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Ronald Alexander
Former Spain Elementary Principal Ronald Alexander is definitely beloved among some parents despite the fact he admitted taking $23,000 in a kickback scheme involving a crooked vendor who charged the Detroit Public Schools $2.7 million for supplies he never delivered.
Parents want him back.
"Since he was thrown out of our school, Spain has not been the same. It feels like a death has happened. The staff, students, community miss our father dearly. The students daily say, 'We want our principal back,' " the Spain School Parental Association wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts, reports Tresa Baldas of the Detroit Free Press.
Roberts is scheduled to sentence Alexander on Sept. 8. He could go to prison for 2½ years as part of his plea agreement. He was among 12 Detroit principals and a school administrator who took kickbacks from vendor Norman Shy, signing bogus invoices for school equipment Shy never delivered.
"He does not deserve this at all," the Spain parent association wrote of Alexander. "He should be vindicated and placed back where he belongs — in the community of Spain School."
"He is the present day Mr. Clark from the 'Lean on Me' movie. He took a school that was out of control and (had) poor test scores to a school of excellence."
You might recall that Alexander gained some notoriety when he appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show last February, receiving a $500,000 gift from the show for the school.
The government, in a sentencing memorandum stated:
Alexander’s corrupt acceptance of kickbacks was not a crime resulting from a single decision or a momentary impulse. He accepted multiple kickbacks in the form of prepaid gift cards over a 5-year period. Alexander’s conduct was not spontaneous, but, instead, involved careful coordination and planning, and repeated acts of deceit over a number of years.
