The Marlette School Board held a special meeting on Thursday night following district superintendent, Matt Karaffa, being placed on paid administrative leave amid allegations of verbally harassing female teachers.
Most of the January 19th meeting happened in closed session with the school district’s attorneys from Thrun Law, the board returning after their discussion to bring the topic to a vote.
The board unanimously voted to have Brad Springer, a school law attorney from Grand Haven’s Scholten Fant firm, conduct an independent and objective investigation into the allegations, with no exact time frame given of how soon the investigation will begin.
The allegations come amid an already difficult time at the school, with at least 20 staff members resigning from the district since February 2022, with a student planned walkout planned and then canceled in October following the resignation of Mrs. Kristen Behnke, a teacher for the junior/senior high, who submitted her resignation at the October 10 board of education meeting.
Karaffa began as superintendent at Marlette in the summer of 2021.
