The Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education named Mike Esseily as the district’s next superintendent in a unanimous vote at their Monday night meeting, making him the first Arab-American permanent superintendent of the district.
Esseily was announced as the next superintendent on May 5, but the board’s vote made his appointment official. He will start leading the district of over 20,000 students on July 1.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled by the board’s decision to offer me the position of superintendent,” Esseily said in a district press release. “This district — its teachers and its staff — has shaped my life in profound ways. As a proud graduate of Fordson High School and a lifelong student of Dearborn Public Schools, I have dedicated my professional career to serving this community. The opportunity to lead the very district that raised me is not just a career milestone; it is deeply personal.”
Esseily was previously the district’s executive director of special populations since 2020, overseeing special education, English language learners and mental health initiatives. Before that, he spent three years as the district’s director of special education and two years as a special education coordinator.
Esseily started as a special education teacher in Dearborn schools in 2007, working at the Stout Middle School and the Edsel Ford High School. He also served as an assistant principal at the Lowrey Middle School.
Esseily will be taking over at a pivotal time, as the board works to decide how to move forward with putting a possible bond proposal on the November ballot. The district has between $1 billion and $1.5 billion in looming repair and replacement costs for its school buildings.
The board launched a search last fall after the previous superintendent, Glenn Maleyko, was appointed state superintendent after leading Dearborn schools for over a decade.
The board selected three finalists: Esseily; Thomas Ahart, the former superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools; and Moussa Hamka, assistant superintendent of human resources at the Grosse Pointe Public School System.
Ahart withdrew his name from consideration ahead of the final interviews.
The board appointed an interim superintendent, Lamis Srour, during the national search. She was the first woman, first Arab American and first Muslim to lead the district, but said when appointed interim that she did not want the job permanently.
The board used the Michigan Leadership Institute as its search firm.
satwood@detroitnews.com
Staff Writer Jennifer Pignolet contributed.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Dearborn Public Schools officially names Esseily next superintendent
Reporting by Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
