STATE OF MICHIGAN
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Re: William Mitchell Hawkins,
Respondent Docket No. TCR 16-7
Attorney for Respondent: Marshall W. Grate
Clark Hill, P.C.
200 Ottawa Ave., NW
Suite 500
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
FINAL DECISION AND ORDER
On February 28, 2017, I issued a final decision and order in this matter, denying the request of petitioner Office of Professional Preparation Services (OPPS) of the Michigan Department of Education (Department) to suspend the school administrator certificate of respondent William Mitchell Hawkins. The request for suspension was based on respondent’s plea-based misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence, MCL 750.81(2), for which he had been sentenced on April 25, 2016, to a 12-month term of probation. In the February 28, 2017 decision, I imposed the following conditions on respondent’s continued possession of his school administrator certificate.
Based on respondent’s failure to comply fully with the third and sixth conditions, OPPS recommended a one-year suspension of respondent’s school administrator certificate and, without notice to respondent, an order to that effect was issued on January 9, 2018. On January 17, 2018, respondent filed a motion for rehearing/reconsideration of the January 9 order and a brief in support of the motion. I granted the motion on January 19 and ordered a stay of enforcement of the January 9 order pending final review. There was a conference at the Department on February 23, 2018. Present were my designee, Robert Taylor; Mr. Hawkins; Sheila Dorsey-Smith, assistant superintendent of human resources of Kalamazoo Public Schools; Marshall W. Grate of Clark Hill, PLC, representing Mr. Hawkins; Leah Breen, OPPS director; assistant attorney general Jonathan Ludwig; and Mary Fielding, a Department administrative law specialist.
It is not disputed that respondent complied with the first, second, fourth, and fifth conditions set forth in the February 28, 2017 decision. He fully complied with the terms of his probation and he was discharged from probation on March 30, 2017, which was approximately three and one-half weeks before expiration of the 12-month term of probation that was imposed on April 25, 2016; he notified OPPS when he changed his address in July 2017; he has had no further involvement with the criminal justice system; and no disciplinary action has been taken against him. As noted, at issue is respondent’s compliance with the third (monthly counseling) and sixth (quarterly reports) conditions set forth in the February 28, 2017 decision.
In his motion for rehearing/reconsideration, respondent asserted that, on May 15, June 5, July 10, July 24, August 21, September 18, and October 16, 2017, he attended counseling sessions with Giovanni Leonor, who was familiar with the circumstances of his criminal history.[1] In a January 29, 2018 affidavit, Mr. Leonor confirmed respondent’s attendance at those individual counseling sessions and he stated that respondent also met with him for individual counseling on June 26, 2017.
The request to suspend respondent’s school administrator certificate is based in part on his failure to attend a counseling session in April 2017. The affidavit of Mr. Leonor corroborates respondent’s assertion that it was due to scheduling conflicts that they were unable to meet that month. Mr. Leonor’s sworn statement is as follows: “Because of scheduling conflicts, I was not available to schedule a counseling session with Mr. Hawkins for the month of April 2017.”
The February 28, 2017 decision ordered respondent to file quarterly reports with OPPS during the 6-month period following his release from probation. He submitted a report on October 13, 2017, and there is no allegation that that report did not satisfy his obligation to submit a report at the end of the six-month period. He admits, however, that he did not file a full report in June-July 2017. At the February 23, 2018 meeting, he unequivocally stated that he was offering no excuses for that lapse, but he credibly described the circumstances of his life during the summer of 2017, including working as summer school principal, traveling weekly from Kalamazoo to Flint to care for his ailing mother, changing his residence, and being present for his daughter as she finished high school and started college.
Before I may take action against an individual’s school administrator certificate based on the conviction of a crime described in MCL 380.1535a, I am required to find that the conviction is reasonably and adversely related to the individual’s present fitness to serve as a Michigan school administrator or that the conviction demonstrates that the individual is unfit to serve in that capacity. MCL 380.1535a(3)(c).[2]
In my February 28, 2017 decision, I found that respondent is well-respected in the Kalamazoo Public Schools community; that he has done outstanding work in some of the most challenging schools in the district; that he works well with students, staff, and parents; that his removal would be a great loss to the school community; and that he accepts full responsibility for his conduct. Based on respondent’s conduct in the past year and on facts established in his pleadings and at the February 23, 2018 meeting, I reaffirm those findings. As set forth in the February 28, 2017 decision, respondent has taken important steps to address the issues that precipitated his criminal conduct and he has earned the strong support of Kalamazoo Public Schools administrators, including Superintendent Michael Rice. As described by Dr. Rice, there has been significant improvement in student achievement at Northeastern Elementary School under respondent’s leadership. In fact, because of that improvement, the Department removed the school from the list of priority schools on October 30, 2017. At the February 23, 2018 meeting, Assistant Superintendent Dorsey-Smith affirmed that Dr. Rice’s support for respondent remains firm. She echoed other administrators’ praise for respondent’s contributions to the school community, including his acting as a role model for young men, working with parents, and supporting all children so as to foster their success in and out of school.
Respondent’s early discharge from probation shows that he continued to comply with the terms of the order of probation and, based on careful consideration of all available facts, I find no likelihood that the behavior that led to his misdemeanor conviction will recur.
In my February 28, 2017 decision, I declined to find that respondent was unfit to serve as a school administrator and I continue to find that he is fit to serve in that capacity. I find that he substantially complied with the conditions set forth in the February 28, 2017 decision and that his substantial compliance was sufficient under the facts of this case. In particular, I find that his failure to attend a counseling session with Mr. Leonor in April 2017 was excusable because of a scheduling conflict beyond respondent’s control; that he made up for the missed April session by attending two sessions in June and two in July; that, given the requirement that he meet with someone familiar with the circumstances of his conviction and the fact of his longstanding therapeutic relationship with Mr. Leonor, it was not reasonable to expect him to meet with a different therapist in April; and that his failure to submit a full report when the first of the two quarterly reports was due was reasonably explained by his personal circumstances. I find that any lapse in respondent’s strict compliance with the conditions set forth in the February 28, 2017 decision does not call into question his fitness to serve as a school administrator.
For these reasons, I vacate the January 9, 2018 order and I deny the request of OPPS to suspend respondent’s school administrator certificate.
ORDER
Now, therefore, I order as follows.
The January 9, 2018 order suspending William Mitchell Hawkins’ Michigan school administrator certificate is vacated.
The request for suspension of the Michigan school administrator certificate of William Mitchell Hawkins is denied.
________________________________
Brian J. Whiston
Superintendent of Public Instruction
DATED: March 6, 2018
[1] Respondent met with Mr. Leonor for group counseling sessions 40 times during his probationary period.
[2] See footnote 4 in the February 28, 2017 decision:
The standards and procedures set forth in MCL 380.1535a relating to
teaching certificates apply to school administrator certificates. MCL
380.1536(3)(d); Van Hulle (TCR 15-3); Sledge (TCR 15-4). See also
Mich Admin Code, R 380.121(1)(b) and MCL 380.1539b.