Nearly all Richmond Education Association members say they have no confidence in Richmond Community Schools’ Central Office administration because of concerns about leadership, communication and fiscal management.
Jay Lee, REA president and a Richmond High School teacher, presented results from three no-confidence votes during the Richmond Community Schools board meeting May 20.
Lee said the union’s executive board directed him to conduct the vote after noting serious ongoing concerns and careful consideration of its responsibility to protect the school corporation’s future and integrity.
According to Lee, 98.4% of members believe current leadership has consistently failed to provide direction, respond to challenges or represent the best interests of the school community. He said effective leadership requires vision, responsibility and the ability to unite stakeholders toward a common goal.
The same percentage of members said communication has been inconsistent, unclear and sometimes absent, creating confusion, eroding trust and disconnecting educators from Central Office leadership. Lee said educators deserve clear, honest and timely communication and should be informed, heard and engaged.
Lee said 99.2% of members believe the district has demonstrated a pattern of financial decisions lacking transparency, accountability and sound judgment. He said questionable allocations have put RCS’ financial stability in jeopardy.
Taken together, Lee said, those failures have undermined the district’s foundation. He said leadership must be accountable to stakeholders and the community, and when that accountability is not met, it is the union’s duty to act.
REA leaders T. Washington and Marc Price said they hoped no retribution would result from the vote. They referenced former REA president Kelley McDermott, who was placed on administrative leave after publicly criticizing district leadership and whose contract was later canceled. McDermott later settled a lawsuit with RCS.
Board members did not respond to the public comments.
Superintendent Curtis Wright told WWN he learned during the previous week’s corporate open forum that REA members planned to conduct the vote.
“It was not so much a surprise but great feedback for us to collectively improve upon,” Wright said.
Wright said classroom teachers are the district’s most impactful employees and that RCS will continue working to provide the resources and protections they need to help students succeed.
During the meeting, building principals reported improvements in student data and staff development. Wright said the presentations demonstrated the collaborative professional learning organization the district has worked to build and showed systems and structures beginning to produce gains in student achievement.
He said student outcomes remain the central measure of the district’s strategic plan and that RCS’ board, central office, building leaders, faculty, staff, students and stakeholders have exceeded expectations in recent years.
Wright also pointed to collective bargaining, master contracts and informal bargaining sessions as examples of efforts to strengthen relationships with teachers and provide opportunities for faculty and staff input.
During the business meeting, the board unanimously voted that the automatic extension clause in Wright’s contract would not take effect in 2026. Board members said the decision was not punitive but was intended to address community concerns about potential staffing cuts announced earlier this month and to begin at the administrative level.
The board also approved regular personnel changes and ratified unpaid administrative leave for one employee from April 27-30 and paid administrative leave for another employee from April 11-14.
Executive sessions were conducted April 6 and 27 to discuss a performance evaluation and employment matters involving individual employees. An April 21 executive session addressed collective bargaining strategy and attorney-client communications. The board also conducted a caucus following the May 20 meeting.
Find more news from the May 20 meeting in WWN’s June 3 edition.
A version of this article appeared in the May 27 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
