ELHS Principal Resigned Following Discovery of “Fraudulent Degree,” Superintendent Says
In an email sent at 3:28 p.m. this afternoon, East Lansing Public Schools Superintendent Dori Leyko announced to high school staff that former ELHS principal Shannon Mayfield resigned following discovery he had provided “fraudulent” evidence of a doctorate degree.
Mayfield officially took over the role of ELHS principal on July 1, 2022. Mayfield previously worked in law enforcement and other school administration roles. He had been on a leave described as health-related for several weeks before resigning on March 10.
In the email sent to ELHS staff this afternoon, Leyko said, “In December, Mr. Mayfield communicated via email to our HR department that he had recently completed his doctorate degree” at Wayne State University. “As typical protocol, our HR department requested documentation of this degree completion – an official transcript from the university. Administrators’ contracts provide a $4000 stipend upon completion of a doctorate degree.”
The HR department looked into getting the official transcript to confirm the degree.
Then, “On February 24, 2023, Ms. Glover-Payne, [ELPS] Chief Human Resources Officer, received confirmation from Wayne State University (WSU) that Mr. Mayfield had not earned any degree from their university and had not been enrolled as a student there since 1999.”
But the story doesn’t end there.
“Subsequently, on February 27, 2023,” Leyko wrote, “our HR department received a Wayne State University transcript for Mr. Mayfield showing four semesters of coursework in 2021 and 2022 with an earned degree in Organizational Leadership. The registrar at WSU has confirmed that the transcript is fraudulent.”
Leyko said she and Glover-Payne offered Mayfield “an opportunity to tell his story. He refused to answer our questions and submitted his resignation Friday.”
ELi received the email through a source related to the high school.
Both the Lansing State Journal and ELi had submitted Freedom of Information Act requests related to this story after receiving tips.
ELi’s request included a request for evidence that the school district had properly checked Mayfield’s credentials before hiring him. In communication to her staff today, Leyko wrote, “As an fyi…we did collect and verify appropriate certification upon hiring Mr. Mayfield. The notification of the doctorate degree was not sent to HR until December 2022.”
Leyko asked her staff not to comment on the issue on social media and to direct media requests to her and School Board President Terah Chambers.
This is a breaking story and may be updated.
Update, 7:25 p.m.:
Asked for comment, School Board President Terah Chambers wrote:
“Obviously, the actions taken by the former high school principal were both shocking and disappointing. As a Board, we look to our ELPS school leaders to uphold the very best model for our students, and he fell well short of that expectation. Our job now is to ensure that the work we have done to provide our students with a safe, consistent, and thriving environment in which to learn is protected; that is exactly what our central administrative and high school team has been working to do. East Lansing Public Schools is a wonderful school district and we remain so despite this incident.”
The Lansing State Journal has reported that Leyko says the district is not pursuing legal action at this time. Asked about that, Chambers had no comment.
Find follow-up reporting here.