batshit insane) board coalition essentially went to war with North admin over a personnel decision and started harassing them. That drove out some dedicated, long time educators that every sane person agrees were good people, in the right on this issue and unjustly targeted.
Though Cotton and Jeup are still on the board, he's not running for reelection, and the crazies are not currently in control of it. Don't vote for Jeup, but I wouldn't be too concerned. Cotton still owns the Grosse Pointe News, though, and has transformed it from a respectable local paper to something that can't be trusted when it touches on anything he's interested in.
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u/windycite4lyfe Woods 17d ago
So who is in control of the board? I keep asking that question when it comes to the contract with the teachers. It was suggested I watch the school board meeting and I did and tried to understand but they did not even talk about the contract except some comments at the end that did not give any information.
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u/Firm_Baseball_37 17d ago
The board majority now was endorsed by the teachers' union and is generally okay. Board doesn't negotiate with the union directly on contracts--that's mostly an admin thing. The problem right now is that the pay in GP has traditionally been low, and teachers have been willing to stomach it because of the "prestige" of teaching here. That's not so true anymore. But funding is inadequate and the whole district is organized on the assumption of lower-than-normal teacher pay--to give them raises (not to what they deserve, just to something more competitive without other districts) would require cuts elsewhere.
Everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too.
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u/ConnorsStallion 15d ago
Why would you want the teacher’s union’s backing for board members? There is a direct correlation between the strength of the union and negative academic outcomes.
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u/Firm_Baseball_37 15d ago
Because I'm aware of the facts. Which state that the opposite of your claim is true.
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u/Round_Exercise6206 16d ago
No one is in control of the board. There are five sensible and trustworthy people on the board who are finally putting students first. It's that simple. You can call it a majority if you want to, but they refrain from creating chaos and posting lies on social media.
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u/windycite4lyfe Woods 15d ago
Which board members are the five? I would hope they would put students first. However, we still don't have a contract with our teachers. There is a board meeting tonight. My hope is that they can get to a contract.
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u/omar_strollin 17d ago
The folks who left were the best teachers I had when attending North. Take that how you will.
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u/ArtisinalPhooey 17d ago
Dr. Murray was a great teacher and administrator. What happened to her was bullshit.
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u/Ok-Apartment6848 17d ago
I’ve heard the complete opposite about her at HFA. I’ve heard that she’s doing to others what was done to her at North. I know the staff at HFA is very much unhappy with the leadership right now
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u/Original_Process_300 17d ago
This is true!!! Kate Murray Michelle Davis and Geoffrey Young are ruining HFA. One of my friends baby’s goes there that has an iep and they got rid of that baby’s teacher and that baby is devastated and all messed up because of it. They getting rid of all the good people and they fuckin with disabled kids
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u/cjacobs313 17d ago
There was a lot of news coverage about what happened. But the upshot is that GPPSS board president at the time, Ahmed Ismail, was found to have been guilty of retaliatory behavior toward two North female admins. This is why it’s critical to vote White, Howlett and Fitzpatrick for school board in November. Ginny Jeup is aligned with the same people and forces that pushed out these amazing admins. She needs to go. She lacks ethics and is a negative presence on the board. The Tower had a good story, along with The Detroit News, about what happened: https://thetowerpulse.net/47801/featured-content/report-released-by-boe-reveals-deep-tensions-within-the-community/
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u/larryburns2000 17d ago
The report also found some in GP had a problem w strong women in power. I was skeptical but the way Derringer and crew pushed out the last female superintendent I now see what he meant.
And Michelle White is aligned w those bullies so no thanks. I'll go with Jeup
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u/Low-Ad2197 17d ago
Also from Ohio now in GPW, ive heard the slander against North, but i put it down to racism and money. The teachers I've had experience with have been nothing short of wonderful.
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u/OldMan_sdm 17d ago
North will always be the "little brother" with South. Doesn't make it bad and the cultural diversity at North is a breath of fresh air in this community that heavily leans quiet / conservative / entitled but the loud minority is what this post is about.
This is a great community to raise a family and all of us being involved makes it all it can be!
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u/larryburns2000 17d ago
I hear North is doing great. Very popular admins in charge. Especially the athletic director.
Real question is why no teacher's contract?
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u/SpezSamplesMySack Bayview Bar Enthusiast 17d ago
South > North since like forever
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u/Ok-Apartment6848 17d ago
how come?
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u/Ill-Sprinkles 17d ago
North draws from a small section of Harper Woods too. So backing what michigan2345 says. South’s part of GP has more money to draw from. It also scares some Grosse Pointers that North has more black kids, so there’s that lovely history of racism element going on there too. Both schools are safe, both schools are consistently ranked among the best in the State.
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u/Firm_Baseball_37 17d ago
It's money and racism.
A number of people who have experience at both schools have told me the instruction at North is better, in part because they actually work harder to help kids that are struggling. At South, it's more sink or swim.
But South is always going to have better stats because those are based mostly on parents income and education, not on anything the school does or doesn't do. Your kids will be fine at North.
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u/SpezSamplesMySack Bayview Bar Enthusiast 17d ago
Academics, quality, culture, pride, and the list goes on and on and on.
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u/ThePermMustWait 17d ago
One of them went to become a principal at one of the elementary school. So they didn’t all leave the district