The Dearborn Board of Education has hired the Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI) to assist with the district’s search for a new superintendent. This page will be used to provide information and updates to our Dearborn Schools community about the search.
Finalist feedback forms
Community meeting times adjusted
April 22, 2026 – The district has tweaked the schedule for stakeholder meeting with the superintendent finalists today.
Dr. Thomas Ahart withdrew his application, so the schedule was changed to allow groups more time to meet with the remaining candidates, Moussa Hamka and Mike Esseily.
Community meetings are open to parents, residents, staff, students and other stakeholders. Moussa Hamka now will meet with the community from 5:20 to 6:05 p.m. Mike Esseily will have a community meeting from 6:10 to 6:55 p.m.
The public meet and greet is still set for 7:20 to 8:45 p.m. That time did not change.
All meetings will be in the Board Room at the Administrative Service Center (Ten Eyck).
Previous superintendent search information
UPDATE 4/22/26 – Thomas Ahart has withdrawn his application to become superintendent.
On Saturday, April 18, 2026, the Board of Education selected three finalists in the search for the next superintendent.
Parents, residents, students and others in the Dearborn Public Schools community are invited to learn more about the three finalists for superintendent at different events scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday (April 22 and 23, 2026).
The finalists include Thomas Ahart, former Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools; Mike Esseily, Executive Director of Special Populations at Dearborn Public Schools; and Moussa Hamka, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at Grosse Pointe Public Schools.
Community meetings with each candidate will be held on Wednesday, April 22. At each meeting, guests can submit written questions they would like to ask the candidate to learn more about that finalist. The meeting schedule is 5:20 to 5:55 for Moussa Hamka, 6 to 6:35 for Mike Esseily, and 6:40 to 7:15 for Thomas Ahart.
Later on Wednesday, community members, staff and others are invited to an informal meet and greet from 7:20 to 8:45 p.m. with all three candidates. All of the public meetings will be held in the Board Room at the Administrative Service Center at 18700 Audette St., Dearborn.
On Thursday, April 23, the Board of Education will hold interviews with the finalists starting at 6 p.m. Each candidate will have 75 minutes. The first part of their interview will include a presentation on their vision for the district for the next few months and years, including but not limited to improving reading scores. After that, each candidate will answer questions from the trustees.
The interviews with the finalists are open to the public and will also be shown live on the district’s YouTube Channel.
Starting on Wednesday afternoon, brief forms will be available in English, Arabic and Spanish allowing community members and staff to offer feedback on each of the three finalists. A QR code to link to the forms will be available at the in-person meetings and shown periodically during the YouTube broadcasts. The forms will be available until May 3 at 6 p.m. On May 4, 2026, the Board of Education has a special meeting planned at 6 p.m. to select who they want to hire to be the next superintendent.
Thomas Ahart, Mike Esseily, and Moussa Hamka were named finalists to be the next superintendent of Dearborn Public Schools during a special Board of Education meeting on Saturday, April 18, 2026.
Thomas Ahart is the former Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools. Mike Esseily is currently Executive Director of Special Populations at Dearborn Public Schools. Moussa Hamka is Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at Grosse Pointe Public Schools.
Finalists are scheduled to visit the district on Wednesday, April 22, to see some schools, meet key stakeholders, and learn more about the Dearborn Public Schools community. Community meetings are scheduled for the afternoon of April 22 where the parents, residents and others can hear from the finalist and submit questions to ask.
An informal meet and greet for the candidates will be held on April 22 from 7:20 to 8:45 p.m. The public is welcome to attend. The community meet and greet will be held at the Administrative Service Center, 18700 Audette St., Dearborn.
On Thursday, April 23, finalists interviews with the Board of Education will start at 6 p.m. The interviews will be shown live on the district’s YouTube Channel. District stakeholders can also learn more about the finalists by watching their initial interviews on YouTube. All interviews are now available for public viewing.
The Board of Education conducted initial interviews on Tuesday through Thursday, April 14 to 16. The public was able to offer feedback on each interviewee via a brief online form during the candidate interviews and for most of the following day. Hundreds of comments were then available for the Board of Education to review as they considered who to select as finalists at Saturday’s special meeting. A similar form will be available to gather community feedback on the finalists for the position.
After interviewing finalists on April 23, the Board has a special meeting set for May 4 at 6 p.m. to name their pick for the next superintendent. Once a candidate is selected, the board and the person would have to agree on a contract, which the board would approve later.
Former Superintendent Glenn Maleyko announced last fall that he was leaving the district after being hired to be the next State Superintendent in Michigan overseeing the Michigan Department of Education.
During a special meeting on April 9, 2026, the Board of Education selected six candidates to interview to possibly become the next superintendent of Dearborn Public Schools. Two are internal candidates, two from the region, and two from out of state.
Interviews for the candidates are slated for Tuesday through Thursday, April 14 to 16, starting at 6 p.m. each evening. Visit the district’s Superintendent search page for the latest information.
Twenty three applications were received for the superintendent’s position. Those selected for interviews and their interview dates include:
- Thomas Ahart, former Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, Iowa, Wednesday, April 15
- Mike Esseily, Executive Director of Special Populations, Dearborn Public Schools, Tuesday, April 14
- Fatme Faraj, Executive Director of Student Achievement, Dearborn Public Schools, Thursday, April 16
- Ali Hamka, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, Thursday, April 16
- Moussa Hamka, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Grosse Pointe Public Schools, Tuesday, April 14
- Tracy Reed, Superintendent, Reynoldsburg City Schools, Ohio, Wednesday, April 15.
On April 14 to 16, the board is planning to do two interviews each night with up to 90 minutes for each candidate. Trustees will then hold a special meeting on Saturday, April 18 to select finalists.
The public will have a chance to offer input on the candidates. Those attending the interviews or watching them live on YouTube will be able to use a QR code to pull up a short survey. The questions will ask what the viewer likes about the candidate, what concerns they have, and what questions they would like to ask the applicant if they are selected as a finalist. Trustees will be able to review the responses before selecting finalists.
Board members praised the quality of the candidates who applied for the job. Board President Jamal Aljahmi also assured the public that the board has not made any decisions yet about the appointment.
“Our goal is to pick the best candidate possible, and it will be a fair process,” President Aljahmi said.
Trustees opened Thursday night’s meeting and then went into closed session for more than two hours to review all of the applications. The board also made one change to the tentative search schedule.
Finalists are now expected to visit the district on April 22 and 23, with final interviews starting at 6 p.m. on April 23, instead of April 24. During the visits to the district, finalists will visit some schools and meet with stakeholder groups. Public meet and greets will also be held. Having finalists in the district at the same time will allow stakeholder groups to meet the finalists back to back instead of coming in on different days. The public will also have a chance to offer feedback on the finalists.
May 4 is still set as the meeting for the board to make its final decision. Trustees discussed trying to move the meeting to the week before but could not find a date that would work.
All of the board meetings are open to the public and will be shown live on the district’s YouTube channel. The initial interviews on April 14 to 16 will be removed after the interviews, so they are not available for candidates interviewing later to watch. Those meetings will be reposted once the three evenings of interviews are concluded. The public and will be shown live on the district’s YouTube channel. The initial interviews on April 14 to 16 will be removed after the interviews, so they are not available for candidates interviewing later to watch. Those meetings will be reposted once the three evenings of interviews are concluded.
Updated flyer with superintendent search dates
The Dearborn Schools Board of Education will have a very busy April as trustees dedicate many meetings to the search for a new district superintendent.
Applications for the superintendent position close on March 27, 2026 at 4 p.m. The board has nine special meetings planned after that related to the search. Dates and times could be altered as the search progresses, so those interested in the process are encouraged to look for updates here. Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education meeting dates are also shown on the district’s digital calendar.
All meetings are planned for the Board Room at the Administrative Service Center, 18700 Audette St., Dearborn. Except for part of the first meeting, all of the meetings are open to the public.
On April 9 at 6 p.m., the board will meet to select candidates to interview. Trustees will go into closed session as the Michigan Leadership Institute provides trustees with information about the individuals who applied. The meeting will then return to a public session where board members will choose which applicants to interview and select which questions to ask all of the interviewees. The names of those who applied will not be made public unless they are selected for an interview. The Michigan Leadership Institute is the board’s search firm and consultant for the superintendent search.
On Monday, April 13, the Board of Education will hold its regular monthly meeting. That will be followed on April 14 to 16 with candidate interviews each night starting at 6 p.m. Tentatively, two candidates will be interviewed each evening. Each person would have up to 90 minutes to answer questions and talk with the board. That plan will have to be adjusted if the board opts to interview more than six candidates, either by shortening the interview time or adding another date.
On Saturday, April 18 at 11 a.m., trustees would meet again to select finalists to bring back for further consideration.
Finalists are expected to spend a day in the district tentatively on April 22 and 23. Those visits would include touring some parts of the district and meeting stakeholders. Public meet-and-greets would be held in the late afternoon to early evening for each candidate.
On April 24 at 6 p.m., the Board of Education is scheduled to interview the finalists, and then on May 4 at 6 p.m. meet to select who to hire. The district and the selected candidate would then need to negotiate a contract before the new superintendent is actually hired. The new superintendent is expected to start work on July 1, which is also the beginning of the district’s new fiscal year.
All of the meetings will be shown live on the district’s YouTube channel. The initial interviews on April 14 to 16 will be removed after that night’s meeting and not be reposted until all the first-round interviews are concluded. This is to keep the applicants with later interview dates from having easy access to the questions and answers of those who interview earlier. The other meetings, including the finalists interviews, will be shown live and still be available any time after the meeting for viewing later.
The Board of Education set all of these meeting dates during a special meeting with the Michigan Leadership Institute on Jan. 27, 2026. As the process continues, dates and times could change, especially as the board works to find times that also work for any candidates, both those who may be from the local area and those who need to arrange travel to attend from farther away.
Applications officially opened for the next superintendent of Dearborn Public Schools on Feb. 20, 2026. The Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI), the firm leading the superintendent search, began accepting applications that day. Applications were accepted through the MLI website.
Earlier in February, MLI held 16 meetings to solicit feedback from different stakeholder groups, including two public meetings for parents, residents, and other interested community members. More than 100 people attended a meeting to learn more about the search process and offer insight on what characteristics they felt the next superintendent should have.
Michigan Leadership Institute also offered surveys in English, Arabic, and Spanish to allow those who could not attend a meeting in person to provide input. A total of 258 people completed a survey.
Applications to be the next superintendent were be accepted until March 27 at 4 p.m.
On April 9, the Board of Education is expected to meet to review the applications and select candidates to interview. Names of those who apply will only be made public if they are selected for an interview. Initial interviews are slated for April 14 to 16 at 6 p.m. each evening.
Community members who wanted to offer input on what characteristics the next superintendent of Dearborn Public Schools had two ways to share their thoughts in February. Two public community meetings were held on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, as well as separate meetings for different employee and stakeholder groups. An online survey was available in English, Spanish and Arabic until Feb. 16.
The input from the meetings and surveys was used to help write the job posting used to recruit candidates for the position.
The Board held a special study session on Jan. 27, 2026 to work with Michigan Leadership Institute to create a timeline and work out other details about how the search would be run.
Tues., Jan. 27 – Meet with Board of Education to review timeline, gather input, establish parameters of search
Feb. 2-16 – Collect stakeholder feedback to develop candidate profile; create and finalize job posting announcement. Stakeholder engagement will include meetings with different groups. A public meeting for parents and community members will also be held. (Date and time to be determined.) Online surveys will also be provided in English, Arabic and Spanish.
Feb. 20 to March 27 – Post position, place ads including national advertising, accept applications until 4:00 p.m. on Fri., March 27
Fri. March 27 at 4 p.m. – Job posting closes. Michigan Leadership Institute will conduct initial vetting of applications to determine if they meet the posting requirements. The names of those who applied are kept private unless they are selected for interviews.
Thurs., April 9 at 6 p.m. – During a closed session, MLI will present information about all applicants to the Board of Education. During the public section of the meeting that follows, the Board will select which applicants they would like to interview as well as what questions to include during the first round of interviews.
April 14-16 at 6 p.m. – The Board conducts first round interviews in person. Up to two 90-minute interviews will be held each evening.
Sat., April 18 at 11 a.m. – The Board of Education selects finalists.
April 22 and 23 – MLI will lead finalist Q & As with stakeholder groups. Finalists will also take district tours and participate in meet and greets.
Fri., April 24 at 6 p.m. – The Board conducts finalist interviews in person.
Mon., May 4 at 6 p.m. – Selection of superintendent
TBD – Board approves contract with new superintendent
July 1, 2026– New superintendent’s first official workday