(July 1, 2026) Benton Harbor Area Schools’ superintendent Simone Griffin notified district staff Monday night that she is resigning. She began leading the district less than a year ago. Her email to the staff did not include a reason or a timeline for her departure.
Here are the most recent superintendents of the Benton Harbor Area Schools:
- Dr. Simone Griffin (July 2025–present) – Selected by the school board in July 2025 and signed a three-year contract to lead the district.
- Dr. Christopher Bernick (Interim Superintendent, June–July 2025) – Served as interim leader during the superintendent search process until Dr. Griffin’s appointment was finalized.
- Dr. Kelvin Butts (2022–June 2025) – Announced in March 2025 that he would not renew his contract and stepped down at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
- Dr. Andrae Townsel (2020–2022) – Led the district during its financial recovery and post-pandemic rebuilding efforts.
- Patricia Robinson (Interim Superintendent, 2019–2020) – Served as interim superintendent before Townsel’s hiring and also held earlier interim roles with the district.
- Dr. Robert Herrera (2018–2019) – Served as superintendent during a period of state oversight of the district.
- Dr. Shelly Walker (2016–2018) – Led the district before Herrera’s appointment.
- Dr. Leonard Seawood (2010–2015) – Oversaw the district during significant financial challenges and restructuring efforts.
Griffin recently accused two school board trustees of crossing the line.
According to the Herald Palladium, Griffin filed a formal complaint against treasurer Elnora Gavin and trustee Angela Doyle.
She accused them of intimidation and micro-management after she pushed back on hiring decisions.
Griffin at the time asked for an independent investigation and discipline.
FULL TRANSPARENCY IN RESPONSE TO THE HERALD PALLADIUM from Elnora Gavin that was posted yesterday on her Facebook account—
It saddens me that I was falsely accused of trying to get Mr. Pearson a position at BHHS. That was a blatant lie and never happened. I actually recommended Mr. Pearson when there was an opening at one of the elementary schools because I watched him turnaround a neighboring Elementary school community before he recently retired as their Superintendent.
Although I did not know Keith Sanders and had questions about him in that role at first, I abstained voting for him as BHHS Principal initially because I wanted to know more about him and the Superintendent’s Office/Human Resources did not allow Mr. Sanders to introduce himself to the Board during that section or share his vision before we took the Board vote.
Since then, I have grown to highly respect the strides he is making and would trust my child in Prin. Sanders’ care at BHHS alongside Dr. Strother whom I also highly respect and admire.
None of us are perfect, but I see growth in the right direction at BHHS within that short period of time. I see Prin. Sanders’ team praise the students and staff for positive work and administering swift consequences while also welcoming proactive solutions to address behavior issues.
I will also say that I am publicly unapologetically in favor of Mr. Donald Pearson serving as Superintendent or Interim Superintendent if he were open to that possibility and humbly publicly apologize for any hesitation about it.
Mr. Pearson has over 30 years of experience directly in Benton Harbor Schools. He was already interviewed for the Superintendent position last year and interviewed well with exciting thoughtful ideas for growing our district.
We utilized the same search firm that the State Of Michigan used, but in hindsight, we must give ample credit for candidates whose blood, sweat and tears helped build our community and helped raise generations of BH grads.
My brother, a college graduate with Masters level education in Finance cites Mr. Pearson as one of the men who helped him understand who he was as a black male student and that sense of self helped shape him into the man he is today. I’ve seen the high standards of scholarship, self awareness and high esteem and pride Mr. Pearson’s students maintained under his Superintendentship at a neighboring school community. I saw the leadership of the staff still rising after his care there.
Mr. Pearson is keenly familiar with the unique needs of each of BHAS K12 schools and served within most of them with standout excellence in spite of turbulent political state and local issues that pressed against him and his colleagues over the years. Mr. Pearson has Superintendent experience working with students who struggled in BHAS.
When I served at Fair Plain Middle School as a new teacher, and witnessed surrounding classes struggle with behavior issues, I’ve personally watched Mr. Pearson’s students self correct and remain focused on his lectures regardless of outside commotion. Mr. Pearson has wisdom to offer us all in the area of classroom management. I watched a long line of staff and parents speak highly of Mr. Pearson’s leadership and care at a board meeting. It’s time for BHAS to move forward with a leader who is homegrown, has the relationship with the community, is capable and competent in both academics and school climate.
We may disagree on some ideas around specifics, but overall Mr. Pearson’s heart has always been for this community and I respect that he actually has a vision for growth. Mr. Pearson has been honest and straight up in his interview about areas that we may disagree and I respect that level of integrity.
If Mr. Pearson still wanted to serve as Superintendent, he’s rooted here, lives here, he’d know enough to hit the ground running already understanding the lay of the land and what works in Benton Harbor.
Mr. Pearson would have my unwavering support for the position when Dr. Griffin departs. Mr. Pearson is no nonsense, drama free, highly professional and commands respect while also treating our students and staff with respect and dignity. He knows thousands of alum and has the connections to bring professionals back home.
With Mr. Pearson, we would have a person who values instructional leadership for each building ready to take BHAS to the next level, but should that happen, the community and Board would have to stand with him, address differences responsibly with integrity and focus on rebuilding a healthy community centered school district.
Stateline Network EXTRA 