Parents concerned about GRPS administration turnover

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A number of Grand Rapids Public Schools parents are concerned about turnover in upper-level district leadership just a month before the start of the school year.

In particular, the departure of GRPS director of communications and external affairs Leon Hendrix has prompted outcry among some parents.

Hendrix previously worked for News 8 as a reporter and anchor. He declined to comment for this report.

Documents (PDF) obtained by News 8 through a Freedom of Information Act request show Superintendent Leadriane Roby moved to fire Hendrix in late March, citing insubordination. Roby wrote in a termination letter that Hendrix spoke poorly of GRPS and was “undermining the direction of the District and the work being done by (the superintendent) and the executive team as a whole.”

Specifically, the letter referenced a conversation Hendrix had with Lucas Leverett, an outspoken critic of GRPS and owner of a website calling for the firing of Larry Johnson , the district’s chief of staff and public safety director.

The letter said Hendrix “informed him (Leverett) that I (Roby) believe his actions were motivated by race; questioned whether (Leverett) believed (Roby) should be terminated; and suggested permitting Larry Johnson, Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Public Safety and School Security to resign from his position would be an appropriate court of action.”

Leverett refuted the claims.

“The words themselves were definitely misconstrued,” he said. “The conversations I had with Leon were the kind of conversations the person responsible for community engagement and public relations should be having.”

The documents show Hendrix had argued that he was the target of retaliation because of disagreements with district’s deputy superintendent for preschool-12 learning and leadership, Brandy Lovelady Mitchell. In a letter to the district human resources department, Hendrix argued Mitchell’s behavior was “disrespectful, demeaning, and in some cases intimidating to members of our team.”

Mitchell is on administrative leave as those claims of hostility are investigated.

PARENTS: GRPS ‘PREVENTING WANTS OF COMMUNITY’

Leverett and a group of concerned parents had planned to attend a Monday special work session regarding Hendrix’s pending termination to support him. On Friday, News 8 learned that the district and Hendrix reached a tentative agreement to mutually part ways. The special meeting was subsequently adjourned.

“GRPS would like to thank Mr. Hendrix for his contributions to our district over the past two years,” a spokesperson for GRPS said. “GRPS remains committed to open and transparent communication with our scholars, families, staff, and community.”

News 8 on Monday submitted open records request to learn about the terms of Hendrix’s settlement.

Parents upset about Hendrix’s departure said that the separation deal means that “yet again, the district (found) a way to prevent the wants of the community, staff and parents.”

The “tentative departure” means Hendrix joins a slate of key leadership players who News 8 has learned are leaving GRPS ahead or at the start of the next academic year: district general counsel Anya Lusk, director of health services Kim Baron and director of professional learning and curriculum Erich Harmsen.

While some have already accepted jobs at other institutions — including Harmsen, who will serve as the superintendent of Crossroads Charter Academy in Big Rapids — sources alleged to News 8 that the turnover is due, in part, to a hostile work environment created by top leadership, specifically Roby and Johnson.

“It’s concerning. It says a lot to me as a parent, but I also back them (the people who are leaving),” said Sarah Sak-Smith, a former PTA president who has a student at C.A. Frost Environmental Science Middle High School. “I support them because I think it says a lot of what is happening specifically within (the administration) building.”

A GRPS spokesman said that the district does not discuss personnel matters. However, the spokesman did tell News 8 that a third-party investigation requested by Hendrix did not substantiate his allegation of retaliation by Roby.

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