A Dearborn native takes the top job

Dearborn Public Schools named Mike Esseily as its next superintendent on Monday night, making him the first Arab-American and first Muslim to hold the position permanently.

The Board of Education approved Esseily's three-year contract by a 7-0 vote. He begins leading the district of more than 20,000 students on July 1, according to district communications.

"I am incredibly honored and humbled by the board's decision to offer me the position of superintendent. This district, its teachers and its staff, has shaped my life in profound ways," Esseily said in a district press release.

Esseily is a Fordson High School graduate and has worked within Dearborn Public Schools since 2007. He started as a special education teacher at Stout Middle School and Edsel Ford High School. He later served as assistant principal at Lowrey Middle School, then director of special education. Since 2020, he has been executive director of special populations, overseeing special education, English language learner programs and mental health initiatives, according to the district's First Bell newsletter.

A search that narrowed to one finalist

The board launched a nationwide search last fall after former superintendent Glenn Maleyko left to become state superintendent of the Michigan Department of Education. Lamis Srour served as interim superintendent during the search. She was the first woman and first Arab American to lead the district, but stated she did not want the permanent role, according to the Detroit News.

The board hired the Michigan Leadership Institute to conduct the search. Twenty-three candidates applied, the district reported. The board selected three finalists: Esseily, Thomas Ahart of Des Moines Public Schools, and Moussa Hamka of Grosse Pointe Public Schools. Ahart withdrew before the final interviews.

The $1.5 billion question

Esseily steps into the role as the board pushes a $1.5 billion bond proposal toward the November ballot. The board approved the ballot language for the bond on the same night it confirmed Esseily, according to ClickOnDetroit.

District leaders say the bond would replace or remodel every school in the district over 20 years. The proposal would build six new preschool-through-eighth-grade schools and bring major upgrades to all remaining buildings, including secure vestibules, restroom improvements and technology upgrades, according to ClickOnDetroit reporting.

Esseily called the bond a "critical priority" for his early tenure.

"Our students are ultra successful with facilities that on a very good day are mediocre. Imagine we provide our students top of line things, what are the limits that they can obviously reach," Esseily told mlive.com.

District officials say the bond carries a 3.14-mill increase but would not raise taxes for most Dearborn homeowners. They say the increase would be offset by a lower city debt millage and the elimination of an existing school operating millage, according to ClickOnDetroit.

"So what your taxes are today, exactly one year from now if this bond passes, will be the same," Esseily said.

Dearborn voters narrowly rejected a $240 million facilities bond in 2019 by just 242 votes. The last school bond approved by Dearborn voters was in 2013, according to ClickOnDetroit.

Esseily warned that a bond failure could divert money from teaching and learning.

"Anything we take to use for infrastructure is going to be having to take out of different areas that are critical to teaching and learning," he said.

What comes next

The district plans to hold a community event later this summer for residents to meet the new superintendent, according to First Bell. Esseily also said artificial intelligence in education will be a topic he addresses early in his tenure, comparing the rise of AI to the internet boom of the 2000s.

"I do believe that our students are coming in with a different type of learning that we are going to need to adjust to," Esseily told mlive.com.