Wayne-Westland board unanimously appoints Dr. Catherine Cross as interim superintendent amid community concerns

The Wayne-Westland Community School District Board of Education voted 7-0 to appoint Dr. Catherine Cross as interim superintendent during its meeting, and invited her to address the board following the vote.

The appointment, made on a motion that carried unanimously, drew public comment beforehand from a resident who said the board packet contained no resume or biography for the candidate and questioned why the district was hiring someone who had recently been employed as interim superintendent in Hazel Park. The resident said, “There is no resume listed in this board packet. Why is that? What is the board trying to hide?” and asked how long the interim contract would run.

The board moved and seconded the appointment with no recorded amendments, and Miss Hines called the roll: Miss Abney Mitchell, Mister Ambrose, Mister Rashawn, Mister Cox, Doctor Weaver, Miss Hines and President May all voted “yes.” The motion carried 7-0.

After the vote, Dr. Cross addressed the board. “First and foremost, I come here very humbly. The opportunity to serve your students and your community is something that I will not take lightly,” she said, and added she would “work tirelessly” to connect with staff and the community and “keep all the good things that Jen Curry has done moving forward.” Dr. Cross also said she had served at Hazel Park on an interim basis while that district’s superintendent was on leave and that the superintendent there had since returned.

President May acknowledged the concern about the absence of a résumé in the packet and said a brief biography and additional information would be shared with the community. “I should have had that in the board packet, and I apologize for not having a small vita in there—that’s a miss on my part,” the president said.

No vote details about the length or specific terms of Dr. Cross’s interim contract were included in the packet or recorded during the meeting. The board’s action was limited to approving the appointment; the transcript contains no further formal motion or vote specifying term length or salary changes.

The appointment followed a consent-agenda process; the board took no additional formal actions at the time of the vote regarding superintendent search procedures. President May later indicated that information about the search timeline and a “small beta” of Dr. Cross’s credentials would be communicated to the public in the coming days.

The vote ends the evening’s formal action on the interim hire. The district did not place a résumé in the packet available at the meeting, and the board indicated it will provide additional biographical material and a search timeline following the meeting.