Middle School PE Teacher Who Used Racial Slur Suspended Again for ‘Unprofessional Verbal Interaction’
MacDonald Middle School (MMS) physical education teacher Dennis Petrowitz spent the end of last school year on leave after using the N-word multiple times when addressing students. Now, about a month into the new school year, Petrowitz has been suspended again.
According to an email obtained by ELi, MMS Principal Amy Martin informed parents that Petrowitz was being suspended for engaging in an “unprofessional verbal interaction with a student and a staff member.”
The email, sent Friday, Sept. 22, said the altercation happened during Petrowitz’s sixth-hour class on Wednesday, Sept. 20. Initially, Petrowitz was suspended for five days.
“I will work with District leaders to identify training and supports to help Mr. Petrowitz consistently meet our standards for professionalism and communication when interacting with students and staff,” the Sept. 22 email states.
“We are hopeful that Mr. Petrowitz will continue his professional growth and work to provide a positive educational experience for our students,” Martin concludes.
However, on Thursday (Sept. 28), the day before Petrowitz was due to return, another email from Martin went out to MMS families informing them the suspension is now indefinite.
“District and building administrators have worked collaboratively with East Lansing Education Association (ELEA) leadership to determine an outcome that assures that our students are physically and emotionally safe in P.E. class,” the email reads. “While we continue to determine a resolution that meets the needs of our students, Mr. Petrowitz will remain on leave.”
Details about the latest incident have not been made clear. ELi reached out to Petrowitz for comment but has had no response.
Responding to questions from ELi via email, East Lansing Public Schools (ELPS) Superintendent Dori Leyko said the five-day suspension initially instituted was guided by Board Policy 4407 section G.
The policy largely gives disciplinary power over professional staff members to the superintendent or a designee. The policy doesn’t highlight specific punishments, but says discipline should be guided by factors like the seriousness of the offense, the staff member’s prior disciplinary and employment record, the staff member’s level of acceptance of responsibility and the likelihood of recurrence. The full policy can be read here.
Leyko responded Tuesday (Sept. 26) to ELi’s questions regarding the incident. While Petrowitz was due to return to the classroom Friday, there was no clear plan in place to ensure he did not have another altercation.
“We are working on a re-entry plan that include[s] additional opportunities for growth/learning, support, monitoring and accountability,” she wrote. “The plan is still in progress.”
Based on the latest update from Martin on Thursday (Sept. 28), it appears a plan for Petrowitz is still being formulated.
The broader ELPS community is also responding to Petrowitz’s latest altercation. The East Lansing Parent Advocacy Team (ELPAT) is planning a demonstration for Friday morning (Sept. 29) at the corner of Hagadorn Road and Burcham Drive. There has also been much discussion about the situation on social media.
There is some clarification of last spring’s incident and the timeline.
While the district has said little about the latest incident involving Petrowitz, records obtained by ELi clarify what happened at the end of last school year and the effect it had on students.
ELi was informed through a tip on May 12 from a community member that Petrowitz had used the N-word while addressing students two days prior, on May 10. The tip also included an email Martin had sent out notifying parents of what had happened.
ELi reported May 16 that Petrowitz used the N-word while addressing his fourth-hour class of sixth-grade students on May 10. In that class, the email to families said, he called for administrative assistance and Martin told Petrowitz he was never to use that word. Petrowitz was allowed to continue teaching but called for administrative assistance again during sixth hour, the final hour of the day. This time, he chose to go home for the remainder of the day and Martin taught the rest of the class.
In an apology sent to families of students in those two classes on May 16, Petrowitz wrote:
“There were students using the “N-Word” interchangeably among themselves. In my haste to redirect the behavior, I addressed the students by stating that they shouldn’t use that word and in doing so, I used the actual word myself. I immediately felt terrible and regretted using it.”
What was not initially clear from Martin’s or Petrowitz’s emails to families is that Petrowitz did not only use the word in his fourth-hour class – he said it again in sixth hour.
ELi obtained Martin’s emails following the incident through a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request. Responding to one email from a parent that questioned Martin not specifying Petrowitz used the word in front of both classes, Martin wrote:
“Thank you for the point of clarification as I was not aware that Mr. Petrowitz used the word during the 6th hour class. It was not my intention to highlight the impact to only one hour that day as I know there were many students affected by this.”
Another email sent by Martin on May 11 and obtained by FOIA revealed Petrowitz was off the day following the incident to attend the Special Olympics but would return to teaching the next day, May 12. However, on May 18, Martin sent an email to the school community that he was placed on administrative leave following “Restorative Circle discussions in each class where students were provided a safe space to share their comments and feedback.”
“It’s the first time he’s heard this word said by an adult,” one parent wrote in an email obtained by ELi through FOIA.
Emails from the community following Petrowitz’s usage of the racial slur revealed parents felt left in the dark on how the school was proceeding and the trauma endured by students of color. These emails were sent or received by Martin in the days following Petrowitz’s May 10 outburst
“As he told us, it’s the first time he’s heard this word said by an adult and the fact that it came from a teacher has been hard for him to process,” one parent wrote.
Emails included questions about communication following the incident. Martin’s email addressing the incident only went to families of students in Petrowitz’s fourth- and sixth-hour classes. But a ripple effect from the incident was felt much farther.
“While *redacted* does not have gym, much like gossip at school, she heard about the 4th hour incident and was bothered by it, as am I,” one email reads. “I asked her to give it a bit to see what would be the administration’s response. She came home today disappointed that the subject hadn’t been mentioned by anyone today.”
Martin acknowledged communication could have been improved.
“I do realize that the lack of communication on my part had the impact it did on the greater MMS community,” Martin wrote in response to one email. “For that I am truly sorry.”
An East Lansing parent reached out, shortly before the recent outburst, expressing concern about the lack of communication around Petrowitz’s return to the school.
MMS parent and ELPAT contributor Bradley Lutz reached out to ELi with concerns about the lack of communication surrounding Petrowitz’s first incident after the educator returned to teaching at the start of the 2023-2024 year.
“We’ve heard nothing out of the district to what are they doing to address the culture in the school that would allow this to happen,” he said in a Sept. 8 interview, nearly two weeks before Petrowitz had his latest “unprofessional verbal interaction.”
As a way to improve culture, Lutz suggested making changes to the employee handbook. He said there are far more guidelines for how students should behave than staff. Expectations need to be made clear, he said.
“How does a veteran teacher not know that you shouldn’t ever say that word as a white person?” Lutz asked.
In the interview, Lutz talked about the concern he felt about Petrowitz last fall after one of his children was in his class when he used the racial slur and the other was under his supervision regularly for Trojan Time (a 25-minute class period that is like a study hall).
“He was super upset,” Lutz said about his child who was in Petrowitz’s gym class. “It really tanked the end of the school year for him. He was just very agitated for the remainder of the school year.”
Lutz said the problems surrounding the MMS gym teacher extend beyond the incidents he has been suspended for. He said his children are not in Petrowitz’s class this year. But if they were, he “100%” would have considered having them removed from it.
“It was more than just the one incident that took place,” Lutz said. “My one son saw him refer to a student as a ‘dumbass,’ my other son saw him throw footballs at students and described him as having adult temper tantrums.”
A parent group has organized a “No More Harm” demonstration Friday morning.
According to an email ELPAT sent to ELi, the demonstration will be held from 7:30-8:30 a.m. Friday (Sept. 29) at the corner of Burcham Drive and Hagadorn Road, near the middle school and Marble Elementary School. The email said, parents, families, community members, students and ELPS alumni are invited to attend.
“No more students should be harmed by policies, practices, and procedures that create space for repeated exposure to unprofessional behaviors by those we entrust with their care,” the email announcing the event reads. “East Lansing School district is no place for this type of behavior.”
Shari Brooks, a founding member and key contributor to ELPAT, submitted a statement to ELi on the group’s behalf.
“Mr. Petrowitz repeated behavior is unacceptable,” the statement reads. “The district utilizes policies, practices, and procedures that create spaces for repeated harm. Mr. Petrowitz chose to end the school year with reprehensible behavior and within the first few weeks of the new school year, demonstrated yet another act of intolerable behavior.”
The statement, which was given prior to Petrowitz’s suspension being extended, goes on to state that a five-day suspension is not harsh enough given Petrowitz’s behavior and lays out the values ELPAT hopes to see displayed in the district.
“Our expectation is that educational partners in this district affirm relationships that promote academic, emotional, and social growth. We want to see and support those that value approaches reducing trauma, utilizing strategies that foster a positive school climate, while actively engaging and acknowledging social-emotional learning,” the statement said.
The statement concludes by strongly condemning Petrowitz’s behavior and calling for a change in the district’s culture.
“Mr. Petrowitz and those that support his ideology are harmful to our children, academically, emotionally, and socially. The culture must change, and the staff must change, in order for our children to fulfill our dreams of being the best and the brightest in the safest space we can carve out for them in this world. Not one more child, not one more day, should our community be exposed to the deplorable behaviors of Mr. Petrowitz.”