The investigated director of Detroit will return to school, says DPSCD

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A headmaster in Detroit Public School, who has been on an administrative holiday for more than a month, will return to his management position next month.

Jeffery Robinson will return to Paul Robeson Malcolm X Academy on April 8, Chrystal Wilson, spokesman for the Community District Public School in Detroit Public Schools, told Bridgentroit. After the parents had taken care of Robinson's whereabouts, this has been made because he has been absent at school for weeks.

Melissa Redman, parent of the academy, often spoke about Robinson at the school authority on Tuesday at board meetings. She said that the parents had not been informed that the headmaster was transferred to administrative leave.

“No robocall was sent to our parents, so every day I have every day when I go to work, parents and children who ask me questions, and the only thing I can say is that he has an administrative vacation,” said Redman.

In a statement, Wilson said that the district “had carried out a thorough investigation into alleged misconduct in connection with the client Robinson”.

“The investigation made the results and concluded, among other things, that Dr. Robinson is still a leader at school,” the explanation said.

According to a report from the district, which has been removed from the DPSCD website since then, Robinson was examined after an employee had seen a student pulled along the hall of the K-8 school on her legs. The employee said that according to the document, the student was disturbed by the incident. Around January 29, the Department of District Employees received an e -mail from the Detroit Federation of Teachers about Robinsons.

During his investigation interview, Robinson admitted to packing the students on their legs and pulling them into the hallway, but said that this was “playful”, the report said. A district representative then asked Robinson what he would impart for his actions according to the document to the school employees and students. The headmaster said that people would see it as “silly with the girls of the seventh grade”, but added that he could see that his actions were unprofessional.

The agenda for the regular board meeting on Tuesday originally contained a recommendation for the board to suspend Robinson for 30 days, but this part of the agenda was removed before the meeting. Bridgentroit turned to Robinson to get a comment, but he did not answer calls or text messages.

Robinson is an expert in African-centered education in DPSCD and one of the original employees of the Malcolm X Academy, the country's first public-African-centered school, according to the school's website. Robinson taught Math and Computer Science for 18 years and received several awards, including the Milkken Educator Award of the Milken Family Foundation in 2001 and the Wayne County Resa Middle School teacher in 2003.

Robinson took on the role of the headmaster after the Paul Robeson Academy and the Malcolm X Academy, once a focus on African-centered education. Robinson, former teacher at Malcolm X, has been leading the combined school for about 15 years.

Robinson is also a member of the Detroit Reparations -sak Force, assistant professor for teacher training at Wayne State University, member of the NAACP Detroit branch and pastor of the Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church on the east side of the city.

In 2017, Robinson unsuccessfully ran as a writing candidate for the mayor of Detroit.

Robinson's absence issues questions

The community activist Helen Moore raised the question of Robinson's absence at a meeting of the Board of Directors' financial committee on February 26 and asked why he had been missing at school.

Superintendent Nikolai Vitti replied that the client “had accepted the administrative vacation until an investigation on the basis of an assertion of misconduct”. He added that the claim was “confirmed”.

“Now we are going through the investigation to determine what the right discipline would be,” he said at the financial assembly. “This process should be completed by the end of this week. I then have to include the board to understand what is the right degree of discipline and we should have this decision made by the March's board meeting.”

Parents Aiesha Brown was also frustrated about the lack of communication from the district. At the meeting on Tuesday, she said that Robinson has not been at school since January 31 and he was a father figure for both schoolchildren and some parents.

“There is a feeling for order when Dr. Robinson is in the building and since he's gone has chaos and disorder,” she said. “My son was affected by his absence because he was in times of stress and frustration according to Dr. Robinson could go, and Dr. Robinson was able to calm him down, get him back on the way and pay himself up so that he can have a productive day. He no longer has this safe space. ”

The former school authority candidate and educational provider Tabrian Joe also searched for answers to Robinson's whereabouts at the board meeting on Tuesday. He said Robinson saves African -centered education due to his role at the academy.

“You heard of many parents today,” he told the board. “You want him, you need him to continue the training that the students received. We want to answer. Be transparent. ”

Vitti said on Tuesday that the district tried to find a balance between communication with the parents and not too many details about the examination.

In her explanation, Wilson also said that prior communication was not sent due to the confidentiality in relation to employee matters and personnel files.

“To be honest, there is nothing to hide,” said Vitti at the meeting on Tuesday. “Conclusion: Dr. Robinson will stay with Paul Robeson Malcolm X and return to school in about two weeks.”

Lori Higgins, head of Chalkbeat Detroit Bureau, contributed to this story.