Tagged: Portage School District

PORTAGE, MI -- Officials at Portage Public Schools say they were not aware that Patricia Koeze, who resigned as the district's human resources director on Jan. 21, had been working since June as a $2,000-a-month consultant for WayPoint Academy, a Muskegon charter school. "We were not aware of that at all," said Rob Olsen, Portage's acting superintendent.

KALAMAZOO, MI -- For the second time this week, Patricia Koeze has resigned a job as a school administrator. Meanwhile, MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette has learned that Koeze's lawyer alleges she is the victim of a "smear campaign" by officials in Portage Public Schools.

PORTAGE, MI - The Portage Public Schools Board of Education said former Superintendent Richard Perry engaged in several acts of misconduct all stemming from his "extramarital affair" with the district's former human resources director. The board on Tuesday approved and released a four-page list of charges against Perry that said represented a "material breach" of his contract and led to his suspension in December.

PORTAGE, MI -- Patricia Koeze started Jan. 14 as superintendent of a Muskegon charter school, but that's news to school officials at Portage Public Schools, where Koeze remains on the payroll as human resources director. Koeze was hired by the management company of Waypoint Academy in Muskegon to be the school's superintendent, said Jim Fisher, president of the Waypoint board.

The practical effect of the vote is that Perry is no longer Portage school superintendent and is no longer on the district's payroll. In addition, instead of holding a due-process hearing before the board scheduled for Jan. 25 on whether Perry violated his contract, the dispute will move straight to arbitration.