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MOUNT CLEMENS — After lengthy interviews, late-night meetings and plenty of research into each candidate, the Mount Clemens Community Schools Board of Education selected Julian Roper to serve as the district’s new superintendent on May 2.
Depending on contract negotiations, Roper is expected to begin work on July 1. The salary of the superintendent will be in the range of $135,000 to $145,000. The board voted 6-1 to approve offering him the contract, with Trustee Sheila Cohoon providing the lone “no” vote.
“Oh man, that is a blessing,” Roper said with great relief and excitement when Mount Clemens Community Schools Board President Earl Rickman delivered the news via a phone call after the vote. “God is good, man. I appreciate it. Let’s go to work. ... I’m in. Let’s do this.”
The principal of Wolfe Middle School in the Center Line Public Schools district since 2014, Roper was previously a principal for Detroit Leadership Academy and an athletic director, an attendance agent, Title One liaison, youth worker and long-term special education teacher for Detroit Public Schools. Roper was one of three finalists for the Mount Clemens Community Schools position and one of two whom the board singled out for deeper research before making its decision.
Roper’s work with the YMCA’s Detroit Leadership Academy particularly stands out, as he was tasked with essentially building a school from scratch.
“I watched him come in and open a school from nothing,” said Terri Lowe, who worked as the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit’s senior program director when Roper was with the academy. “When Julian joined us at the YMCA, there was no staff; he was the first staff hired. ... By the time the school opened, I feel like he single handedly accomplished this task. Not only did they have every seat filled, they actually had over the number that we had anticipated with the opening of the school.”
Alongside his educational background, Roper’s personality and approach to handling students, faculty and staff left an impression on the school board. Several members of the board were impressed with the “doer” attitude he described for handling the day-to-day tasks of his position, and staff members he worked with provided glowing recommendations in private discussions with board members and at the May 2 meeting.
“He really showed me the importance of putting the students first,” said Colleen Berry, a teacher in Port Huron who has worked under Roper in several prior jobs. “It was a very adult-focused building. Policies, teachers and things, while they were equipped for students, they pretty much put the staff there first. And while some of that can be OK, he said we need to put our students first. Every policy, every decision we make, every system we put in place. At the end of the day, if it’s best for students, we’re going to go with it.”
As for Roper himself, working with students and faculty is a key part of his approach to education administration. In his April 25 interview, he said he saw success as coming through teamwork and that working with struggling students and underperforming faculty members to improve was the best way to handle such situations.
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to support our students and my team,” Roper said on April 25.
As for why he wanted to work for Mount Clemens Community Schools, Roper saw the district as one that fit him perfectly.
“Your selection criteria that’s posted — and I say this humbly — it feels like it was written for me,” Roper said on April 25. “There’s nothing on there that I don’t think I have great experience at and have been effective at doing.”
Roper’s closest contender was Ricardo Martin, a principal for Hamtramck Public Schools with prior experience in Redford, Inkster and Detroit. Though his performance during interviews on April 22 and April 25 were enough to keep him in the hunt, issues with tracking down references and what board members described as a drop in performance on April 25 prolonged the final decision for a week. By the end of the meeting on April 25, a majority of board members had Roper as their top candidate.
What the board decided, however, was who to remove from the discussion. David Lavender, the current assistant superintendent of Mount Clemens Community Schools, made it through the preliminary interview stage but was unable to make it click at the second interview. A contingent of Lavender supporters turned out for the public interview, but their appearance at the meeting and the floated threat of a staff walkout were not enough to sway the board’s decision. For Rickman, an open civil rights complaint against Lavender served as a point to not move him forward. Another candidate was also held back by an open civil rights case.
Rickman told reporters on May 2 the board plans to keep Lavender in the district for the duration of his contract.
The superintendent seat opened up after current superintendent Monique Beels announced she would step down when her contract ends on June 30. Beels came under scrutiny after videos of an Oct. 15, 2022, event held at Mount Clemens High School surfaced online showing suggestive dancing performed in the school’s gym. Beels announced her retirement in January 2023, stating that she always planned to step down after three years with the district.
