DPS board chief Otis Mathis regrets lewd act
Superintendent says misbehavior is intolerable
BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER
Detroit school board President Otis Mathis admitted Friday to engaging in "inappropriate actions" but tried to take back his resignation after he was accused of fondling himself during a meeting with the district superintendent.
"As you know, I have made inappropriate actions toward a professional employee of the board. I deeply regret my actions. I have apologized to the employee involved," he wrote in his letter attempting to rescind the resignation. .
He said medical issues may have contributed to the incident. "I need to pursue treatment. ... I want to make sure that what happened doesn't ever happen again."
The allegations set off a furor Friday.
"It's over. He's done. We have more important business to handle," said Carla Scott, a member of the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education. "We can't afford a circus."
DPS police were investigating allegations by Superintendent Teresa Gueyser that during a meeting Wednesday, Mathis touched himself for 20 minutes, then unzipped his pants.
Gueyser, in a memo to the board, said she ended the meeting. "I told him that there was no reason for us to continue the meeting with that behavior," she said.
Gueyser said the incident culminated a long history of inappropriate behavior. "This situation is now untenable and intolerable," she said.
Anthony Adams, vice president of the Detroit Board of Education, said the board planned to post notices that the position is open and then vote to appoint someone from Mathis' district -- District 2, which encompasses southwest Detroit.
He said the board's policy is that a resignation is deemed accepted upon submission. During a previously scheduled school board meeting Friday evening, he referred to Mathis as the former board president. Mathis attended the meeting but sat in the audience and declined to talk with reporters.
Mathis earlier had submitted a letter apologizing for his actions and attempting to take back his resignation.
Anger and shock permeated the board meeting Friday amid the allegations that Mathis had fondled himself in a one-on-one meeting with Superintendent Teresa Gueyser on Wednesday.
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Mathis submitted his resignation Thursday, but then wrote the board a letter seeking to rescind it. He said medical issues may have contributed to his behavior and acknowledged he might need treatment.
"However, I do not need to resign in order to take care of my health. In some ways, the health battle I am making will be better served by continuing on the board," he wrote.
Former board member Marie Thornton said she was shocked at the accusations.
"He was always friendly, he was always professional, he always spoke to me even when no other board member spoke to me. He was one of the board members I liked," she said.
Thornton is organizing to defeat efforts to give Detroit Mayor Dave Bing control of Detroit Public Schools, but said the allegations could make the effort tougher.
"This is going to make people say, 'This is why we don't need a board,' " she said. "But this is not about the board members. It's about the people's right to elect officials. My thing is not to defend this board, but the right of the people."
Longtime education activist Helen Moore said the accusations are a distraction from the board's battle to retain power.
"That issue does not mean we give up our stance on keeping the elected board," she said. "We cannot indict this whole system because of accusations with the board president."
At least one DPS board member said Friday that he has no problem with Mathis remaining on the board.
Reverend David Murray said Mathis took responsibility for his bad behavior toward Gueyser.
"He's a young man; maybe he didn't know it was offensive to her," Murray said of the 55-year-old Mathis. "It's not something I would do. He's a young man. That's just the way it is."
Other board members, including Carol Banks and Carla Scott, disagreed. Scott and Banks said there is no chance Mathis is returning to the board.
"This is not something to play with," Scott said. "This is too serious. We have to move on."
Board members said Mathis had already packed up his office and turned in his key. His picture was removed from the wall in the DPS main office.
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Gueyser attended the board meeting Friday, but would not comment on the matter.
Adams said the superintendent was interviewed by DPS police.
"Clearly, we are disappointed, but those are the alleged acts of an individual and should not reflect on the board as a whole," he said. "This board has been consistent with respect to trying to move academic achievement and will continue to do that."
In a memo recounting the incident, Gueyser said that she has had to leave meetings on several occasions because of similar behavior by Mathis in the past. "This is a usual habit of President Mathis during any private meeting with me. ... Most times I try to ignore him," the memo said.
However, Wednesday was different from other incidents, it said, because Mathis "unzipped his pants" and appeared to be masturbating.
The allegations come as the board is fighting for its survival as an elected body. Board members and emergency financial manager Robert Bobb are wrangling over who has authority over academics in the school district. The board is alleging that Bobb, a state appointee who controls the budget, has illegally taken control of academics as well, rendering the board nearly powerless.
The board also is facing the petition drive that seeks to eliminate the board and place the mayor in control of the district.
Contact CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY: 313-223-4537 or cpratt@freepress.com. Staff writer Jennifer Dixon contributed to this report.
Otis Mathis resigned from the Detroit Public Schools board after allegations he fondled himself in front of the superintendent, which set off a furor Friday. But then he tried to rescind his resignation. "I deeply regret my actions. I have apologized," he wrote. (ROMAIN BLANQUART/DETROIT FREE PRESS)