Detroit School Superintendent Calloway asked to cut her personal security budget

November 16, 2008

Two armed police officers currently escort Detroit Public School (DPS) Superintendent Connie Calloway all around the city and state.

These officers receive about $95,000 a year combined in base pay. During two summer months when school was not in session, these officers also earned a total $13,803 for 400 hours of overtime, according to the Detroit Free Press. 

The DPS superintendent's security unit is the most extensive in the country, according the the Free Press, and exceeds that of school leaders in districts four to eleven larger such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

Callow has been asked to cut her budget, especially the money used for personal security.  This request was made by DPS Board members Annie Carter and Marie Thornton, who are part of a group that has recently been questioning Calloway’s competence.

The feeling by these board members and others is that Calloway should take cuts, too, since teachers, social workers and support staff are currently being laid off due to cutbacks and declining enrollment.  Unless DPS can get their budget under control, the state of Michigan may appoint an emergency manager to take over their finances.

District spokesperson Steve Wasko told the press that the security is necessary for the superintendent.  The district admitted that Calloway, who took over last year, has not had any threats.

Calloway’s contract states that she will have access to "a district vehicle and licensed security" for business-related purposes. At least three previous leaders have also received this protection.

DPS used to provide 24-hour detail for their chief.  However, this was cut after the end of the state takeover in 2005 state takeover.  

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BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY of the Detroit Free Press

As hundreds of teachers, social workers and support staff are getting layoff notices from the Detroit Public Schools district, some board members are requesting that the superintendent cut her office's budget, starting with the armed police who escort her around Detroit and throughout the state. Superintendent Connie Calloway declined to comment on the security detail, a unit the district has provided in various forms for its leaders since 1993. But Steve Wasko, a district spokesman, said in an e-mail that the two cops are "an appropriate level of support" for Calloway, given her position.

Board members Annie Carter and Marie Thornton, who are part of a faction that has questioned Calloway's judgment and competence in recent months, questioned the police detail at two board meetings, including at last month's vote to approve layoffs. They suggested Calloway reduce her protection unit.

"If we have to make cuts across the board, her office should take cuts, too," Carter said. "That's only fair."

The district would be better served if one of Calloway's officers were reassigned to a school, Carter said.

Carter said she wrote a memo asking Calloway whether she intended to make cuts in the superintendent's office, but received no reply.

The cost of the security team has been a point of contention in previous years but has come up again as the board addresses a projected $124-million deficit for 2007-08 and the ongoing threat that the state could appoint an emergency manager to take over DPS' finances.

In spring 2007, months before Calloway began as superintendent, she expressed surprise that superintendents in Detroit had long received armed protection. Her contract with the board stipulated that she would have access to "a district vehicle and licensed security" for business-related purposes.

The DPS superintendent's security unit was cut from a 24-hour detail after the end of the state takeover in 2005, but it still appears to be the most extensive in the country. It exceeds that of school leaders in districts four to eleven times larger than DPS such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, officials in those cities said.

Currently, DPS provides Calloway two officers who -- according to documents obtained by the Free Press -- receive about $95,000 a year combined in base pay. Those officers also incurred more than 400 hours of overtime, totaling $13,803 during a period of about two months, from July 1 to Sept. 5, records show.

The two DPS police officers initially assigned to protect Calloway also protected three previous leaders: interim Superintendent Lamont Satchel, Superintendent William F. Coleman III and Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Burnley.

However, those officers were reassigned about two months after Calloway's arrival in July 2007. The transfers were due to personality conflicts and because the cops refused to carry Calloway's handbag, according to district sources who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to talk about her security.

"According to our office of public safety, it's not unusual for officers to be rotated when the administrators change," Wasko said.

When asked about the alleged handbag incident, Wasko said: "I have no information on that."

Board member Tyrone Winfrey, the finance committee chair, said he was baffled that Calloway felt compelled to bring security to a weekend meeting with the board in June. He said Calloway, who has been reprimanded twice by the board for what the board characterized as disrespectful behavior, could gain goodwill if she took a voluntary cut -- a security cut or the 10% pay cut that Coleman and Burnley took before her. Calloway's salary is $280,000.

"Sometimes, a symbolic move says, 'While these other people are hurting, I'm going to sacrifice as well," Winfrey said.

Questions about DPS' armed superintendent detail first arose during the state takeover-era administration, in which more than more than $1.8 million was spent on security for Burnley from 2000 to 2005. He had a 24-hour detail at his home, in addition to three armed officers available to drive him around at night, on weekends and for select out-of-town trips. Taxpayer money was used to install surveillance cameras at his home.

Burnley's security was unprecedented in DPS and came about after a woman barged into his Palmer Woods home in 2000 while contractors were preparing it for his move-in. In addition, officials were concerned about threats Burnley received and protestors angry about the state's takeover of the district who picketed at his home and at board meetings.

The district said Calloway has received no threats since taking the job last year.

The National School Safety Center in Westlake Village, Calif., maintains that the level of security to protect staff and students should correspond with the threat level.

"My advice to schools is follow the least restrictive environment. ... If you don't need a security entourage, don't use it," said Ronald Stephens, executive director of the group.

"On the other hand, if you've had threats that have come in a particular time, certainly you would want to use it."

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