ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor Public Schools filed a police report Wednesday, July 24, possibly related to theft involving an elementary school employee or contractor.

Ann Arbor Police Lt. Aimee Metzer couldn’t immediately release specifics, but the report appears to be related to allegations of theft made in a lawsuit filed against the district last week by Lawton Elementary School Principal Shannon Blick.

The police report was filed a day after a records request from The Ann Arbor News seeking evidence of a criminal investigation the district cited while rejecting a previous Freedom of Information Act request.

Ann Arbor Public Schools spokesman Andrew Cluley wouldn’t comment, and has neither confirmed nor denied any investigation into theft at Lawton Elementary School.

Blick’s attorney, William G. Tishkoff, filed a federal lawsuit Saturday, July 20, claiming district Human Resources Director Shonta A. Langford, Lawton Elementary School Assistant Principal Taneia Giles and others worked together to try and force Blick’s resignation.

The lawsuit says a janitor at Blick’s school stole nearly $25,000 over a period of four years and the district planned to hold Blick responsible. The lawsuit alleges the effort to remove Blick was racially motivated. Blick is white. Giles, who wanted Blick’s job, the lawsuit claims, is black.

Rumors of the theft circulated at the time Blick was abruptly placed on leave in late April, but Superintendent Jeanice Swift and elected board members refused to comment.

The Ann Arbor News in June filed a request with the district for public documents related to any theft investigation, but the request was denied on the basis that release of records might interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation.

However, Ann Arbor police had no records of a theft investigation at Lawton Elementary School, as of June 20, based on an email from Metzer at the time. The Ann Arbor News/MLive filed an appeal with the Ann Arbor School Board on Tuesday, July 24, requesting a police report number to confirm any criminal investigation.

While the district hasn’t responded to the appeal, it proceeded to formally file a police report the following day.

Ann Arbor Public Schools administrators and board members have remained silent on the claims of theft by a janitor.

“The Ann Arbor Public Schools does not comment on internal investigations,” Cluley said.

Ann Arbor School Board Vice President Bryan Johnson said he could not comment on personnel matters and referred comment back to the superintendent’s office. No other elected board members have responded to requests for comment.

Principal files $5M lawsuit claiming Ann Arbor schools discriminates against whites

A Lawton Elementary School principal resigned amid mystery. Now she’s filed a lawsuit.

Lawton Elementary Principal Shannon Blick. Ann Arbor Public Schools photo

On April 26, the district’s human resources director gave Blick a letter notifying her that she was under investigation — although the nature of the investigation wasn’t revealed — and that she was being placed on paid leave and banned from district buildings and property, according to the lawsuit.

Four days later, Michael Madison, principal of Ann Arbor’s Dicken Elementary School and former president of the union that represents administrators, texted Blick requesting a formal letter of resignation in order for the district to halt its investigation into Blick.

“Now for the hard part, if you request to come back as a teacher, the investigation will still continue, for you would still be an employee of the district,” Madison wrote in the text message, according to the lawsuit. “Thus, it looks like it might be better if you spend this time on administrative leave to look for administrative or teaching jobs outside of Ann Arbor.

“It appears (human resources) has a strong case against you for termination.”

Mystery surrounds principal’s leave from Ann Arbor elementary school

The announcement that a well-liked Lawton Elementary School principal was taking a leave of absence with less than a month left in the school year has caused numerous district parents to ask questions.

The district announced Blick’s leave of absence in a letter to parents on May 1. The letter said, “during this time, she asks that you please respect her privacy.” However, the lawsuit claims Blick never asked for privacy nor participated in writing the message to parents and staff.

The lawsuit claims that on May 7, Dawn Linden, the district’s executive director of elementary education, notified Blick that a group of her supporters planned to speak on her behalf at a May 8 school board meeting.

Doing so, Linden warned, could make Blick’s leave a matter of public interest. “A reporter from MLive that is regularly in attendance would FOIA” Blick’s personnel file, and she would be “destroyed by the ensuing article and online publication … ” the lawsuit says.

Linden then provided the names of 14 parents Blick should contact and instruct not to speak at the public meeting, according to the lawsuit.

Blick’s lawsuit alleges violations of free speech rights, based on the effort to have her silence parents, and violations of equal protection and due process rights, based on her forced leave.

She remains listed as the principal of Lawton Elementary School on the district website, however, Cluley declined to comment on whether her status is expected to change prior to the upcoming school year.

Following Blick’s departure, the district hired Dottie Davis, who retired in 2018 after nearly 40 years with Ann Arbor Public Schools, to fill in as “guest” principal at Lawton at a salary equivalent to nearly $120,000 per year.