Dearborn schools select first-ever Arab American, Muslim educator as new superintendent

Mike Esseily will be breaking new ground when he assumes the role as Dearborn Public Schools’ new superintendent, becoming the first Arab American and Muslim educator to serve in that position.

Dearborn Public Schools and its Board of Education announced that it selected Esseily on Monday. He currently serves as the district’s executive director for Special Populations, which oversees special education, English-language learners and the district’s mental health programs. Esseily served as the district’s director of special education prior to holding his current role, and spent two years as special education coordinator before that.

Esseily will need to negotiate his contract before he is officially hired as the district’s new superintendent. If all parties agree to a contract, he will replace former superintendent Glenn Maleyko, who now serves as the state’s superintendent of public instruction, overseeing all public K-12 education programs throughout Michigan.

As a Muslim and Arab American, Esseily will be potentially helming a district that largely looks and worships like he does. It is one of the largest school districts in Michigan and has a large concentration of students from Middle Eastern backgrounds, with high populations of Lebanese, Yemeni, Palestinian and Iraqi students.

Overall, the district serves about 20,000 students.

The national search for a new superintendent was conducted by the Michigan Leadership Institute, the organization said in a news release. About 25 candidates applied, and the pool was narrowed to just six candidates for initial reviews. Three finalists were named, one withdrew, and that left Esseily, a hometown pick, and Moussa Hamka, the assistant superintendent of Human Resources for Grosse Pointe Public Schools.