LANSING – Students who attend Lansing Christian School this fall may not recognize many familiar faces, depending on how voting goes for seats on the school board and the outcome of a controversy between staff and the administration.
Three seats are up for the taking, and members of the Lansing Christian School association, which includes staff as well as parents and guardians of about 575 students enrolled in the school, will be able to vote until May 11.
The election is happening after months of fallout that culminated publicly after the school closed for several days in April because of an employee walkout. That protest was over a decision by Head of School Jeremy Zajicek not to renew the contracts of 11 employees, including Elementary Principal Justin Bolt and Middle and High School Principal Ryan Batson.
In response, a group of 29 teachers sent an unsigned letter to the administration, indicating that 86% of staff members supported a vote of no confidence for both the school’s Board of Trustees and Zajicek, and called for their resignations.
Zajicek joined the school last summer, according to the school website.
At least some of the tension prior to the walkout stems from controversy over critical race theory and LGBTQ issues. Teachers told the board in a letter that they protested the sudden cancelation by Zajicek of an annual Black History celebration in February and concerns last fall about Hispanic Heritage Month events.
“We want to make it clear that none of our teaching staff is ascribed to or promoting a CRT or LGBTQ agenda,” the teachers told the board in the letter. “We are all in agreement with the Board’s position on those ideologies. The reason for our conflict with the Board does NOT have to do with those positions, but rather the unhealthy culture that our Board and Head of School have created through their leadership. Through this long season, teachers have repeatedly appealed to those in leadership to listen to and act on our concerns.”
Katherine Lohman, a former English department chair for the school whose husband, Jason Lohman, was among those who did not have their contract renewed, said in a letter shared with the State Journal that while multiple current board members ran on the idea of keeping things like LGBTQ issues and critical race theory out of curriculum, “To date, no formal evidence of either of these agendas within our school curriculum has been presented to staff.” Katherine Lohman is on the Breaking Bread and Building Bridges planning committee as well.
In late April, a group of teachers published another unsigned letter to families saying 25 out of 44 teachers “are pursuing other employment for next year unless there is a timely and significant change at the Board and Head of School level.”
Zajicek declined to be interviewed about conflicts at the school, but released a brief statement via email.
“Our focus is on providing a safe, stable and Christ-centered educational environment for our students while planning staffing and other resources for the upcoming year,” Zajicek told the State Journal via email. “It is in the best interests of the students in our classrooms right now to refrain from discussing school matters in the public media. I and the rest of the Lansing Christian School administration continue to work individually with teachers and staff regarding their needs, plans, and expectations for the 2026-2027 school year.”
‘My concern is the school is gonna die’
Lansing Christian School alumna Nichole Anderson sent two children to the school and said the contract non-renewals were a “wake-up call,” but tension was growing even when her daughter was attending the school two years ago. She said she didn’t agree with the decisions to cancel or try to combine the Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month events.
A board policy approved in October requires that “any proposed events that celebrate specific people groups or secular ideologies require prior Board approval.”
“I’m a Native American. My mother went to boarding schools. My children are African-American, and my grandchildren are Hispanic,” Anderson said. “All these things affect me as a Christian in Lansing. I’m not going to tolerate you getting rid of Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month, because this is my family.”
Anderson is also concerned about oversight of school money, she said. In October, the board approved changes to the financial responsibilities assigned to the Head of School.
In October, she said, the board approved changes that authorize Zajicek to sign all checks and commitments without board approval for any amount of under $50,000, unless it was already included on the budget. If the amount was budgeted, approval is only required for amounts above $100,000.
She said her oversight concerns are also because Director of Business and Finance Mary Dunsmore was among the 11 people who did not have their contracts renewed. Additionally, board policy states the Head of School is responsible for recommending outside auditors.
“It feels like an outsider came in and has taken over and it really isn’t reflecting the spirit of the school for the last 75 years,” Anderson said. “We’re just very concerned about the direction of the school, how it’s going to be in the community. We do support Black History Month, we do support Hispanic Heritage month. These things are a part of building bridges in your community and caring about people, and Jesus loves everybody.”
Anderson said other changes in the school include having more strict guidelines of what churches people can attend.
According to the board policies, families involved at the school must “practice with regular involvement in a local Christian church” with policies that align with the school’s doctrinal statement and other policies, including a specified statement declaring, “We believe God established marriage as the sacred union of one man and one woman.”
“That is not what we’re about, (the school) is nondenominational,” Anderson said. “We are about all the Christian community and including everyone in the Christian community.”
She’s asking for policies to be restored to how they were before Zaijec took over last year. In response, Anderson is hosting a rally at the Capitol from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 9.
“My concern is the school is gonna die,” she said. “People like me are who donate. … We support the school. We’re the people they should be worried about because we send our kids there. My grandkids won’t go there now. I won’t put more money there.”
School board hires conservative law firm
In a letter on April 13, Zajicek told the community that conservative law firm Kallman Legal Group was advising the school and that both school principals were placed on administrative leave.
Delta Township-based Kallman has represented Karl Manke, the Owosso barber who was charged for defying Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders during the pandemic, Western Michigan University athletes who fought COVID vaccine regulations, and the conservative Ottawa County Board of Commissioners.
The Kallman Legal Group posted a response to Facebook on April 28, defending its work for Lansing Christian School’s board and Zajicek.
“So the record is clear, we are in full support of the decisions that have been made by Jeremy and the LCS Board of Trustees,” the law firm wrote. “It is sad and unfortunate to see the litany of ad-hominem and defamatory attacks against the character and intentions of Jeremy, the LCS Board of Trustees, and against us as well. For example, we have seen claims that we have been only working with Jeremy and LCS to line our own pockets for financial gain. However, all of the assistance we have provided has been completely pro bono and we have not billed LCS one penny because we believe in the mission of LCS.”
The events that led up to that public statement made headlines when the school closed because of the walkout.
The 11 employees were informed they would not be returning this fall on Friday, April 11. The school was closed Monday and Tuesday, April 13-14, as teachers led a walkout. The school opened to elementary students on Wednesday, April 15, and reopened fully on Thursday, April 16.
The staff were informed of the contract non-renewals just days after the application deadline for school board seats had passed.
Teachers are hired on annual contracts, usually sent out in the spring following performance reviews, Angela Rogers, a former teacher at Lansing Christian School, previously told the State Journal. She said in the 10 years she worked for the school, she never heard of anyone not having their contract renewed without reason.
‘An untenable choice’
Casey Conklin, Jason Mead and Thomas Jamieson all reached the end of their terms on the Lansing Christian School’s nine-member board, and none are currently running.
Six people have put their hat in the running for openings, including Jason Crawford, Courtney Hart, Adam Havey, Elizabeth Ivkovich, Liz Kesler and Amanda Toy.
Crawford declined to speak with the State Journal because he was running for the board. He previously said a small group of board members are driving changes for the school that he felt the community as a whole was not actually asking for.
“I am very concerned about the sweeping changes that are being made,” Crawford previously told the State Journal, “and my deepest concern is not that a head of school has done this on his own prerogative, my deepest concern is that there is a group of board members who have brought in a head of school who is doing exactly what they have asked him to do and that it is inconsistent with the things that the board is publicly communicating to the parents and to the association that they intend to do. The gap between what is being communicated publicly to the association and what is being seen and felt in the classrooms by the teachers and the impact of their leadership, that is where my deepest concern lies.”
According to the Lansing Christian School website, people interested in running for the board submit applications, which are then reviewed by the school’s nominating committee, which then determines three to six candidates after interviewing applicants.
After candidates are determined, the applications are sent to staff, parents and guardians, who then vote for who they’d like to see filling the seat. Each parent, guardian and employee gets a vote.
The candidates applications and names were sent at the end of April, and association members can vote until May 11. The results of the election are expected to be announced at the May 11 association meeting.
The board has not commented publicly about the controversy, but in a mid-April letter sent to the school community, trustees wrote they “will not be complying with the demand to resign as a Board.”
“LCS now finds itself facing an untenable choice,” the board wrote. “The same group of parents and teachers who last fall sought to overturn our schoolwide elections has now returned with another ultimatum which this time has forced the closure of our school. They have decided to put their disappointment in the election results and their desire to change school leadership ahead of the interests of students who are now missing valuable learning time and jeopardizing college preparedness through things like the SAT and AP exams. While we understand the emotion behind the changes Dr. Zajicek announced over the weekend, harming the students is not an appropriate outlet. Neither are the threats that have been directed at leadership and their families.”
Competing slates of candidates
The school community has seemingly divided into two distinct factions: those who are in support of the current school board and Zajicek, and those who are not.
Those in support of the administration have found community through the LCS Support for Biblical Truth & Grace Facebook page, while those against Zajicek and the board have been posting updates to the wearelcs.com webpage.
The group supporting Zajicek and the administration shared Havey, Kesler and Ivkovich’s applications while recommending people vote for them. The WeAreLCS website posted videos from the other three candidates, Crawford, Hart and Toy.
It’s unclear what impact new board members would have on the direction of the school, given the nine-member board governs the parochial school.
The campus on Lansing’s southside off of Jolly Road was established in 1951, and there are about 43 teachers and a 12-1 student to teacher ratio.
Contact Karly Graham at kgraham@lsj.com. Follow her on X at @KarlyGrahamJrn.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Many Lansing Christian teachers threaten to leave amid controversy
Reporting by Karly Graham, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
