June 8, 2009



Detroit school board hopefuls no strangers to controversy

Audit accusation, lawsuit, takeover could be issues

BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER All three candidates seeking appointment tonight to the Detroit Board of Education have been involved with lawsuits or controversy in the troubled school district.
The candidates are Sandra Campbell, an accounting vendor implicated in negative high school audit findings; Sharon Kelso, who sued the Detroit Public Schools district in a case that ended random weapons sweeps, and Anthony Adams, the former deputy mayor under Kwame Kilpatrick who was general counsel for the school district during the state takeover, which lasted from 1999 to 2005.
The board called a special meeting tonight to vote to fill the seat representing District 5 that was left vacant when Joyce Hayes-Giles resigned last month.
Board member Margaret Betts, who lives in District 5, said Campbell and Adams have expertise that can help the board. "They're still using her, so they must find some value in her work," Betts said of Campbell, who is still on the district's vendor list. "Kilpatrick had some good people. They shouldn't all be painted with that same brush," she said of Adams.
Board member Annie Carter said she would support Kelso. She said Kelso stood up for children.
Campbell has been an accounting vendor at several schools, including the former Redford High, where an audit showed almost $200,000 in missing and misappropriated funds in 2004. Auditors reported that Campbell's company, Pacemaker Accounting PC, was overpaid $8,250. Pacemaker also was the bookkeeper at Mackenzie High in 2006, where an audit showed improvements, but noted documentation was missing.
Campbell said DPS failed to notify her and school staff of new procedures. She denied that she overcharged or that her work led to the audit problems. "I can only tell the principals what to do; I can't control them," she said.
"The board needs someone with my skill set," Campbell said. "There are different questions an accountant can pull out. I know the procedures."
Kelso was one of several parents who sued DPS for violating students' rights during a random weapons sweep at Mumford High. The district settled in 2006, agreeing to stop the practice. "I haven't had anything to gain personally," she said of her involvement with DPS. "For the past 25 years, I've been fighting for the rights -- academic rights, constitutional rights -- for students to be treated fairly."
Adams said he's proud of working in the state takeover of the school district and the Kilpatrick administration.
"What better person to have at the board than a person who served the board in numerous capacities, who really understands the relationships, what problems existed and what problems can be solved?"
The board is to meet at 6 p.m. at the district's Welcome Center, 3031 W. Grand Blvd. Contact CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY: 313-223-4537 or cpratt@freepress.com


Why is Sandra Campbell being considered if she is under contract with DPS? Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?