MARCH 30 • 2023 | 13

B

loomfield Hills Schools families and con-
cerned community members packed the 
Doyle Center in Bloomfield Hills at an 
emergency Board of Education meeting on Monday, 
March 20, to get answers on how the school district 
plans to put healing measures in place as well as to 
voice their displeasure about the outcome of a man-
datory diversity day assembly that left both Jewish 
and Muslim students at Bloomfield Hills High 
School feeling threatened. 
The BOE voted to move the public comments 
section up on the agenda, which went on for more 
than two hours. The board also discussed in a 
later session how they would choose legal counsel 
because parents reported their students — both 
Jewish and Muslim — were receiving in-person 
and online threats. The school faced a previous 
lawsuit during the 2021-2022 school year when 
the school was being investigated for multiple hate 
crimes against black students. After these inci-
dents, Principal Charlie Hollerith resigned midway 
through the school year. 
Both communities laid the blame squarely on 
lack of leadership and oversight from Margaret 
Schultz, the district’s director of diversity equity and 
inclusion, calling for her to be fired, as well as the 
possible removal of high school Principal Lawrence 
Stroughter and/or Superintendent Pat Watson. If 
these actions would not be swiftly carried out, some 
parents called for a dissolution of the current mem-
bers of the Board of Education itself. 
On March 23, Watson sent a brief letter to the 
BHS community saying that Stroughter was on 
leave and that Associate Principal William Simms 
will serve as interim principal. 
According to Watson, speaking at the beginning 
of the meeting (and updating this number at the 
March 23 regular board meeting), the district is 
investigating 20 possible hate incidents at BHHS 
since last week’s diversity day, with one under police 
investigation. 
No matter their opinion on whether anti-Israel 
activist Huwaida Arraf should have addressed high 
school students, all who spoke agreed that their 
diverse, somewhat cohesive school community is 
now broken and are demanding accountability from 
the administration and the board. 
In addition to those who spoke at the meeting, 
there is a change.org petition being circulated with 
nearly 1,000 signatures demanding Watson immedi-
ately terminate the employment of Margaret Schultz 
and Lawrence Stroughter with cause because they 
violated the board policy of keeping students safe 
and secure at school. Schultz and Stroughter were 
not at the meeting.
The petition, written by Dr. Ali Alhimiri, a 
Bloomfield Hills father of four daughters, states: 

Parents and students express 
outrage at heated Bloomfield Hills 
Board of Education meeting.

continued on page 14

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JERRY ZOLYNSKY

An overview of the 
crowded Bloomfield 
Hills Board of 
Education meeting 
Monday, March 20

