By Rosemary K. Otzman

Independent Editor
Published July 9, 2009

   After more than six hours of raucous discussion, the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees voted 4-3 to name Carl McClanahan as interim public safety director for a period not to exceed nine months.

   McClanahan, who retired three years ago as a sergeant in the Detroit Police Department, will earn $89,000 annual salary, prorated, in the at-will position.

   Supervisor Paul White said until he can bring forth a candidate as a permanent public safety director, McClanahan has agreed to serve.

   When asked if he would apply for the permanent position, McClanahan said he would.

   The 4-3 vote to hire him was along the same lines as the recent firing of former Public Safety Director Jerry Champagne: Ayes – Supervisor Paul White, Clerk Leon Wright, and Trustees Denise Partridge and Al Ostrowski. Nays -- Treasurer Budd and Trustees Phil Hart and Jeff Jahr.

   The appointment hinges on a successful background investigation and medical and psychological tests.

   McClanahan has lived in Andover Farms in Van Buren Township for seven years with his wife Brenda, who also is a retired Detroit Police Sergeant and elected member of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education.

   He has 24 years of law enforcement experience and holds a master’s degree in public administration.

   Supervisor White read a long list of McClanahan’s credentials to underscore the reason for his selection.

   During the workshop session on Monday afternoon, Treasurer Budd said she wanted to have the captains lead the department while a search was made for a new public safety director because the police department is wounded and has to heal from within.

   “I agree with Treasurer Budd,” McClanahan said. “Whenever an employee is dismissed, the pain they feel is equal to a death in the family. It will take time.”

   During the workshop session on Monday, there was some discussion concerning the brevity of the minutes of the June 23 special meeting held to hear Champagne’s appeal in open session.

   On Tuesday, those minutes were removed from the agenda so Budd, Jahr and Hart can add what wording they feel is missing. Since the eight-and-a-half-hour meeting was “unprecedented” they felt the minutes should say more.

   Shortly after the Tuesday meeting started, Trustee Hart hijacked the session by saying many people wrote him e-mails and letters and he wanted the people to read their letters during the correspondence part of the meeting. He said township attorney Patrick McAuley said it would be appropriate for the letters to be read during this time.

   That departure from usual procedure lasted two hours as people got up to read letters and Hart read one letter, most criticizing the four members of the board who fired Champagne.

   Former Planning Commission member George Deverich grabbed the attention of the crowd by reading a letter about how the public was scared into voting for the last public safety millage by people who said the sky is falling. He also disagreed with the plan to write 600 tickets per month to raise money for the department.

   “Jerry Champagne talked chain of command, but ignored it,” Deverich said, adding if Champagne couldn’t support Supervisor White, he should have resigned. “It was the honest thing to do, like Bryce Kelley.”

   Deverich said, “I, for one, feel the public safety department is out of control and I would not be in support of the hiring of any new police officers.”

   He said in this economy, if cuts need to be made, the township should start with the department with the highest budget. His remarks were met with applause.

   More than a dozen letters were read, but then the meeting turned into people on the board and in the audience asking questions of the township attorney on the ethics policy (White said McClanahan donated $25 to his campaign last summer and Wright said McClanahan donated $100 to his campaign last summer), how to make a motion to get Champagne reinstated, the Open Meetings Act, and other subjects.

   Champagne got up several times to clarify subjects and to say that McClanahan wasn’t as qualified as his former command officers. He pushed into line to speak ahead of others.

   Former Supervisor Cindy King stood to defend her father after Clerk Wright said her father told him to go back to where he came from and “started chanting like a monkey.” Wright said he wanted to put that on the record.

   King said, “I do not own my father. He’s an independent person.” She kept talking after her three minutes was up and was called out of order and police officers had to escort her to her seat.

   The business part of the meeting began around 9:25 p.m.

   After the item to appoint McClanahan to the position was discussed at length, Budd made a motion, seconded by Hart to postpone the item to the next agenda, so it could be in a form more suitable to what she wanted.

   That vote failed 4-3.

   Hart said he would like to question McClanahan at the podium, but while McClanahan stood there waiting, Hart ignored him completely and asked questions of other board members until McClanahan took his seat.

   Comments on this agenda item started at 10:50 p.m. and lasted until about 1:20 a.m., when a vote to postpone to the next meeting failed 4-3.

   At about 1:28 a.m., Hart made a motion to try to make White and Wright abstain from the vote because they took small campaign contributions from McClanahan. Budd seconded and the vote failed 4-3.

   At 1:34 a.m. the vote to approve the appointment of McClanahan was made by Partridge and seconded by Wright. It passed 4-3 and the meeting adjourned soon thereafter.

By Rosemary K. Otzman

Independent Editor

   After an eight-and-a-half-hour appeals hearing that began Tuesday evening (June 23, 2009) to consider Jerry Champagne’s firing, the Van Buren Township Board voted 4-3 against his reinstatement.

   It was the board members held over from the past administration that hired Champagne who stuck together to try to get the public safety director’s job back.

   Trustee Phil Hart made the motion to reinstate immediately with full back pay, which was seconded by Trustee Jeff Jahr. Treasurer Sharry Budd joined with the third yes vote.

   Voting no were Trustee Al Ostrowski, Trustee Denise Partridge, Clerk Leon Wright, and Supervisor Paul White.

   The vote was taken about 3:17 a.m. Wednesday and once the crowd of Champage supporters realized they lost, many mobbed the board table to accost board members. There were many uniformed police officers present throughout the evening and early morning hours and the officers inserted themselves between angry residents and board members.

   “I hope you all rot in hell,” yelled out one police officer’s wife to the board members. Other voices chanted “Recall, recall.”

   The meeting started at 7 p.m. with a disagreement among board members about whether the meeting, which was being cablecast live, should be taped so it could be cablecast several times until the meeting minutes were approved.

   Supervisor Paul White said he had sent memos to board members about whether the appeals session should be cablecast live and Trustee Hart did not respond.

   “There’s a lot of things I don’t respond to you,” Hart shot back.

   Jahr made the motion, seconded by Budd to alert the broadcast crew that the meeting should be taped for rebroadcast. After discussion, the motion passed unanimously.

   A Channel 2 television crew taped an interview with Supervisor White before the meeting and Bob Thorne, leader of an announced recall against White, kept buttonholing people who might say negative things about White and taking them to the news crew.

   A count showed 182 people seated in the room, most Champagne supporters, plus 12 standing against the wall, six in a spillover room with a monitor across the hall, and 11 police officers in uniform.

   Supervisor White, who fired Champagne for cause on May 27, read the charges against the public safety director. They boiled down to insubordination, neglect of duty, and incompetence.

   He said Champagne had been offered a severance package for signing a separation agreement several times, including an enhanced package just before the meeting. He said the offer still stood during the meeting and Champagne again turned it down.

   There were two-and-a-half hours of discussion before Champagne began his appeal to the board. He said he has never been disciplined in his life and no matter what happened that evening, “I leave with my integrity intact.”

   After rebuttals to White’s charges, Champagne called his only witness, Cindy King, who was defeated by White for reelection to the supervisor’s position last August. King, took 25 minutes to read a letter she wrote to several newspapers last week, explaining in excruciating detail why she supports Champagne.

   Public comment before the vote on reinstatement started at 1:36 a.m., with King first in line to push Ostrowski, Partridge, and Wright to vote in favor of Champagne. Thirty-seven speakers followed her to the podium for their three-minute speeches, all but one in support of Champagne.

   After the vote, the disappointed crowd, which had thinned as the morning wore on, gathered in groups outside township hall, calling out to those leaving the building to join in the recall that has been in the works since November.

VBT board meeting spins out of control over Champagne firing

By Rosemary K. Otzman

Independent Editor

   Van Buren Township’s regular June 2 board meeting turned into a rally for fired Public Safety Director Jerry Champagne, who spoke about five different times during the public comment period – sometimes in tears -- and strutted around the room and right  up to the board table to talk to supporter Phil Hart during the meeting.

   A total of 50 people came up to the microphone to speak, some for multiple times, some offering rude comments on the recent firing of Champagne. There were catcalls from the police wives on one side of the meeting room and loud comments and vulgar words from the other side.

   While Clerk Leon Wright and Supervisor Paul White tried to bring order to the meeting, they were unsuccessful, with people ignoring their pleas and warnings.

   At one point Clerk Wright said he would make a motion to adjourn if things didn’t settle down and Treasurer Sharry Budd warned Supervisor White sternly not to do that. The former board had lost an Open Meetings Act lawsuit when it adjourned the meeting while Dave Frankling was in the middle of a statement and Reggie Ion was waiting to speak to the board.

   The public comment started badly. As Clerk Wright read the policy for public comment on how people need to remain respectful and civil and each had three minutes each to talk and no one could talk again until everyone who wanted to talk was done.

   While he was trying to set the ground rules before a hostile crowd of more than 100, Kirsten Barker, a member of the Public Safety Committee¸ lunged forward shouting that White had made a racial comment to her by calling her an “Afro American.”

   Several months ago, White had apologized for anything he may have said to upset her and she said she accepted his apology. But, she has continued to harangue him since about the comment he made when he was explaining how the Public Safety Committee is diverse.

   He also made reference to a “person of color” on the committee to interview fire chief candidates, again trying to show diversity.

   His detractors call these comments racist and are using it as part of a reason to recall White.

   Before the regular agenda started at the June 2 meeting, Trustee Phil Hart said he wanted to voice his displeasure he was not consulted in the termination of Champagne. At one meeting, Hart said he was Champagne’s biggest supporter on the board.

   “I’ve never worked for a supervisor of Van Buren Township who never consulted me in such an important manner before,” Trustee Hart continued and there was extended applause from the Champagne supporters who made up the majority of the audience.

   “He brought professionalism to Van Buren Township, something we haven’t seen in 20 years,” Hart said.

   He pointed out that Champagne has been seeking outside employment because he was unfairly treated and not respected.

   Champagne recently has unsuccessfully applied for positions in Dearborn, Pittsfield Township, and Royal Oak.

   “He’s the most professional public safety director I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with,” Hart continued, to extended applause.

   “I want Jerry Champagne back in this spot,” Hart said, and more extended applause ensued.

   Clerk Wright said, “We need to move forward on the agenda,” and they did.

   The board held a public hearing in which no public spoke and passed three business items quickly. Clerk Wright read the policy for public comment.

   “In the past, things have really gotten out of order,” Clerk Wright noted.

   After two brief announcements, Trustee Jeff Jahr said, “I would like to discuss the termination of Director Champagne.”

   Supervisor White said this is a legal issue and it should not be discussed in public.

   “I think the audience should know how the board members feel,” Jahr continued.

   “We cannot make any comments,” Supervisor White insisted, based on advice from the township’s labor attorney. Clerk Wright agreed.

   The two officials said they based their stand on the Bullard-Plawecki Act, which states before a former employee’s disciplinary information may be disclosed, the employer would be required to send notice to that employee by regular mail before such disclosure. A violation of the Act would entitle the affected employee to start civil action in circuit court to compel compliance. The Act affords the affected employee entitlement to action damages, plus costs.

   The labor attorney also cited the Open Meetings Act, which requires advance notification that a public body intends to discuss an employee’s disciplinary information at a public meeting, so the employee could request a closed session.

   Also, the township’s Salaried Employees Benefits Manual provides for an administrative process if an employee is terminated from the township. The process includes both a review of the termination by the township’s three full-time elected officials and ultimately by the full board.

   Discussions and deliberations about the termination of an employee before the administrative process has been exhausted could prejudice that process making it meaningless.

   While Supervisor White tried to explain to the three hold-over board members from the last administration and the audience the reason for not discussing the firing publically, they refused to accept the explanation.

   [Under previous Supervisor Cindy King there was no discussion at all at the board table about people she had forced out of their jobs. The people just disappeared and were not referred to, unlike the current situation.]

   “You stole my sign out of a private business,” yelled out Nicole Laurain from the audience at this point in the meeting.

   Jerry Champagne walked into the meeting room and the crowd, packed with his supporters, went wild.

   “We will be violating an individual’s rights if we discuss an issue in the process,” White said.

   “You sent me an email that said, ‘Jerry Champagne no longer is employed by Van Buren Township’ and asked me to hold the information in strict confidence,” said Trustee Jahr, laughing at White for thinking such news could be kept quiet.

   “You’re taking action because you have four votes,” Trustee Jahr charged. “I’m not one of them.” He referred to the majority of four board members of the total of seven needed to confirm the firing of Champagne when he appeals to the full board.

   “I’m protesting action that was taken without consulting with the board,” Jahr said, and loud applause punctuated his remarks.

   Treasurer Sharry Budd, also a holdover from the previous board, said, “It was very wrong the way it was handled.” She said she was coming home from Traverse City when she got a phone call from someone telling her about the firing. “You didn’t confer with the board. That was wrong.”

   “What’s the Michigan Code?” Hart challenged Supervisor White. “Jeff, make your motion,” Hart continued, obviously referring to a previously set up plan.

   “I will not accept a motion,” Supervisor White said and Hart replied, “You have no choice.”

   “You work for us,” screamed out Dave Cushing from the audience. “Throw me out!” he challenged.

   “I want to understand the law that says we can’t discuss this,” said Hart. “No more blowing smoke on Trustee Hart.”

   “I did not vote for Paul White,” said Jane Kovach, an 85-year-old resident who started talking at the lectern before Clerk Wright could complete his comments to the audience because Hart, Jahr, and Budd had hijacked the agenda.

   Supervisor White asked Kovach to please wait until Wright had completed his statement, but Kovach refused and kept on talking.

   “The voters approved of that man, Paul White,” she said, saying she would abide by that. She said reading the rules that govern the meeting is not necessary since, “What good are the rules if you don’t follow them?”

   Kovach said she loves everyone in this community and people should “Stick with what you feel.”

   Jahr continued, “Jerry Champagne has done an excellent job … but I’ll defer to your ruling and not say anything more… on advice of counsel not to respond?” and White said, “Yes.”

   Then the 50 speakers started in, but they were interrupted from time to time by Trustee Hart, who at one point said to White, “You can’t run a dictatorship.”

   Max Johnson asked White to resign.

   John Delaney, a resident of more than 40 years, said he was part of the majority that elected the new board and part of the minority there that evening.

   He said the township had two other great public safety officers, Al Smolen and Mark Perkins, and they both were pushed out the door. Delaney said part of the issues from the past board were the millages the township didn’t need and the two Taj Mahals built for the fire department.

   “I commend Paul White. Stay the course,” Delaney said.

   Don Houttaker, a retired Wayne State University professor in finance, asked questions about how many employees have cars to take home. He was told two captains, three detectives, and special undercover officers for a total of nine in the police department. Under the written policy, the township furnishes the gas and maintenance and the officers have to be on 24/7 call.

   On the non-police employees, the supervisor and one water department car are take-homes, but Budd said these are charged a percentage of the personal use quarterly under IRS rules.

   Houttaker asked the average cost to the taxpayers for the police vehicles and the police captains said they didn’t know.

   Kovach returned to the lectern to say her son was threatened with death by people at a neighbor’s party. Although the frequent loud parties, with drugs and girls from the Landing Strip, were reported to VBT police, Kovach said she was unhappy that VBT police did nothing about it.

   When questioned at a recent public meeting, Champagne told her he knew nothing about it and then changed his story and took credit for the drug bust. She charged that Jahr, too, knew about the situation, but claimed he didn’t know. VBT did not try to resolve the problem she said.

   She said her family had to get the feds involved to have a drug team kick down the door and stop the partying.

   A man who said he was with the police officers union in Canton, but was not representing Canton, said Champagne is “a model and an icon in public safety.”

   “There are 100 people here because they care and you don’t do anything about it,” he said. Champagne’s son works for Canton.

   April Ruot, a member of the public safety committee, proceeded to grill board members on charges on the yellow recall flyer. She wanted to know who has paid health care and White told her every elected official has paid health insurance, which has been the case for decades.

   Joyce Rochowiak said her husband was a former trustee, losing by only 30 votes.

   Felicia Paris Brooks, who failed in her run for clerk in November, charged that Supervisor White’s Ford vehicle was made in Mexico. She complained about the BlackBerrys carried by White, Wright, and two directors. White explained that the township got them on sale, buy one get one free, and the service is less expensive than the previous cell phone service.

   There was discussion about the water tower, which was begun by the Cindy King administration more than a year ago and now is being blamed on Paul White and used against him in the planned recall. Someone called out that Carl McClanahan, who was suggested as a fill-in public safety director while the position was empty, gave $100 to the political campaign of Clerk Wright.

   A rumor that McClanahan was Wright’s campaign manager was countered by a June 2 memo from Wright that Wright’s wife actually was his campaign manager, but  McClanahan supported his candidacy.

   Dispatcher / Fire Fighter David McInally said he was called at the race track to go to the hospital where his daughter was taken and Champaign was at the hospital to support him.

   Houttaker returned to the lectern to pursue his questions on the use of township vehicles by police officers. He said, “We know most Van Buren Township police officers do not live in Van Buren Township.”

   He asked if an officer lives 15 miles away and uses the township vehicle to go to and from work, does the township still pay for gas and he was told that the township pays for gas.

   Houttaker said by figuring in the value of the vehicles used by officers, he can add another $7,000to $9,000 to the officers’ benefit packages.

   He asked if a cross-trained officer can use his take-home car to drive to the fire department for his second job as a fireman, and he was told that is so.

   Mary Finn, an 18-year resident, said she was very concerned about the township. “This community is becoming more fractured.”

   She said in this kind of economy, there are increased problems. “If you can’t figure out how to fix it, maybe you’re not capable of doing it,” Finn said to White. “This doesn’t feel right,” she said of Champagne’s firing. “It feels really, really unethical.”

   Ken Landstrom, a fire fighter, spoke as a resident. He said that for an at-will employee if things aren’t going the way the leadership wants it to, the employee can be terminated.

   Champaign came to the lectern, crying, and stating that he was unemployed. He said Landstrom had been fired from four jobs and one was for harassing women. Jahr, an attorney, sat at the board table smiling and nodding. Champaign said Landstrom worked hard to get White elected and Champagne fired. The personal attack was called out of order.

   Clerk Wright said there is due process and there may be a time to discuss Champagne’s firing in the future, but now isn’t the time.

   “This is the smoke I’m not taking any more,” repeated Trustee Hart.

   Then the scuffle broke out between a Champagne supporter who assaulted a White supporter. The police hauled out in handcuffs the daughter who came to her father’s aid, both White supporters, and allowed the instigator, a Champagne supporter, to remain in the meeting room.

   Former Supervisor Cindy King, who was defeated in the August primary, came forward with loud cheers and boos blending together.

   She said the disorder in the meeting is “extremely symbolic of this group of people who can’t control the meeting. If you can’t control a meeting with 100 people in the audience, how can you lead 27,000 in the community?”

   She said White was the 40^th supervisor in Van Buren Township’s history.

   King said people are almost assaulting in each other in the meeting. King said she wrote a letter of advice to Paul White in November that she wanted him to read publically, but he didn’t, so she read her own letter. She said seven board members working together will achieve more.

   “The four of you are about as incompetent a group of individuals that ever served on a board,” King said to the new board members elected in November.

   She said the rule about not speaking about the termination, without reference to lawsuit or case number, “tells me it’s bogus.” However, when King was supervisor, terminations were never discussed in public.

   Champagne returned to the lectern saying he requested his first appeals before the three full-time elected officials and failed on a 2-1 vote. He said he believed Budd voted for him.

   “My next appeal will be to the full board,” he said.

   Hart wanted the board to vote right then.

   White said that would be a violation of the Open Meetings Act since the vote was not on the posted agenda for that night’s meeting.

   “I’m ready,” Champagne said. “I’m a man of integrity. Those pushing against me have been punished numerous times.” He said he worked tirelessly for two years in a row making sure the fire halls were built without mistakes. He said he increased the fire budget by 52% and the police budget by 14%. He said he was instrumental in getting the new fire apparatus.

   “What’s really going on here is we have a small minority of fire fighters who want to work full time,” Champagne claimed.

   Champagne said he was told by an attorney that he was the first one to appeal termination at VBT. He said White has a “large packet of unwarranted untruths” against him.

   “I don’t know if you’ve been fired for cause,” Jahr said. “I don’t have information. He’s at will. If the majority of the board wants him gone, he’s gone.”

   “There a process being followed. We will not have a vote tonight,” White stated.

   After several more board comments and speakers from the audience, Champagne spoke again, “This issue is much bigger than Jerry Champagne … you’re gonna have big, big problems and I intend to pursue it if it goes that way… I suspect a week from now, I won’t be here, but they’ll be tearing  the department apart. This will cause this board a lot of issues…”

   “I have total and complete faith in Captains Brooks and Laurain,” said Delaney, returning to speak. “Why do we need a public safety director? Why not have a fire chief and a police chief and they answer to the township board? Save some money and promote from within.”

   Senior Citizen Director Linda Combs said she needs to tell everybody how the seniors feel. “They support Jerry Champagne … and they are your biggest block of voters. They are not happy about what happened.”

   King returned to say, “Jerry Champagne is nothing short of stellar…”

   Bob Thorne, who at a previous meeting had announced he was leading a recall against White, got up and rained a series of charges against board members, while he was continually called out of order.

   Ron Folks, a fire department battalion chief, said in order to do his job, he needs Champagne as a counselor and a mentor.

   Attorney Barbara Rogalle Miller said the holdover board members were the ones that gave the bonds to Visteon without thoroughly presenting them to the community or holding a public hearing.

   Hart took offense, saying this was a personal attack, and tried to talk over Miller’s voice and drown out her remarks. Miller said she wished Hart had focused on the Visteon issues more closely before he voted. She said the Visteon issue is the legacy of those three board members and now Visteon is in bankruptcy.

   “Ms. Miller is once again short-sighted,” King replied, defending her administration that put the full faith and credit of the township behind the Visteon bonds. “Nobody had a crystal ball…”

   After more contentious remarks, the meeting adjourned at 11:15 p.m.

School Board expels Anthony Allen, again, after 7-hour meeting

By Rosemary K. Otzman

Independent Editor

   The Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education unanimously expelled Belleville High School senior Anthony Allen, again, following a seven-and-a-half-hour marathon re-hearing last Thursday.

   Allen, 17, and four 16 year olds originally had been expelled after a daylong, Nov. 3 disciplinary hearing. Allen's family and the families of three of the other boys sued the district, seeking to be put back into BHS and asking for $1 million each for their troubles.

   On Thursday, about 100 people crowded into the small administration building board room, spilling out into the hallway and adjoining offices, to hear the proceedings.

   While the Nov 3 hearing was closed to the public at the request of the parents, the post-lawsuit, Nov. 29 meeting was wide open to the public and the media.

   Besides the expelled teens and their families, jammed into the room were teachers, parents, and community members seeking to make some sense of the boys who posted their pictures with drugs, guns, money, and BHS student ID cards on MySpace.

   All three Detroit television stations sent cameras and reporters and Detroit-area newspapers sent their reporters, most bailing out about midnight.

   The re-hearing was ordered by Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Stephens on Nov. 27 as she granted preliminary injunctive relief to the four students expelled or suspended for the rest of the school year for violations of the school handbook.

   If the district didn't hold another hearing within 72 hours of her order on Nov. 27, the students would have to be put back into the general population at Belleville High School, she said.

   The board set the Nov. 29 hearing to begin at 5 p.m., with the intention of granting new hearings to all four students that evening, in the presence of a court stenographer, as ordered by Judge Stephens, who was critical of the district for not having an electronic or stenographic record of the original closed sessions.

   The court-like session dragged on, since the boys' new attorney Clifford Woodard questioned every witness and piece of evidence at length.

   The Nov. 29 session ended at 1 a.m., with only Anthony Allen's case decided. The board expelled him again, on reduced charges that nonetheless required expulsion.

   The board dropped complaint #5, listed as "Criminal Acts" in the student handbook and #45 "Weapons Use / Possession" because they felt they had insufficient proof to find him guilty of those two while on school grounds.

   His charges for gang activity, intimidation and obscenity/profanity stood and got him expelled.

   Because of the judge's intervention, the district started providing two certified substitute teachers for the four expelled students on Nov. 30, the next day after the judge's ruling. The four are being taught in the back conference room of the administration building from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and are being prepared for semester exams, said School Supt. Pete Lazaroff.

   Judge Stephens didn't want the boys to get behind in their classes while the lawsuit against the district wended its way through the courts.

   On Thursday, Supt. Lazaroff committed to providing teachers for the four teens through the first semester, including Allen who was officially expelled twice.

   At about 11:45 p.m., after hearing all the evidence and witnesses and deliberating, the board voted unanimously to expel Allen and then took a break. The large crowd was reduced to about a dozen people besides the families of the expelled students.

   Re-hearings were still scheduled for three 16-year-old 11th graders: expelled brothers Albert McGee, II, and Deonte Bruce-Ruffin and Tory Sykes.

   About midnight, however, the boys' attorney Woodard decided he was too tired to offer adequate defense to his clients.

   "I want to be on the top of my game," Woodard said, explaining why he wanted to postpone the final hearings until another day. He said he had already taken part in 12 disciplinary hearings that day for the Detroit Public Schools. He also had missed that evening's opening of "Lion King," he said.

   School Supt. Pete Lazaroff wanted to continue the hearings until they all were over, and after much discussion, Trustee Bob Binert made a motion to continue the hearings and it failed 4-3.

   Voting to continue were Trustees Toni Hunt, Martha Toth, and Binert. Voting against continuing that evening were Secretary Victor Hogan, Vice President Keith Johnston, Treasurer Ralph Nodwell, and President David Peer.

   Woodard said Judge Stephens' order was not crystal clear about when the hearings needed to be completed, so he tried to call her or one of her friends, but at midnight judges and their friends were not answering their phones.

   Woodard and the boys' parents (who were sworn in for this purpose) went on record that they did not oppose postponing the final three hearings and signed statements to that effect.

   A few hours later, early Friday morning, Woodard, Lazaroff, and school district attorney Kevin O'Neill met with Judge Stephens in Detroit and she hand-wrote a new order giving them authority to extend the hearing time beyond Nov. 30 without penalty.

   The final three hearings were to be held beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 3. Woodard also agreed to waive the written notice of the meeting required by the school handbook, but Lazaroff said they sent them anyway by registered mail, first-class mail, and hand-delivered mail, just to be safe.

   Woodard told Judge Stephens that the school district acted in good faith and he agreed that he would come up with no new witnesses or evidence for the Dec. 3 hearing that wasn't available on Nov. 29.

   This was one of the concerns of the district, that Woodard, having seen the evidence put forth by the district, would reconfigure his defense and seek out new evidence and witnesses.

Opening statements

   On Nov. 29, the hearing started with William J. Blaha being voted hearing counsel. He is a part of the Collins & Blaha law firm that represents the district, but he has not been a part of the suspensions or litigation, so he could run the meeting, according to a Supreme Court decision quoted by the school district's lead attorney Lori Steinhauer.

   (Blaha is member of the State of Michigan Safe Schools Initiative Work Group, which advises the Michigan Department of Education Office of Safe Schools.)

   Seated at a table with Woodard were  Anthony Allen and his mother Veronica Young. The session was expected to proceed similar to a courtroom case, but with relaxed rules of evidence.

   Before anything could get started, Woodard said he wanted Board President Peer to recuse himself from deliberations, based on a comment printed in The Ann Arbor News that said he would stand behind his previous decision on the expulsions.

   Blaha said in case law, mere knowledge of a case or having taken a position previously does not disqualify a participant. He asked Peer if he could keep an open mind and be fair and Peer said he could.

   Then Woodard raised the issue of racial overtones by quoting the Dec. 28, 2006 issue of the Belleville-Area Independent where board members Johnston and Hunt were quoted about the changed culture of the high school, how school officials are letting the students run the district, disruptive students having a different culture, how Belleville used to be a pretty little town, etc.

   Both Johnston and Hunt confirmed they made the comments quoted and that they were not racial in nature and the whole article had to be read to get the full idea, not bits and pieces.

   Johnston said that his comments were "not about color, but about character," and a portion of the audience erupted in applause.

   Hunt said she stands for the safety of every student and she could make a fair decision.

   Woodard wanted Johnston and Hunt to recuse themselves from deliberations but Blaha allowed them to continue.

   Then Woodard quoted the May 17, 2007 issue of the Independent, where substitute teacher and parent Antionette Foster told the board they needed to get some diversity training in the school before there were problems.

   Foster said teachers are responding differently to different students.

  "They don't know how to deal with students from Detroit or Ypsilanti," Foster said, noting the new students don't know what is expected of them in the Van Buren Schools.

   She said her grandparents lived in Sumpter Township and her parents lived in Belleville for 20 years and she said 10 years ago this area looked a lot different. She said she didn't feel that, as a school employee, she should give specifics in a public forum, but she said discipline is not being administered fairly across the board. One student gets suspension and one doesn't for the same infraction, the article said.

   At that meeting in May, Lazaroff said he would sit down with Foster to get specifics and to tell her what the staff is doing to try to address the issue.

   At the hearing Thursday Lazaroff said the promised meeting did not take place because she failed to return his call.

   (Foster later said that Lazaroff did not call her and after that article was printed she no longer received substitute teaching assignments at the high school and was used at the middle school, instead. She no longer substitutes.)

   As the meat of the hearing began, Woodard said he wanted to cross examine witnesses and Steinhour said in a 6th Circuit Court case in a disciplinary proceeding, it was found that there is no right to cross examine administrators.

   "If I didn't want to cross examine, I wouldn't be here," Woodard said. "She can cross examine students until the cows come home ... It's the administration side that should be tested."

   Steinhauer said she had no objection to a few questions to administrators, but not full-fledged cross-examination.

   Steinhauer gave an opening statement that noted it is a sad fact today that violence in schools is escalating and school districts have the responsibility to keep the students and staff safe. She said schools shouldn't be places where students should be intimidated and fearful.

   She said the issue first came to the administration from a parent who saw a posting on MySpace with pictures of BHS students with handguns, drugs, and flashing gang signals. The administration investigated and the School Resource Officer found additional pictures with assault rifles, white powder, stacks of bills, and a BHS ID.

   Steinhauer said the SRO officer said when student ID is placed with weapons it is a threat or challenge to other students. Steinhauer said the student handbook prohibits look-alike weapons and drugs.

   She said there have been numerous disruptions at the high school.

   "Van Buren Public Schools cannot condone gang behavior," Steinhauer stated.

   She said a limo was at a school-sponsored activity (homecoming dance) and there were school IDs involved. She said the school district has jurisdiction over outside activities when it is linked to the school.

   Woodard said while Steinhauer talked about the law, there has been blown up media attention on both sides. He said he hoped the school board, which would make the decisions on the expulsions, would focus on the law and not emotion and opinion.

   Woodard said he was 45 years old and black and he doesn't like the pictures that were posted on internet, but are they illegal? That's the whole crux, he said.

   He claimed the guns in the picture were not pointing at a student ID and intent needs to be determined.

   "Does the school have jurisdiction over what was done in a private home?" Woodard said. "If it's not illegal, does the school board have jurisdiction over a private home?"

   Woodard held the Detroit Public School student handbook as an example since it sets out school jurisdiction for the school grounds or to and from school. He claimed Belleville left that out.

   (Later Steinhauer pointed out that the Safe Schools policy covers that in the board policy book and there are too many policies to include them in the student handbook.)

   "Criminal acts? What law did he break? Can't have look-alike drugs? What's look-alike drugs? Oregano, parsley? You can't discipline someone for having a spice," Woodard said.

   He questioned the look-alike weapons held by Allen and whether the school had jurisdiction. He asked the board to look at the boys' actions to judge their intent, concerning gang activity. He stated the board will find Anthony Allen not responsible for the charges against him.

BHS Principal

   BHS Principal Sheila Brown was the first witness called. She testified she has been BHS principal for 1-1/2 years and each student is given a handbook with a code of conduct included. On page 25 it bans drugs and look-alike drugs, with the penalty of suspension to expulsion.

   On page 21, she said, it states these activities are not allowed in attendance at the school and enroute to and from school.

   She said she was extremely concerned when she saw the internet pictures of BHS students, guns, and drugs with BHS ID cards. She said she viewed this as safety and security issues.

   "I'm not going to sit in judgment on whether they are real or not. I'm concerned about the safety and security of our school," Brown said.

   She said a parent was surfing MySpace for her own child and told school officials what she found. She described the steps the school took to investigate, including calling in the parents while they took statements from the students.

   She started to testify on the affidavit provided by the limo driver, when Woodard objected, saying he wouldn't be able to cross examine the driver if he isn't here. He was told the driver had to work that evening and couldn't attend and Woodard dismissed that as a poor excuse.

   Blaha directed the board to decide whether to give weight to the affidavit, as "reasonable and prudent people" and they couldn't judge the credibility of one not there. He allowed Brown to continue.

   Brown said the limo driver went to the parents' house and was told it was the wrong limo and the parents refused the limo. She said that information came from a parent.

   The limo went away and the parent dropped the teens off at the dance. According to records, Anthony was not at the dance, Brown said. She said Anthony was the only student in that limo when they picked up the other boys at the dance. Then they drove to Five Points and picked up a few more boys. Then they drove to Applebee's and some got out. Two stayed inside.

   According to the driver, Brown testified, the MMB members surrounded the limo and the driver, who was concerned, told the boys to get back in and he drove them to another restaurant, Ruby Tuesday's, and they ate.

   Brown consulted a memo she wrote to the superintendent that said five of the seven students checked into the dance and then were picked up from the dance. At Applebee's there was a confrontation and some of the other people from the rival group were over high school age. One was alleged to have a gun, Brown said.

   She identified the rival groups as the MMB (Money Murder Boys) and the MADE (Money All Day Everyday) Squad.

   Brown said one of the photos on MySpace was taken in the BHS gym.

   The dance was on Oct. 13. On Oct. 22, Brown said there were physical and verbal fights between MMB and MADE at a fire drill. On Oct. 24, there was a conflict in the parking lot between MADE and MMB, after one student was back from suspension. On Oct. 31, a teen affiliated with MADE Squad pushed his way into the school to see a BHS MADE Squad member and SRO Officer Kris Faull first warned and then wrote a trespassing ticket on the teen after he turned up later that same day.

   "There were so many disruptions in the hallways ... teachers were frightened ... standing areas in the halls were taped off ... parents threatened to remove their students ... They are there for an education ... Teachers have threatened to walk out ... Every administrator has questioned our safety," Brown testified.

   Brown said after the homecoming dance, the limo driver said three vehicles were following his limo and so he called his boss. Then he called the parents who rented the limo and they spoke to their student and he promised there would be no more trouble.

   Brown said the limo driver cleaned out the first limo before arriving to make sure it was clean and the second limo also was checked carefully by him, and then the parent. Any charge that the limo driver brought the guns and drugs is false, she said.

   "I can't cross the limo driver," Woodard said. "Did he look under the seat? I strenuously object."

   Blaha said this could be admitted for limited purposes, not as truth, but as the basis of the actions of the administration.

   Then Brown read the affidavit from the driver, who identified himself as Robert Callahan who works for Limo World Limo Service. He said he drove on Oct. 13 and inspected and cleaned the inside of the limo and when the parent was not satisfied and wanted a different limo he left and came back. He said two adults inspected the limo and then one Afro-American in a brown puffy jacket rode to the school with him.

   Callahan said that three vehicles followed his vehicle throughout the evening. A large group was in the Applebee's parking lot and there was an altercation and they surrounded the limo in a threatening manner. He told the boys to get back in the limo and he called the parents.

   "I was uneasy and concerned for my safety," Callahan said in the affidavit.

   Brown said she heard conflicting stories on how the drugs and guns entered the limo -- when it entered school property or beyond.

   "We have spent upward of 350 man hours on this case, over 45 days of administrative consumption," she said. "It's absurd. We're cheating our other students in the school."

   Members of the audience applauded and Woodard asked Blaha to ask them not to respond to the proceedings and he did.

   Brown said after she called the parents in, showed the photos, and got statements from the students, she sent home a written summary of the charges on a standard suspension notice. She said she asked the parents to take their students home for their safety and sent the notice by mail, as required.

   She said these were proactive steps. Brown said with heightened awareness, the administration saw more students wearing colors, which they won't allow. They tightened after-school security.

   Brown told of her experience, including taking part in a couple of gang schools when she taught in Ann Arbor. She would take her classes out to Milan prison to meet gang members to show how gang activity puts people in prison.

   Brown said she also attended a gang school that same day (Thursday) and she showed the photos to her instructor. She said the BHS staff will be educated on gang signs, numbers on clothing, leaning in a different direction in the hallway.

   Brown mentioned school shootings in the U.S. and said she had 2,000 students and 140 staff members to protect.

   "No doubt, Columbine had postings. If I wouldn't act and things went south on us and we lost kids, we'd be having a very different conversation," Brown said.

   Under cross examination, Brown said some of the MADE Squad members said they never heard about a CD or a rap group. She said four members were rap artists, "if you will." She said MMB is connected to GMC in Ypsilanti, which is connected to the Bloods. She said fathers, uncles, cousins, and older individuals were in the confrontation at Applebee's.

   The party at the Eagles the previous Saturday was hosted by parents of MADE and towards the end, MMB showed up and a fight broke out involving 20-30 people, some older than high school age, she said. One MADE was beaten so badly he was taken to the hospital, she said.

   Brown said nine kids at BHS are in MADE and four of those are into rap.

   Hunt asked her to give the racial makeup at the high school, since the Detroit media keeps saying it is 12% African-American. Brown said 38% are African-American and 45-48% are non-Caucasian. Hunt pointed out there are nearly 50% non-white at BHS, about 1,000 students.

   When asked about the dance, Brown said there were about 1,150 students at the dance and, besides two separate instances of drinking, "...we had a wonderful dance and the community can be proud of the students."

   Woodard asked what criminal act did his client do and Brown said, "We're a zero tolerance school under the state school code."

   Brown admitted Anthony was not in possession of a gun on school property and they can't say the limo was on school property when the photos were taken.

   She said there is gang activity and, "When I see kids with drugs and gang signs, I'm intimidated."

Asst. Principal Warren

   The next witness was BHS Assistant Principal for the 11th Grade Larry Warren. He was questioned by another attorney from the school's law firm, Kevin O'Neill. Warren said he has been a teacher for more than 30 years and BHS assistant principal for 16 years.

   Warren, who was testifying in a frail condition since he had recently been released from the hospital after surgery, said Anthony and his parents were shown pictures and Anthony said the substance in the baggie was parsley. He said Anthony told him he was just in the group and they were rappers. About an hour and a half later, after Anthony left the school with his mother, Warren said his mother ran back in and said that a MMB made a motion with his hands like a gun and the mother wanted an incident report. When Officer Faull investigated, the MMB said it was Anthony who had pointed his fingers in a gun sign at him.

   Warren identified Anthony as being in two of the pictures from MySpace  and the bag he was holding was identified as marijuana by another student.

   Warren said he was really appalled and really concerned about these students. He said three of the four are his 11th-grade students. Warren identified Anthony in a one photo doing a gang sign and another holding a fan of $20 bills and cutting lines in cocaine (or a look-alike) with a BHS ID card. Guns and bullets and rifles were in the picture.

   "We're not about drugs and money. We're about education," Warren said, adding that no matter if the students are black or white this kind of thing has to be investigated.

   "It's intimidating, threatening," Warren said of the pictures. "It says if you mess with us we have guns, power. We have drugs... Certain groups wanted to fight."

   Warren said the high school had 15 to 20 complaints from parents asking, "What are you going to do about it?" He said he has spent 60 or more hours of his time on this issue.

   Warren recommended expulsion of the boys as a preventative measure, before there is a big problem.

   "A rap group. We heard there was a group of rappers," Warren said. "They are not rappers... They are causing a lot of problems ... intimidating ..."

   Warren said he asked a MADE what he had to do to get in the group and he replied they just asked him to be involved. There are nine in the group and some don't rap.

  Woodard questioned Warren about rap music and Warren said his sons listen to rap. He said he has talked to them about how the words are demeaning to women and glorifying money through drugs. He said his church also counsels youth on rap music.

   When asked if he knew the boys, Warren said, "I don't know these young men like I thought I did ... Sometimes parents don't know what they're like away from them."

   He said before this happened, he would normally received three to five complaints about something going on, but now there are many complaints.

   Woodard asked why Warren didn't counsel these boys like he did his own sons, instead of expelling them and Warren said once there are drugs and guns, it's too late.

School Supt. Lazaroff

   The next witness was School Supt. Pete Lazaroff, who said he has been superintendent since August 2003. He testified to the school board policy on gangs that was approved July 12, 2004.

   Lazaroff explained some pictures from MySpace with text that indicated MADE is about to "bang" with MMB.

   He said this further points to violence and danger and poses a threat to the student body. He pointed out a fight did occur within two to three weeks after that posting.

   Lazaroff said on Monday he became aware of new information on a website and he burned it on a CD, which he played at the hearing. He said the words in the first rap song say, "I'll be able to lie my way out of this in court." The second song talks about trading guns, and the third is a tribute to a parent. He said the rap tunes have since been removed from the website. The same web site had videos of all four students rapping, but he did not get copies of the video part, he said.

   During the playing of the rap, there is reference to the "Made Squad Niggers" and "I'm on the news. I'm on the radio. I'm waiting for Oprah to call me now." The beat has a recurring line, "I can't stop now ... You can hate me now" and "Is there a problem with Ypsi Township?"

   The third rap was a song to the rapper's mother, Portia (Sykes) saying, "I'm sorry for everything." He said his dad is his role model. Lazaroff said the tribute was not objectionable.

   Lazaroff said the words, which are hard to understand in some places, said "lying to the reporters, lying to the court" and that new weapons are replaced and new rounds of ammunition.

   When Steinhauer asked about the reference to Ypsilanti Townshp, Lazaroff said the MMB is out of Ypsilanti Township. He said the high school administration did the investigation and he sat in on some of it.

   After the expulsions Nov. 3, Lazaroff said he wanted to try to get the boys placed in other schools and he asked Anthony's mother for schools to call and she did not respond. He said if there is a call from one superintendent to another, there is a greater chance to place a student. He said he had two districts the previous Monday evening that were interested in enrolling him.

   Steinhauer asked if the presence of Anthony Allen in the school poses a risk to the student body and Lazaroff said yes. Lazaroff said if his own students (he has two daughters in the school system) were in those photos, he would make the same decision.

   Lazaroff said on Nov. 13 he received an email from Harold Rochon, whose son was a former member of the class of 2007. Rochon is a lieutenant with the Detroit Police Department and has written books on gangs. He said he totally agrees with the Van Buren decision, Lazaroff said, and he offered to help and they are trying to set up an in-service training session. Lazaroff gave the web site Rochon provided for his violence prevention strategies: www.thetargetgrouponline.com .

   Woodard made a motion that the whole letter be stricken from the record. Lazaroff admitted he couldn't testify that this was a reputable firm because he didn't know.

   "How do we know it's not something you made up ... tonight?" Woodard asked, adding this is the first time they heard of this. Lazaroff said he would lose his job if he did something like that.

   Lazaroff testified that the limo driver said in a telephone conversation that the substance in the baggie was marijuana.

   Woodard asked Lazaroff about the charges of gang activity and intimidation.

   "I am threatened by the photos," Lazaroff said. Steinhauer asked if anyone else was threatened and Lazaroff said they were and he had to issue a letter to the parents to assure them the school was taking action.

   Board member Johnston asked Lazaroff if he was ever threatened by a parent or student and Lazaroff replied, yes, but it was not related to the student at this hearing, Anthony Allen.

   Woodard asked Lazaroff, "What is rap?" and he said he didn't know, even though he has a bachelor of arts in music education from the '70s. He said he did not keep up with that genre.

   Woodard made fun of Lazaroff for this and told the board this shows a lack of credibility.

   After Lazaroff's testimony the prosecution rested and Woodard said he had no proofs to present so he is resting, too. This was at 10:37 p.m.

   Steinhour said the handbook prohibits look-alike drugs and weapons and Anthony Allen possessed drugs and weapons on route to and from school and the posting on the internet led to disruptions at the school and altercations between MADE and MMB, most recently the past Saturday.

   She said because of the disruptions, case law holds that the school board can have jurisdiction over events off campus. Steinhauer asked the board to expel Anthony Allen.

   Woodard presented his closing statement, giving lots of colorful examples, and noting "five young black men were expelled, not because of fighting or weapons," but because racial fears from 1968 still survive.

   He said only one photo was taken on school grounds and some photos were posted on the internet a year ago. He said the pictures were taken off campus during non-school hours and there is no proof of any illegal items at the dance. He claimed the handbook doesn't cover going to and from school activities.

   Woodard asked the board to look at the law and set aside their moral indignation.

   Woodard said Lazaroff, who has a bachelor's degree in music education, says "he doesn't know what rap music is, so you have to judge his credibility on that basis."

   He pointed out school board member Johnston was tapping his foot to the rap music.

   "We must guard against letting zero tolerance become intolerance," Woodard said. "We have to educate him, embrace him ... If we label a child, he will become what he has been labeled."

   Once the board started deliberations, Johnston said, "I like the beat to the music, but not the words. I'm upset by the lack of responsibility by the parents ... We have responsibility to 2,000 students, staff and to our community ... I'll vote to expel."

   Trustee Toth said the photos are to intimidate and the words say, "You think you tough? You don't think you can bleed?" She said they use the gang signs to show who they are.

   Toth said this leads to a lot of trouble in the schools and outside and tends to escalate. She said there is a relation of school activity and gangs.

   Johnston said after the expulsion they made a second tape and then there were the problems at the Eagles Lodge.

   Toth said she would favor suspension for the rest of the year, since there have been no previous problems with the school and he is a decent student.

   "I would not want him here for the rest of the year," she said.

   "I'm in favor of expulsion," Ralph Nodwell said, after saying he was intimidated by the photos.

   "People who saw those photos felt threatened," said board member Victor Hogan. "This is the most disruptive thing I've seen since I've been on this board." He favored expulsion until the end of the school year and President David Peer agreed. He said Anthony would have to reapply, but he is a senior.

   "I would have been miffed if the administration had not brought this to the board," Binert said. "What disturbs me is what the pictures represent... what could happen. I don't want this to be brought forth into my school system ... a lot of the references on the songs were disturbing ... And, how did they know to go to one place (for a fight)? I would expel for the rest of the year."

   When Lazaroff explained how the students were being tutored at the administration building with two teachers for four students, Toth was troubled.

   "It bothers me we're providing expensive services we've never given anyone else," Toth said. "Is this because of what the judge said?"

   Lazaroff said yes, but when they are back before the judge, they will find out more.

   The board agreed that Anthony could reapply to the school board for reinstatement in June, so he could be sent to Romulus for summer school if he didn't get enough credits to graduate somewhere in May.

   The board voted to expel Anthony on three of the five charges for the rest of the school year. After that time is up, they will entertain a recommendation from Lazaroff for reinstatement, if suitable.

   When the board agreed to postpone the three final students until Monday, Toth said, "It's been really tough. I got 15 calls today alone ... and I have to tell them I can't talk to them about this..."

   The same court reporter agreed to attend the Monday session and Blaha said if some of the charges won't be brought (criminal acts and weapon possession), perhaps proofs wouldn't need to be reintroduced, speeding the hearing along.

   The session adjourned at 12:54 a.m.

   Dr. Tim McCoy, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Belleville, was present with others from his church for the whole session to learn more about the issue.

   He said he was shocked to learn about all the gang activity in Belleville.

   A Detroit newspaper reported that Woodard plans to appeal Anthony Allen's expulsion.

Ran on 12-6-07

School Board reduces expulsion to suspension for Albert McGee

By Rosemary K. Otzman

Independent Editor

   After another seven-hour rehearing on the expulsion of a Belleville High School student, the Van Burn Public Schools Board of Education on Monday reduced Albert McGee's expulsion to suspension for the rest of the school year.

   Also, the criminal activity and gun possession charges were dropped and he was suspended for gang activity and intimidation, having to do with postings on the internet.

   Since the charges were not violations of the state school code, but violations of the student handbook, Albert, 16, is eligible to go to another school until he is able to apply for reinstatement to BHS.

   His school records were introduced as evidence by the school district to show he came to BHS from Southfield in the second semester of the 9th grade. But his attorney used the information to show Albert has good grades – 3.125 grade point average -- and is eligible for the Honor Roll.

   Meanwhile, Albert is being tutored with the three others expelled or suspended on Nov. 3, to honor Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Stephen's desire that the students not lose any education while their law suit is going through the courts.

   School Supt. Pete Lazaroff has guaranteed the four teens education until the end of the first semester, so they can pass their final exams. He has hired two certified teachers to work with the students 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each school day.

   The school board adjourned the hearing at about 11:20 p.m. Monday, with two students left who still needed rehearings, under the judge's order.

   Deonte Bruce-Ruffin's hearing was set for 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, and Tory Sykes' hearing was set for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11.

   The attorney for the families, Cliff Woodard, said he is convinced that each hearing will take about seven hours, as the first two have taken.

   Woodard is the attorney bringing the law suit against the school district and Supt. Lazaroff, seeking reinstatement and an unspecified amount of money. Woodard has said to the media, however, that he is seeking $1 million for each student.

   The daylong, Nov. 3 hearings for eight students were held in closed session, at the request of the parents. But, these re-hearings, laying the groundwork for Woodard's law suit, are being held in open session.

   Although the attorneys had told Judge Stephens they would start Monday's hearing at 4:30 p.m., Woodard made the board wait a full 15 minutes before he and his entourage of parents and students swept into the room, were seated, and said they were ready to begin.

   A stipulation of rescheduling the re-hearings beyond the Nov. 29 session was that no new evidence would be admitted, but the school district presented an updated account of the disruptions to the school caused by the internet postings and gang activity and Woodard entered the 2006-07 BHS yearbook that showed a teacher making hand signs.

   Woodard said it was a Crips' gang sign and BHS Principal Sheila Brown said it looked like peace signs to her.

   Although the school district presented a list of disruptions caused by the postings of the pictures and gang activity, Woodard insisted that they can't charge his client with what happened after the pictures were discovered on the internet.

   "Typically the crime happens before the charge, not after," he said.

   School district attorney Lori Steinhauer said this information is to show that actions have results and the student's actions have caused "havoc and chaos in this district ... This district is impacted in a negative way."

   Woodard claimed the school district "ran off to the media" and Steinhauer said it was the parents who had a press conference and revealed the students' names and released the MySpace pictures to the media.

   Woodard again asked school board members Keith Johnston, Toni Hunt, and David Peer to recuse themselves from the rehearing because of comments attributed to them in newspapers. Hearing officer William J. Blaha asked them if they could be fair and then allowed them to stay.

   Later, Woodard also asked that board members Bob Binert and Martha Toth recuse themselves, stating Toth looked angry with a red face. Toth explained she always has a beet red face and she was frustrated, not angry. He accused Binert of feeding information to Warren in an effort to "rehabilitate the witness." Blaha rejected his requests.

   Toth said she was frustrated that Woodard is not allowing the students to testify as they normally would in an expulsion hearing and Blaha said there is no obligation for them to testify.

   Toth said in order to preserve the privacy of the students after the Nov. 3 hearing, the board members shredded all the pictures and documents.

   Woodard also asked hearing officer Blaha to recuse himself because he wasn't fair, and Blaha refused.

   Woodard also mentioned appellate court at one point, intimating if the board stuck with the expulsions / suspensions, he would appeal.

   Steinhauer asked that deference be given to a witness, assistant principal Larry Warren, who recently had surgery, and everyone agreed, but Warren was grilled in the witness chair for an hour and 40 minutes.

   Also, the audience was supposed to be quiet, since it was not a public hearing, and keep cell phones off. At one point, however, a white father of a BHS student stood to say he was being threatened by a black man in the back of the room, so he was leaving to call the police.

   Steinhauer asked that the board take "judicial notice" of BHS Principal Sheila Brown's testimony from Nov. 29, so it wouldn't have to be repeated since everyone already heard it.

   Woodard objected and said he and his clients were leaving and he would take it up with Judge Stephens in the morning. He and his clients got up to leave while he stated, "This is not due process for my client."

   Blaha protested that he had not yet ruled on Steinhauer's request. He said she wished to exclude unduly repetitious testimony.

   Steinhauer said Brown just laid the groundwork for the testimony and Warren was the one who conducted the investigation.

   "This is a hearing on a separate child," Woodard emphasized and this would deny him due process by reading testimony in from somebody else's hearing.

   "Collins Blaha will get its money. I may have to wait to get my money," Woodard said of the district's law firm. "What's the rush? Usually a rush to justice leads to injustice."

   Blaha denied Steinhauer's motion and Woodard and his clients settled back into their chairs. Woodard called Brown to testify briefly later in the long hearing.

   Much of the testimony was a replay of the Nov. 29 session for Anthony Allen, including disagreement on whether MADE Squad was a gang or a rap group.

   Warren testified that Albert said he was a member of MADE and "the weed" in the limo was brought in by another student. Woodard had claimed the baggie contained oregano or parsley.

   He identified Albert in a photo from the internet that showed him wearing a MADE Squad T-shirt.

   Warren said that Albert told him the guns in the pictures were fake and "we were in the 9th grade... We were at Aaron's house. There was baking soda on the table. I don't know if the shells were fake."

   Warren testified that Albert told him in the limo "the gun and weed were Aaron's."

   Board member Johnston said the Applebee's manager said there were "20 little boys and six adults with bandanas on their faces." He asked if the Applebee's confrontation between MADE and MMB had affected the school.

   Warren said there were tensions and the two groups caused problems in the hallways and at lunch.

   Supt. Lazaroff testified that after the Nov. 3 expulsions, some 19 leaders of the 400 members of the VBEA teachers union met with Lazaroff to discuss concerns teachers had over intimidation and safety. He said teachers were locking their classroom doors after class begins because of concerns for safety.

   He said the administrators' union also voiced concerns about safety.

   Lazaroff testified that on Nov. 30, the day after the last rehearing, 16 BHS teachers were absent, with only three related to professional development. There usually are four to eight absences per day, most for professional development, he said.

   "This is the holiday season," Woodard said, dismissing the numbers. "They could be at the mall."

   Lazaroff testified to more than a dozen incidents on and off campus as a result of the photos posted on the internet.

   "In my days as a superintendent, I've never seen this amount of activity having to do with one issue," Lazaroff said. He has been a superintendent for 14 years at three districts.

   Lazaroff said the manager of Applebee's said the two gangs in her parking lot were disruptive to business.

   Binert asked that the CD Lazaroff said he made from the MySpace web site be replayed to get the words. Albert was pictured on the site, next to "Al," and participated in the new raps, Lazaroff said.

   Woodard had a paper which seemed to contain the words to the newest rap songs on the internet, but he did not offer to share it. He referred to it often during the playing of the CD and replaying of parts.

   Lyrics in the rap songs included references to lying to get out of trouble, getting an extra banana clip extension, new guns, a possible problem with Ypsilanti Township, and, "I keep hos like a nigger keeps a garden."

   Woodard said it was young men's bragging, freedom of artistic expression.

   When Principal Brown was called to testify, she said every set of parents except for one expressed shock and dismay when they first saw the photos from MySpace. She said Albert's parents weren't the ones she described as not cooperative.

   In her closing statement, Steinhauer said the administration must take steps to avoid problems. The students posed with drugs, weapons and gang signs, which was threatening and intimidating to other students and staff.

   "We are not going to wait for another Columbine ... Actions have consequences," Steinhauer said.

   Woodard said it's a very sad world when you would punish people for what they might do. He said Albert is an honor roll student.

   "What we have is a cultural divide," Woodard continued. "Whether you accept it or not, rap music is artistic expression ... Albert has always expressed he was a rapper ... He did not pose a threat at all to the school district. He goes to school every day, raps on the side."

   He said rap music has been here for the past 25 years, so the board better get used to it. And, the No. 1 rapper is white, Emimen.

   Woodard said the boys are just emulating stuff they've seen on TV. The rap about keeping hos? "He'd probably run if a real woman came to him," Woodard said, bringing an embarrassed grin to Albert's face.

   "You can't prove he put them there [on the internet] or that he knew they were there," Woodard said. "He didn't incite anyone to violence ... He's too busy being on the honor roll..."

   When the board started deliberating, Toth said the pose of the young men around a table with guns and drugs and tough expressions, was deliberately instigating trouble, "like a dare or a taunt." She said the taunt brought the MMB to confront MADE in the limo.

   She quoted the second CD, "You think you tough? You think you can't bleed?"

   She said she would agree to finding Albert guilty of gang activities and intimidation and other board members agreed.

   "He's been to my home. He's not a bad guy," Johnston said. "Bandanas around their faces doesn't seem to scare anybody. It scares me... It scares me to death that one of these boys will end up dead... The rap lyrics are horrible ... You have talent ... I hate to see you wasting it this way ... I cannot vote to have you come back to school."

   Nodwell said if these students were his children, he'd be asking himself "Where did we go wrong?" He said his grandchildren go to the Van Buren Schools and he wants to assure them of a safe school environment. He said people won't want to go to Applebee's until this gang activity is settled.

   Toth said the board doesn't want to ruin anyone's life and in fact tried to protect the identification of the students by shredding of records.

   Peer said if the board violated the students' privacy rights, Woodard would have the district in court on that.

   "Albert is responsible for nothing," Peer said. "They set this table up with BHS ID ... BB guns... I don't see any BBs... I don't see any musical instruments... It's intimidating to me... What it is is a threat to BHS ... they are all powerful ... invite other gangs to come in.

   "If they can take the Big Boy logo and put a gun in his hand, they could have taken out the student ID card," Peer said, noting Albert is leaning into the limo picture in one shot.

   He agreed to suspension for the rest of the year.

Ran on 12-6-07