4-3 Split Continues in Hazel Park Schools as Superintendent Remains Suspended with Pay
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Sept. 15, 2026)
Hazel Park, MI – Hazel Park Schools Superintendent Dr. Amy Wilcox remains on paid administrative leave after a divided School Board voted Monday against reinstating her, even though the state investigation that prompted her suspension has been completed.
Board Member Monica Rattee made a motion during the Sept. 14 school board meeting to reinstate Wilcox. The motion failed 4-3.
Rattee, April Beaton and Nathan Becker voted in favor of bringing Wilcox back. Board President Beverly Hinton, Vice President Deborah Laframboise, Treasurer Heidi Fortress and Board Member Darrin Fox voted against the motion.
The vote leaves Wilcox’s status unresolved. The Board did not vote to terminate her employment, nor did members establish a timeline for when her paid leave might end.
Interim Superintendent Griff Mills, who was appointed by the Board in July, remains in the position while Wilcox is also being paid.
Wilcox was placed on non-disciplinary paid administrative leave in July after Laframboise filed complaints with the Michigan Department of Education concerning services for special education students.
At the time, the Board tied Wilcox’s leave to the state’s investigation, although the Michigan Department of Education subsequently clarified that it was investigating the complaint involving the District, not Wilcox personally.
The state investigation has since been completed.
The Michigan Department of Education report found instances where the District did not meet state or federal requirements regarding services for students with disabilities. The report requires corrective actions, with deadlines extending into October 2026 and March 2027.
The report does not name Wilcox as being personally responsible for the violations, and she was not among the two people interviewed as part of the investigation.
Prior to being placed on leave, Wilcox had acknowledged during a Board meeting that there had been problems involving special education services. She said administrators were already aware of the issues and had taken steps including additional training, increased oversight and employee discipline.
During Monday’s meeting, Beaton said attorneys had confirmed that corrective action was underway.
Fortress questioned whether Beaton had read the report.
“Did you read the complaint? You weren’t disturbed by it?” Fortress asked.
Beaton said that she was confident that appropriate action had been taken to address the problems.
Becker said that some of the findings in the report were troubling, but questioned using the state complaint process as a means of disciplining a superintendent.
“I maintain that I think there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things,” Becker said. He added that while aspects of the report were concerning, “it does appear that we are in line to make corrections.”
Rattee pointed out that the report had already been completed weeks earlier.
“The report’s been in for weeks,” Rattee said.
She also stated that the Michigan Department of Education had made clear that its investigation was not an investigation of Wilcox personally.
The latest leave is the second time in two years that the school board has removed Wilcox from her position while continuing to pay her.
In January 2025, the Board unanimously placed Wilcox, then known as Amy Kruppe, on paid administrative leave while outside attorneys investigated potential Board policy violations.
She remained out of the District for more than 100 days while Hazel Park Schools also paid an interim superintendent and legal fees associated with the investigation.
In May 2025, the Board unanimously voted to reinstate her.
The conflict resurfaced in March 2026 when Hinton, Laframboise, Fortress and Fox voted to authorize attorneys to negotiate a buyout of Wilcox’s remaining contract.
Beaton, Becker and Rattee voted against that action.
At the time, it was estimated that buying out the remaining three years of Wilcox’s contract could cost approximately $996,000 when salary, benefits, retirement and vacation were included.
No buyout agreement was ultimately reached.
That meeting also resulted in allegations that members of the Board had improperly discussed the superintendent’s employment outside of a public meeting. A lawsuit was subsequently filed alleging violations of Michigan’s Open Meetings Act.
In July, Laframboise told the Board that several staff members had approached her with concerns about services for special education students and that she filed a complaint directly with the Michigan Department of Education.
“The reason I filed these complaints is that staff members, several staff members not one or two, came to me with concerns about our Special Education population and the services they were not receiving,” Laframboise said at the July meeting.
Wilcox argued that Board policy required Laframboise to bring operational concerns to the superintendent, and that administrators had already been working to address the special education issues.
“If you had come to me and spoken with me, as it is your job as a board member, then you would have been able to sit down and hear what steps I have done,” Wilcox said at the time.
Hinton, Laframboise, Fortress and Fox voted to place Wilcox on leave. Beaton and Rattee opposed the move. Becker was not present.
The same four-member majority then voted to appoint Mills as interim superintendent.
The appointment drew criticism because Board members were given little information about Mills before the vote. Mills previously served as superintendent of Taylor School District before leaving that position in 2023.
At a subsequent meeting, the Board approved an interim contract paying Mills $800 per day plus a $200 monthly travel stipend.
Monday’s vote maintains essentially the same arrangement that has existed since July: Wilcox remains the District’s contracted superintendent but is on paid leave, while Mills performs the job as interim superintendent.
The District’s own website currently lists both Wilcox as “Superintendent” and Mills as “Interim Superintendent.”
The Board has not publicly announced another investigation of Wilcox, voted to terminate her, or established a date for reconsidering her employment status.
Wilcox has served as Hazel Park Schools superintendent since 2015.
The next regular Hazel Park Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Sept. 28 at 6 p.m.
Oakland County Times has been covering this topic since the disagreements began, and has been covering Hazel Park Schools since before Dr. Wilcox’s arrival over a decade ago. Read our history of articles here.
