Bloomfield Hills Board of Ed appoints interim superintendent following controversy

The Bloomfield Hills Board of Education has voted to appoint Randy Liepa as acting superintendent starting Monday and becoming interim superintendent on Aug. 1, according to a district news release.

Liepa's appointment at a Thursday board meeting came three months after the previous superintendent Pat Watson announced his retirement in the wake of a controversy over remarks by a Palestinian American activist at a Bloomfield Hills High School diversity assembly in March.

The Board of Education has selected five candidates to interview next for the permanent position of superintendent — are James Woell, Carol Baaki Diglio, Nicholas Russo, Ernesto Matias and Roy Bishop.

The initial interviews will take place at meetings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday starting at 6 p.m., according to the district. At a special meeting on July 20, the board will decide which candidates will be invited to participate in a second and final round of interviews, which are scheduled for July 25-26. All interviews are public and will be live-streamed and recorded, the district said in a news release on Friday.

Students, staff and community members can participate in a question and answer session facilitated by the Michigan Leadership Institute before the final interviews between 1 and 4:30 p.m. on July 25-26.

Liepa, the newly appointed interim superintendent, has a combined 18 years of experience as a superintendent. He held the role for 12 years at Livonia Public Schools and for six at the Wayne County Regional Education Service Agency.

Watson led the school district for three and a half years and previously said he was retiring for personal reasons and to spend more time with family. Toward the end of his tenure, the administration faced backlash from parents, students and community religious leaders following a mandatory diversity assembly at Bloomfield Hills High School.

Local activist and lawyer Huwaida Arraf was invited to speak about her career campaigning for Palestinian human rights at the assembly, which was organized by students. The annual assembly was first organized in 2022 in response to a series of racist incidents at the high school in 2021 that prompted a walkout and community discussion.

Critics said Arraf deviated from the assembly prompts and that her remarks were antisemitic. After the incident, Watson apologized for what he called "antisemitic rhetoric" that was shared with students. Arraf maintains that she did not say anything antisemitic.

Amid the fallout from the assembly, the board hired Troy law firm Giarmarco, Mullins and Horton to investigate. It produced a report that found that the event lacked district oversight and involvement, "especially given the extremely complicated and highly charged issues that were going to be addressed," according to an executive summary of the investigation submitted to the board last month.

"The District, at all levels, should have been directly involved in the planning, vetting, and preparing for this event," the report said. "Two of the speakers never spoke with a single District staff member as part of the vetting process. Instead, all discussions were with students. Those same two speakers also failed to attend the pre-Assembly meeting, which should have been an immediate red flag for the District."

The school issued a public statement on the day of the assembly. The day after, the district was invited by local Jewish religious leaders to discuss community concerns, according to the law firm's report.

"A High School staff member failed to abide by directives that the Superintendent was to direct the conversation during the meeting," the law firm found. "Internal disagreements during that meeting demonstrated to those at the meeting that the District did not have a clear, concise voice in response to what transpired during the Assembly."

The second public statement, in which Watson apologized, was rushed, included multiple opinions and lacked a clear and coherent message, according to the law firm's investigation.

"Based on the email communications we were provided, it appears that the Jewish community leaders and members of the Board of Education had significant influence over the message of the second statement," the report said.

The law firm recommended that the board continue to prioritize student-organized events but adopt a policy that addresses all school-wide functions and includes vetting and background check procedures for participants. They should also require any speakers or presenters to present a copy of their presentation or slides in advance.

The district should also create a committee to review school-wide activities that may be controversial, the firm said in its report. District communications about significant policies or situations should also be approved by the board in advance, according to the Giarmarco, Mullins and Horton report.

hmackay@detroitnews.com