As the Tuesday, November 5 General Election draws nearer, the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) School Board race will be a contest of interest to Detroit voters, especially those with children attending city public schools. And the stakes couldn’t be higher, as 22 candidates will run for three seats to round out the seven-member school board.
Current school board members who did not file for reelection by the Tuesday, July 23, 2024 deadline based on personal reasons are Misha Stallworth (board vice-president) and Sonya Mays (treasurer). Both were elected to the school board in 2020 as the top two vote-getters. Their terms will end on Dec. 31, 2024. In addition, incumbent board member Sherry Gay-Dagnogo is running for reelection because her term also ends on the last day of 2024.
Four of the seven board members who are not running for reelection in this year’s general election based on the end dates of their respective terms are Angelique Peterson-Mayberry (board president, term ends 12.31.2026), Dr. Iris Taylor (secretary, term ends 12.31.2026), LaTrice McClendon (term ends 12.31.2026), and Bishop Corletta J. Vaughn (term ends 12.31.2026).
According to the Office of The Wayne County Clerk, the 22 candidates running in the general election are Monique Bryant (nonprofit executive, District parent), Sherisse Butler (executive director, City Year Detroit), Richard Clement (ran twice for school board), Nicole Conaway (former DPSCD teacher), Sherry Gay-Dagnogo (school board incumbent), Victor Gibson (former district teacher), Marie Hill-Nixon, Toson Knight (founder of mentoring program) Tabrian Joe (former reading interventionist in Highland Park), Christopher Johnson (president of the Bagley Community Council), Eugene Lewis, Jason Malone, Aliya Moore (education advocate and District parent), and Jennifer Nixon.
The candidate list also includes Faustine Onwvneme (District parent, founder of an organization’s local chapter empowering women and families), Benjamin Royal (former District teacher), Roger Short, Ida Simmons Short (former school board member), Tawanna Simpson (former school board member), Kenneth Snapp (charter school teacher), Jeremiah Steen (philanthropist and youth education advocate), and Boyd White III (attorney and pastor).
The philosophy for what makes an effective school board member varies, with the candidates defining their reasons and visions for running in their own ways.
“I believe that the critical factor in Detroit’s sustained revival is its ability to provide all of its citizens with a world-class quality education system, again,” said Attorney and Pastor Boyd White III. “I ‘get’ Detroit. I am a proud DPSCD alum and a community leader who believes in the potential of the District, its students, and families. I have the passion, experience, and vision to guide the District to greatness.”
Sherisse Butler, senior vice president and executive director of City Year Detroit, shares her reasons for running.
“We are running this race to ensure that the voices of parents, teachers, students, and administrators are elevated at the board table,” Butler said in a social media post. “We are running because every child, no matter which school they attend, deserves a highly trained teacher, a clean and safe building, and access to high-quality interventions. When parents, teachers, and administrators are united and work collectively, the school system is unshakable, and our children thrive.”
The incumbent, Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives (8th District), said her past experiences in Lansing as a lawmaker have helped her become an impactful school board member. She also points to her years as a no-nonsense science teacher in Detroit as giving her insight into the overall needs of schools, students, teachers, and staff.
“Education has always been the pinnacle of my leadership,” Gay-Dagnogo told the Michigan Chronicle. “I advocated for public education long before I was ever elected to the Michigan House of Representatives. I have always fought for our children and teachers on multiple levels.”
Gay-Dagnogo, who many call a skilled education reform strategist, continued.
“Equipping our students with tools they need for success means preparing them for the future,” she said. As technology continues to grow and change the world around us, our kids must have the opportunity to engage with STEM to be competitive. Our greatest responsibility is to educate and protect our most prized and promising asset – our children.”
Gay-Dagnogo’s promises made, and promises kept to empower Detroit public school students since first elected to the school board in 2020 haven’t gone unnoticed. Since launching her bid for reelection to the board, Gay-Dagnogo has picked up numerous major endorsements, including the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT), Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, The Teamsters, and Michigan’s 12th and 13th Congressional Districts.
Nevertheless, whoever is elected to fill the three school board seats must work in harmony with the four other members to complete DPSCD’s seven-person governing body. In essence, the school board is fundamentally a policy-making, legislative body rather than an administrative unit. However, the board’s working relationship with DPSCD’s Superintendent, Dr. Nikolai Vitti, is essential in continuing to rebuild and advance a school district once gripped by decline and disinvestment.
Under Vitti and the District’s Strategic Plan, student enrollment and achievement; attendance; teacher recruitment, retention, and pay; leadership development and stability; student programming, including the expansion of the arts; and financial stability have improved. Yet, more work must be done to improve the state’s largest school district, with roughly 48,536 students, of which about 82.1 percent are Black. However, could as many as three new school board members pose challenges to the superintendent and DPSCD’s quest for continuous growth?
Mario Morrow, president of Mario Morrow and Associates, LLC, a Southfield-based political, education, media, and public relations firm, said the following in an interview earlier this year with a news outlet committed to reporting on national, regional, and local educational issues and developments.
“New board members bring new ideas and visions, but there’s a learning curve, and new members must catch up quickly with how the board works and operates,” Morrow said. “And board members don’t always see eye to eye, and you will have differences. You’ll have people who disagree, which is a good thing, you know, in a democratic society. However, there has been a pretty stable board for some time that has pretty much all been on the same page.”
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