Detroit School Board Race Includes Four Candidates With Felony Convictions

Four candidates seeking seats on Detroit’s school board have felony convictions, a review of public records by Chalkbeat and BridgeDetroit found. The records span cases in Michigan and Ohio, with convictions ranging from forgery and receiving stolen property to assault and criminal enterprise offenses.

The findings add personal histories to a race for five seats on the Detroit Public Schools Community District board. The names of 34 candidates are set to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, according to Chalkbeat’s candidate guide. One candidate, Darious Morris, said he is no longer actively running, though his name will remain on the ballot.

None of the four candidates identified in the review — Bobby Christian, Duane Grigsby Jr., Morris, and Danetta Simpson — has a conviction that disqualifies them from holding office under Michigan law. The state bars candidates from election only in certain cases involving convictions within the previous 20 years for dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or a breach of public trust connected to their official duties in government, the law says. Michigan residents with felony convictions may vote if they are not serving a sentence, state law also provides.

The review excluded dismissed felony charges and cases related to marijuana possession or distribution. Recreational marijuana possession has been legal in Michigan since 2018. School board decisions reach into curriculum, district finances, superintendent hiring and firing, and the district’s relationship with families and the wider community, as Chalkbeat has previously reported.

Different accounts of older cases

The records document convictions, but candidates dispute or contextualize parts of their histories. Their explanations also vary: Christian described a business failure from his early career, while Grigsby acknowledged some convictions and challenged another. Morris and Simpson connected their experiences to their work with young people and efforts to change the criminal justice system.

That distinction matters in a local race where candidates’ experience may shape how they approach youth support and public safety, while voters still have to weigh the underlying court records for themselves.

Bobby Christian: a 2011 forgery case

Christian, an after-school program coordinator and youth football coach, pleaded guilty in Wayne County in 2011 to attempting uttering and publishing. The offense involves trying to pass a forged, altered, or counterfeit document as genuine to defraud someone. Court filings show he received two years of probation.

Christian told Chalkbeat that the case arose from an incident involving a client’s stolen check and a company he solely owned. Publicly available court documents did not provide further details about what led to the charge.

“I was a young business owner, not knowing the process,” Christian said. He said the experience informs his work in community violence intervention. “One mistake can’t define a person’s life,” he said.

Duane Grigsby Jr.: convictions across three Ohio counties

Grigsby, a business owner and property manager, has convictions in Ohio that include forgery, receiving stolen property, assaulting a police officer, and domestic violence, according to court records.

In 1996, a Clark County court found him guilty of forgery and ordered him to pay more than $1,300 in restitution. The following year, in Franklin County, he was convicted of receiving stolen property and possessing criminal tools. An indictment said he received, kept, or disposed of five stolen credit cards and possessed a driver’s license with the intent to use it alongside the stolen property to commit a crime. The public records reviewed did not show the sentences in those cases.

Grigsby was convicted in Butler County in 1998 of assault on a police officer and failure to comply with an officer’s order. Court filings show he received one year in prison and up to three years of probation. Asked about the incident, he told Chalkbeat, “Yeah, I did. That’s me.”

He also described how he might respond if he believed children were being harmed: “I’m not saying I’m violent right now, but I could become violent if someone pushed me. And if they … doing something to these kids, yes, I’m gonna show out — I ain’t saying I’m gonna put my hands on somebody, but I’m gonna show out and I’m gonna step up.”

In Clark County in 2005, Grigsby was convicted of domestic violence and sentenced to 14 months in prison, with credit for time served. He said the allegations were false. He also emphasized that the convictions were more than 20 years old, said his past did not define him, and described overcoming difficulties in childhood. He said his experience with the criminal justice system now informs volunteer work with young people.

Darious Morris: convictions in 2009, 2011, and 2023

Morris represents District 3 on the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners. In Wayne County, he was convicted in 2009 of forgery and falsely impersonating a public officer. He received a one-year prison sentence, with credit for time served.

Morris previously told WXYZ that those charges stemmed from real estate fraud and impersonating a notary public. Earlier this year, he said the scheme involved taking foreclosed homes and “fraudulently taking the deeds.”

Court records show a separate 2011 conviction for conducting criminal enterprises. Morris was sentenced to two to 20 years, with credit for 329 days served. In 2023, he was convicted in Macomb County of assaulting, resisting, or obstructing a police officer. The court ordered him to complete therapy and maintain employment. Morris told WXYZ he accepted responsibility and later apologized to the officer.

“I fell into the preschool to prison pipeline,” Morris said of his convictions. “I got involved in what was happening, what was around me. I didn’t have no mentor.” He said Detroit children need “people with real-life experience” who can help them avoid the criminal justice system.

Danetta Simpson: a disputed 1996 conviction

Simpson, a cosmetologist who owned a Detroit salon for more than 30 years, was convicted in Oakland County in 1996 of assault with intent to murder. Court documents show a sentence of 14 days in jail and one year of probation.

The Detroit News previously reported that a woman alleged Simpson made threatening phone calls and later fired a gun near her during an altercation. No one was injured. Simpson pleaded no contest in 1998 and later tried to withdraw the plea, the newspaper reported.

Simpson told Chalkbeat she was wrongfully convicted and denied the allegations. She said she accepted the plea because she had children and lacked the education to fight the case through the system. The experience, she said, motivated her to run for office and to advocate for a reentry program in Michigan’s parole system.

“We have to educate the young people,” Simpson said. “That’s the only way we can get our future to change.” She has also run unsuccessfully for Detroit mayor and for a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives.

The four histories differ sharply in their details, timelines, and the candidates’ accounts. With all four still eligible under state law, voters will decide how those records and the candidates’ explanations bear on who should help set direction for Detroit’s public schools.