Residents: Coscarella shouldn't be Lansing schools superintendent

LANSING – Nearly 30 people made it clear what they don’t want to see in Lansing School District’s next superintendent.

A single sticky note placed under the column where residents were asked to share the personal attributes and qualities they want to see in Superintendent Yvonne Caamal Canul’s successor captured their message.

“Not Dr. Mark Coscarella,” it read.

Tuesday night was the second of two sessions scheduled for the community to weigh in on what they want to see in the next superintendent. But, like the first session on Nov. 6, residents used the opportunity to make it clear what they don’t want to see.

The district’s board of trustees appointed Coscarella as the acting superintendent in September, and he is now seen as the board’s top candidate.

But old accusations have resurfaced. Coscarella resigned from Holt Public Schools in 2000 after he was accused of giving high school baseball players a movie that included sexual intercourse on a team trip in 2002 and of allowing them to watch pornography.

And Casey Sterle, a Leslie Public Schools teacher who was once Coscarella's intern, maintains that he stripped to his underwear and danced in front of her in a classroom at Elliott Elementary School in 2000.

Coscarella disputes the claim.

Most of the people who attended the forum still implored the school board to look elsewhere.

Mary Crowl, the Leslie Public Schools Board of Education president, who made it clear she was talking on her own behalf and not the board's, called Sterle a hard-working teacher who cares about her students and commended her for sharing her claims.

Crowl said she was surprised to hear Caamal Canul call Sterle “disturbed” and seeking “15 minutes of fame” when asked about the allegations.

“Fifteen minutes of fame? She gets her 15 minutes of fame every day, all day from those kids whose lives she impacts on a daily basis,” Crowl said.

Caamal Canul has since apologized for the remarks.

The district has hired an investigator to determine the credibility of the Sterle's claim and what evidence there may be, according to school board President Rachel Willis. 

The investigation findings will be made public, but Willis said there isn't a timeline as to when the investigation will conclude. 

At the input session, City Council Member Jody Washington stressed how important the school district is to Lansing.

“As the school district goes, so does the entire city,” she said.

When people look to buy homes, they look at the school district first, which is why Lansing is seeing a “proliferation of people going to other schools,” said Washington, who represents the first ward.

“The reason is … the school district,” she said. “To have a school board that basically turned its back on the allegations is disturbing. This disturbs me.”

Several people challenged the school board’s decision to conduct an internal search, rather than looking outside the district for candidates. Washington was among several people who said the “status quo” isn’t working, nor is it in the best interest of the district.

Many of the complaints were directed toward representatives from the Michigan Association of School Boards, which was hired to conduct the internal superintendent search. Those representatives urged residents to bring their concerns to the school board.

The association will next bring the feedback they’ve received through the forums to the school board on Nov. 21 and use it to help determine the criteria to include on the job posting. Board members will select from candidates on Dec. 5 and pick finalists to come for interviews, which are tentatively scheduled for Dec. 11 and 12.

A confidential online survey is also available at surveymonkey.com/r/lansingsearch. The survey results will be included in the school board presentation on Nov. 21.  

Elinor Jordan, a Lansing School District mother and senior program manager with the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence’s Survivor Law Clinic, said in 48 hours, more than 380 people signed a petition asking the board to slow down and not pick Coscarella.

She begged the Michigan Association of School Boards officials to bring their message back to the board.

“Please, have them get real.”

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Contact Mark Johnson at 517-377-1026 or at majohnson2@lsj.com. Follow him onTwitter at @ByMarkJohnson.