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For the second time this month, Mount Clemens Community Schools students and staff members find themselves under new leadership following a twerking scandal.
The Board of Education first announced they had appointed Assistant Superintendent David Lavender as acting superintendent in the absence of Superintendent Monique Beels, who they had suspended because of the twerking incident.
Five days later, school officials voted to name former Fitzgerald Public Schools Superintendent Barbara VanSweden as acting superintendent. Turns out Lavender didn’t meet the state qualifications to run the district.
Board President Earl Rickman III said Mount Clemens has an agreement with the Macomb Intermediate School District for superintendent services.
“Per our legal counsel, state law states we had to have a superintendent, thus David (Lavender) was put in that capacity until the MISD could provide someone during the (Beels) investigation,” he said in a text message.
After VanSweden was appointed to temporarily head the district, Lavender was transferred back to his original position, according to Rickman.
The board has placed Beels on paid, non-disciplinary administrative leave while an investigation is completed.
School board members have appointed Bingham Farms-based Recon Management Group to investigate whether Beels violated board policies relating the twerking incident. The move means Beels is banned from Mount Clemens school buildings, and all of her authorized responsibilities and duties as the chief administrators are on hold.
VanSweden had served in the same capacity for two years in the New Haven school district, and one year in Clintondale Community Schools in neighboring Clinton Township.
“I am here to support the Board of Education, the staff and students here in Mount Clemens,” she said last week. “They have some wonderful initiatives here: a new high school principal, a new elementary school principal and a new assistant superintendent in David Lavender.
“Our job is educate all of the kids, that’s the goal here. We need to work collaboratives to get that done.”
At issue is a raunchy dance routine performed in October month by a rap artist who was accompanied by a woman in a G-string and sports bra who twerked on the gym floor making sexually provocative moves.
The performance was one of about 20 entertainers at a private function that took place in Mount Clemens High School gym. School administrators had rented the gym to Rivals Recruiting Worldwide for what the organization had claimed was a charity event.
A video of the event quickly went viral, drawing negative reactions from parents and taxpayers. It also gained the attention of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office and was mentioned on at least one national TV news talk show.
School officials are already taking steps to make sure a similar incident doesn’t happen again. They have implemented a pause on renting school facilities to outside organizations for 30 days while the investigation is completed. Beels had indicated from now on, school officials will now require advance review of flyers for upcoming events at school facilities.
Rivals Recruiting CEO grad Quentin Hines also has apologized for not better screening the acts that appeared at the event. The group has been banned from using Mount Clemens’ facilities.
Hines, a Mount Clemens High School graduate, former NFL running back and Super Bowl winner, said there was no alcohol or drug consumption at the event.
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