Dearborn Public Schools superintendent wrote letter telling staff to encourage students “not to pick sides” after Hamas attacked Israel; teacher appears to be reprimanded for stating “Palestine” is not a country

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to Dearborn Public Schools seeking emails from the district’s superintendent and board members regarding Israel for the first couple of weeks after Hamas’ terrorist attack. The district provided PDE with numerous emails that appeared to be newsletters that the district administrators received. However, PDE did receive some important emails from the administrators.

On October 17, 2023, an email was sent to the district’s superintendent regarding a comment from a teacher. This person stated: “Our children are sent to school in hopes that it is a safe space and that our identities are not denied but included.” An image of a Facebook post was included that discussed a teacher who stated “Palestine doesn’t exist.” This comment further explained: “It really hurts to watch everything that is happening and we don’t need cruel comments made by adults to OUR KIDS to make it worse.”

Despite this parent’s complaint, “Palestine” is, in fact, not a country. Superintendent Glenn Maleyko did not push back. He just stated that the Fordson High School principal had “addressed” the issue.

Superintendent Maleyko sent a letter out that appeared to be for staff on October 12. The superintendent told staff to encourage students not to take sides in the war:

I encourage you to tell students not to pick sides but to pick solutions that will end decades of mistrust, lies, and human suffering. I would tell every student to be on the side that respects human life and civil resolutions to problems.