Jackson, Mich. (WKHM) — The Jackson Public Schools (JPS) Board of Education voted in favor of a motion to remove now-former Vice President Derek Dobies from his office of V.P. Mr. Dobies made a motion for the Board to accept his resignation as V.P. and have Board Trustee Subba Reddy fill the position, but it was not supported.

As previously reported, the issue stemmed from language that, according to the Board’s legal counsel, was inserted into new Superintendent Jeremy Patterson’s contract by Dobies that would financially benefit the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA) without knowledge of the Superintendent or rest of the Board.

This was clarified by Superintendent Patterson as he made a statement addressed to the public during the meeting.

AFSA is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO of Michigan, a labor union which Mr. Dobies is Chief of Staff, which raised concerns that Mr. Dobies’ vote to ratify the contact presented conflict of interest and ethics problems. Mr. Dobies gave what he called his perspective on the edit.

He also said he did not believe there was a conflict of interest, a claim that Secretary Cheryl Simonetti pushed back hard against during the meeting.

Secretary Simonetti also criticized Mr. Dobies’ comments to Mlive, saying that she believed it was an attempt to throw their legal counsel, Superintendent Patterson, and Board President Shalanda Hunt under the bus. The decision to remove Mr. Dobies from the office of Board Vice President was approved 6-1, with Dobies as the lone no vote.

Mr. Dobies was then censured by the Board by a 4-3 vote, with no votes from Mr. Dobies, President Hunt, and Trustee Reddy. Those on the Board who supported the censure said the motion was made to send a message to the community that Mr. Dobies’ behavior is seen as a strong violation of trust.

Current JPS Board Treasurer Marilyn Acton was then voted to fill the role of Vice President shortly after Mr. Dobies was removed. For clarification, Mr. Dobies is still a member of the Board despite the removal of his role as Vice President.

The full JPS Board of Education meeting for June 17, 2025 can be found on their YouTube channel, or by clicking here.