JACKSON, MI - Jackson Public Schools’ Board of Education has approved hiring a third party to investigate Superintendent Jeff Beal’s comments to a board member following the board’s Jan. 18 meeting.
The school board voted 4-2 on Tuesday, Feb. 15, in favor of hiring an investigator to look into a complaint regarding “comments between Superintendent Jeff Beal and Board Trustee Kesha Hamilton,” JPS Spokesperson Kriss Giannetti said.
Hamilton was the person who made the complaint.
The decision to investigate the exchange between Beal and Hamilton was reached after the school board deliberated in closed session, with the school district’s attorney recommending it hire a neutral party to investigate the exchange. Giannetti said the district is cooperating with the investigation and offered no further comment.
Hamilton said she wanted an investigation to show fellow board members what had taken place in the discussion at the conclusion of the meeting between her and Beal and that she was “placed in a situation that made me feel very unsafe.”
Because the incident is now under investigation, Hamilton declined to speak specifically about what she and Beal discussed after the meeting.
“It was very important to let my colleagues as board members know what had occurred ... and the impact of that incident,” Hamilton said. “I needed them to know that because I don’t want it to continue. It was very impactful.”
Following the meeting on Jan. 18, Hamilton also alleged she and board member Libby Brown received “harassment and threats” from board member Erin White.
Hamilton said White “aggressively” approached her and Brown after the meeting, informing them he would continue to address any concerns the two board members discussed that he deemed inappropriate.
“(White) insisted on invading (Hamilton’s) space and aggressively relaying his message of contempt, anger and disagreement with (Hamilton’s) performance in her role as a duly elected JPS board trustee,” Hamilton said Tuesday, reading from a letter describing the incident.
White apologized to Hamilton for his comments during the Jan. 18 meeting, noting he has no intention of having a public or private rift with Hamilton.
During the Jan. 18 meeting, White criticized Hamilton for what he described as a “very clear agenda” and “direct attack” on Beal’s career when she questioned why the board wasn’t pursuing more “smart” and “measurable” goals for the district’s leader.
“I do apologize, but also, the board understands and many other people understand the content behind what I said,” White said. “There’s certainly some some validity behind that.”
White later added he agreed with conducting an investigation into the exchange between Beal and Hamilton as a “best course of action,” based on the recommendation from legal counsel.
Hamilton has raised issues in recent months with Beal, including questions about his compensation and yearly base salary increases and the scope of the board’s 2022 goals for him, speaking at length about the need for each goal to be “measurable.”
As an example, she said the goal to create a friendlier, more inviting and inclusive volunteer policy would not be able to be measured when the COVID-19 pandemic is limiting the number of people volunteering or entering school buildings.
Regarding the board’s goal for diversity, equity and inclusion, Hamilton said she believes JPS hasn’t done enough with the information it has from an equity audit it performed a few years ago.
Hamilton first raised issue with Beal’s compensation during the December vote on his evaluation, voting against him receiving a one-year contract extension and a 2% increase in base salary.
She questioned if it was fiscally responsible, noting that in previous contracts there was a “raise being requested that was not listed in the contracts each year,” while also noting she didn’t believe Beal should have received a pay increase after his evaluation rating went from “highly effective” last year to “effective” this year.
Beal previously said all of his contracts and subsequent pay raises have been approved by the board.
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