2003 House Bill 4508 ↩

House Roll Call 679: Passed

To eliminate a November 2004 Detroit election on whether to keep the reform school board imposed on the Detroit School District in 1999, or go back to the system in place prior to the state takeover. The bill would instead place before Detroit voters in a March 16, 2004 special election a choice between two forms of schools governance. One would give the Detroit mayor the sole power to hire and fire a school district Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who would control district operations, budget, personnel decisions, and management. An elected nine-member school board would essentially have an advisory role. This is the form of governance proposed by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The other choice would be to return to the system in effect prior to the 1999 imposition of a reform school board. This featured an 11-member elected school board with full control of school operations, budgets, and CEO selection.