EAST LANSING – Former East Lansing Excessive Faculty Principal Shannon Mayfield lied on his resume and fabricated transcripts displaying he had earned a doctorate diploma from a Michigan college, acts college officers mentioned they found simply previous to his resignation earlier this month.
East Lansing Superintendent Dori Leyko and Chief Human Assets Officer Rulesha Glover-Payne met with Mayfield on March 7 at his house after figuring out the information had been falsified, paperwork obtained by the State Journal by a public information request present. He resigned March 10.
Mayfield, who joined the district as principal in July, couldn’t attain for remark.
An electronic mail Mayfield despatched to Glover-Payne on Dec. 12 indicated he had accomplished a doctorate of training in moral instructional management from Wayne State College and included Wayne State transcripts and communications confirming the completion of the diploma. District officers, after consulting with Wayne State’s Registrar’s Workplace, discovered he made up not solely the diploma however the title of an worker within the Registrar’s Workplace who confirmed Mayfield had accomplished the diploma, in accordance with a memo Leyko despatched to the college board.
“Faculty leaders are provided an superior alternative to affect the expansion of younger adults – we’ve a accountability to the scholars we serve to be function fashions and to exhibit the very best stage of honesty and integrity,” Leyko mentioned in an announcement to the State Journal on Thursday. “East Lansing Public Colleges have excessive expectations for his or her college leaders and for the character demonstrated by their actions.
“As demonstrated by the paperwork you acquired beneath the FOIA request, Mr. Mayfield’s actions didn’t meet the expectations we’ve for varsity leaders on this district. Our East Lansing Excessive Faculty employees and college students are in good palms with the management staff we have put in place for the rest of the college yr.”
Mayfield had been off for private causes since Jan. 25, officers have mentioned. In January, then-East Lansing Excessive Faculty Assistant Principal Ashley Schwarzbek despatched a communication to households to replace their response to the latest considerations with violence in the highschool. She wrote that Mayfield had been out with a “non-covid-related well being subject.”
Based on the memo Leyko despatched the college board:
In his software for the principal place, Mayfield acknowledged he had been attending Wayne State since September 2018 and anticipated to quickly full a doctorate diploma.
On Jan. 9, after receiving the e-mail during which Mayfield mentioned he had earned the diploma, Glover-Payne wrote to congratulate the principal on the completion of his doctorate diploma. She additionally requested an official transcript and letter confirming completion of this system in order that she might course of a $4,000 stipend the diploma made Mayfield eligible for.
Glover-Payne acquired what seemed to be Mayfield’s Wayne State transcript on Feb. 27. It confirmed a doctorate of philosophy diploma was awarded on Dec. 13, 2022, with a serious in organizational management, not a doctorate of training in moral instructional management as talked about in Mayfield’s Dec. 12 e-mails.
Glover-Payne scanned and forwarded a replica of the transcript and the envelope it was despatched to her within the Wayne State Registrar’s Workplace. She requested the school confirm the authenticity of the transcript. The executive supervisor of the Wayne State Registrar’s Workplace, Doris Davis, emailed Glover-Payne on Feb. 28 to inform her the transcript was not a Wayne State educational file and cc’d Registrar Kurt Kruschinska.
On March 1, Glover-Payne acquired one other electronic mail from Wayne State, this time from Kruschinska, indicating the scanned transcript was not a Wayne State transcript.
Kruschinska wrote that the transcript wasn’t professional for a number of causes, together with:
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Wayne State transcripts are offered on inexperienced safety paper or delivered as a inexperienced and white PDF
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The watermark used on Wayne State transcripts is the college’s seal, not a seal that claims “Official Doc”
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The title of Wayne State Registrar Kurt Kruschinska seems on all transcripts. The transcript offered to Glover-Payne bears the title “Charles Bakersfield.” Kruschinska mentioned he had “no thought who Charles Bakersfield is or in the event that they even exist.”
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Wayne State makes use of a four-digit course numbering system, in contrast to the three-digit course numbers included in Mayfield’s transcript.
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Mayfield’s transcript references a Spring semester. Wayne State solely has a Fall, Winter and Spring/Summer time semester.
Moreover, Glover-Payne was informed that the envelope that the pretend transcript arrived in was not the envelope an official transcript could be despatched in, in accordance with the doc. Moreover the envelope incorrectly consists of Wayne State’s Zip code as 48126. The envelopes additionally are usually not stamped, relatively they’re metered on the put up workplace.
Leyko mentioned she has consulted an legal professional for steering. Presently, “we’re not pursuing authorized motion,” she mentioned.
Terah Chambers, president of the ELPS Board of Training, mentioned the college board has been in communication with Thrun Legislation Agency, which serves because the district’s authorized counsel.
“The East Lansing Faculty Board was dissatisfied to be taught concerning the actions of former ELHS Principal Shannon Mayfield which have come to gentle surrounding his latest resignation,” she mentioned. “As evidenced by the paperwork shared with LSJ, Mr. Mayfield didn’t uphold the requirements that we maintain for the college leaders who’re finally chargeable for the training, security and improvement of our college students.
“We recognize the swift response from our superintendent, human assets director and different members of our administrative staff who totally investigated the scenario and applied a transition plan to make sure constant and efficient management at the highschool.”
Leyko beforehand mentioned Schwarzbek would stay as interim principal and Jeff Lampi as interim affiliate principal.
She introduced Mayfield’s resignation Monday.
Leyko concluded her memo to the Board of Training explaining that the district discovered two “substantiated acts of Mr. Mayfield’s dishonest and fraudulent actions…: Resume fraud: Mr. Mayfield submitted his resume and software in April 2022. His software states that he has been attending Wayne State College since 2018 and is anticipated to earn a level in Moral Management in 12/2023. Mr. Mayfield’s resume states that he was anticipating to earn his Physician of Philosophy in Moral Management from Wayne State College in 2023.”
Leyko went on to clarify Mayfield checked the field and electronically signed the portion of his software on April 28, 2022 that indicated all statements and data within the software had been appropriate.
The second act Leyko listed was transcript fraud. “Mr. Mayfield submitted a falsified transcript for programs he didn’t take, grades he didn’t earn, and a level he didn’t full (and even begin) at WSU.”
On Thursday, she despatched an electronic mail to district employees:
“Good afternoon ELHS employees,
“Because of these of you who had been accessible to return to the elective assembly after college – understandably, it was late discover and plenty of of you might have after-school commitments. So, I am following up with this electronic mail communication to make sure that everybody has an understanding of the info.
“I wish to offer you some extra data relating to Mr. Mayfield’s resignation as it’s prone to hit the media later in the present day or tomorrow on account of a FOIA request.
“In December, Mr. Mayfield communicated through electronic mail to our HR division that he had lately accomplished his doctorate diploma. I did not find out about this communication till January. As a typical protocol, our HR division requested documentation of this diploma completion – an official transcript from the college Directors’ contracts present a $4000 stipend upon completion of a doctorate diploma.
“Through the time between January 9 and February 27, 2023, our HR division remained in common communication with Mr. Mayfield to supply steering on learn how to acquire the transcript.
“On February 24, 2023, Ms. Glover-Payne, Chief Human Assets Officer, acquired affirmation from Wayne State College (WSU) that Mr. Mayfield had not earned any diploma from their college and had not been enrolled as a scholar there since 1999 .
“Subsequently, on February 27, 2023, our HR division acquired a Wayne State College transcript for Mr. Mayfield displaying 4 semesters of coursework in 2021 and 2022 with an earned diploma in Organizational Management. The registrar at WSU has confirmed that the transcript is fraudulent .
“Mr. Mayfield was offered due course of as Ms. Glover-Payne and I scheduled a gathering with him final week to ask questions and provide him a possibility to inform his story. He refused to reply our questions and submitted his resignation Friday.
“The Lansing State Journal has submitted a FOIA request because the announcement of his resignation Monday. We’re fulfilling the FOIA request this afternoon.
“As an fyi… we did accumulate and confirm applicable certification upon hiring Mr. Mayfield. Notification of the doctorate diploma was not despatched to HR till December 2022.
“A number of reminders:
• Don’t touch upon this subject – together with on social media. It’s a personnel subject. The Board President Chambers and I’ll reply to all media requests and be the spokespeople for the District.
• Any media requests needs to be directed to my workplace.
• There are brighter days forward for ELPS 😊.
Thanks – Dory.”
Contact Mark Johnson at [email protected]. Observe him on Twitter at @ByMarkJohnson.
This text initially appeared on Lansing State Journal: Officers: Former East Lansing principal lied on resume, faked Wayne State transcripts