Roy Roberts, the state-appointed emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, will keep his job after the Michigan Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit attempting to remove him.
The Supreme Court refused to overturn an earlier decision by the Court of Appeals ruling that Roberts’ office remains in effect under Public Act 72—the state’s emergency financial manager law of 1990.
The lawsuit was brought by Robert Davis, a union activist and school board member in Highland Park.
Davis argued that Roberts should have been removed after Public Act 4 was repealed by voters in November.
Jennifer Chambers from the Detroit News has more:
Michelle Zdrodowski, a spokeswoman for Roberts, said the district is pleased with the court's action. "Their decision reaffirms what the attorney general and the Michigan Court of Appeals have said on this issue — that is Public Act 72 is not only still in effect, but also that Roy Roberts remains legally in his role as emergency financial manager of Detroit Public Schools," she said. In November, State Court of Appeals presiding Judge Kirsten Frank Kelly wrote no part of Public Act 4 remains in effect as the result of voters repealing the statute in the Nov. 6 election, and the section of P.A. 4 repealing P.A. 72 — Michigan's prior emergency manager law — did not survive the referendum and has no effect.
A replacement for Public Act 4 was passed by the legislature in December, and will take effect March 27.
- Jordan Wyant, Michigan Radio Newsroom
