GRPS Innovation Central High School /Photo by rossograph via Wikimedia Commons.
Read this article from July 11, 2024: Accusations of retaliation surface as GRPS communications director placed on leave
Leon Hendrix, former executive director of communications and external affairs for GRPS /Grand Rapids Public Schools
A former Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) spokesperson left the district Friday after accusing the superintendent of retaliation for raising concerns about his superiors.
Leon Hendrix, formerly the executive director of communications and external affairs at GRPS, has “reached a tentative agreement to mutually part ways” with the district, according to GRPS.
“GRPS would like to thank Mr. Hendrix for his contributions to our district over the past two years,” the district said in a statement Friday. “GRPS remains committed to open and transparent communication with our scholars, families, staff, and community.”
Stephen Grimm, Hendrix’s attorney, said Hendrix saw the “discord and issues” in GRPS as “a distraction from the good work that the district does and what he wanted the district to do.”
“And so, in thinking of the kids and the families, he decided to part ways,” Grimm said.
Hendrix was set to make his case for reinstatement at a July 22 hearing in front of the district’s Board of Education. Now that he’s left GRPS, that meeting has been adjourned, according to the district.
Hendrix declined to comment.
Hendrix was placed on paid administrative leave in March after district superintendent Leadriane Roby accused him of “rousing discord” among the district’s Board of Education and speaking poorly of colleagues in a conversation with a community member.
Hendrix disputed those claims in a complaint against Roby in April, saying she sought to punish him for raising concerns about district leadership.
Hendrix said Roby’s decision to terminate him was spurred, in part, by a separate complaint he filed against GRPS Deputy Superintendent Brandy Lovelady Mitchell, accusing her of being “disrespectful, demeaning, and in some cases intimidating to members of our team.”
Around the same time, Hendrix said he brought up concerns about an effort by Roby to restructure GRPS’s leadership team.
Less than a month later, Roby sent him the termination letter.
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