Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com

HARTLAND (WHMI) - The Hartland School Board met on Monday night, where the conversation turned to the district’s agreement with the Department of Justice regarding allegations raised by former Black students.

According to Jeff Scott, who plans to run for election to the Hartland School Board in the fall, Hartland Superintendent Chuck Hughes entered the agreement with the Department of Justice in 2022 without holding a vote beforehand.

"I just want to remind the public that in 2022, under the leadership of President Costa, Mr. Hughes signed a letter of agreement with the DOJ without it ever hitting the board table for a vote," Scott said. "I do commend President Glabach for upholding her promise to the community to not let this happen again. More than anything, I think this district should've included the proposed agreement in tonight's board package so this community knows what you're talking about and has a chance to comment. By hiding the agreement, you are only deteriorating public trust."

Hughes told WHMI’s Nik Rajkovic that the board was aware of his move to sign off on the letter of agreement.

“The Board of Education at the time were all 100% aware of what I was doing and that I was signing off on this, so it was not a surprise,” Hughes said. “The board was well aware that the superintendent was signing off on it, based on legal council advice and the collaboration with the DOJ at the time.”


In reaction to the statement that the board was “hiding the agreement” from the public, Hughes said the public has to trust the people that were voted in to keep the best interest of the district in mind while working on the situation.

“When working with a legal process such as this, it’s not necessarily going to be something that the whole public is going to be involved in all the intricacies of that work,” Hughes said. “They have to trust that the members that they have put into office have the capability to provide direction and make decisions in the end by adopting such a legal document.”

A former student and her guardian filed a complaint against the district under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Michigan. The complaint alleged that “the District failed to address pervasive race-based harassment of the student and other Black students in the district.”

Title IV allows the Department of Justice to “address complaints that a school is depriving students of equal protection based on race, color, and other protected characteristics,” the press release said.

The district fully cooperated with the investigation and took steps to address concerns that were raised. Steps included forming a “School Board-level Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee, instituting training for staff and students, revising internal policies and practices regarding teh investigation process for allegations of harassment, and adding counseling and social work staff,” according to the statement.

During his comments, Scott spoke about an alleged request from Hughes for over $200,000 to hire a liaison to meet with the DOJ.

"I would also like to remind everyone that last July Mr. Hughes addressed the community and asked for well over $200,000 to hire a DOJ liaison, citing the need to impress the DOJ. Obviously, that didn't work too well. I'm wondering if we can get our money back. Since the public has no idea what you're looking at tonight, I guess all I can ask is that this administration keeps the public better informed moving forward than you have with the previous DOJ agreement.”

In response to the $200,000, Hughes said the $200,000 was the salary and benefits for a position that not only encompassed the liaison position, but several other responsibilities for the district as well.

“Not only was that person going to be the liaison with the DOJ, the district had hired two resource officers and four school safety officers that that person was going to oversee and put that program in place,” Hughes said. “Also, that person was assigned to taking care of all the safety drills and safety issues of the district. They also took over the truancy and attendance issues in the school district for the year, and they were being prepared to take over the assistant superintendent for personnel and student services position. This was a one year transition that the board agreed on. We put that into place. That person, Ms. Kate Gregory, is now our Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and Student Services. The position was cut because we no longer needed it.”

Towards the end of the meeting, the board held a vote on holding a closed session to meet with their attorney.

“I move that the Board of Education meet in closed session with its attorney to hear an update about the status of and the potential for accepting and entering into an extension to the monitoring agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice for which the matter remains open,” School Board Vice President Kristin Coleman said.

The motion was voted for unanimously.

The public was told that the board members would return to adjourn the meeting, but wouldn’t be holding any votes.

Hughes said the district plans to continue to offer support and education to students and parents about the policies the board has regarding harassment, bullying, discrimination and hazing.

“We’re going to deal with them at a level that says ‘this is not acceptable in Hartland Schools’” Hughes said. “Every child, regardless of their background, every child without exception, has the right to feel safe and welcome in every one of our schools. We will take that seriously.”

The next meeting will take place on September 16.