Investigation finds that Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles violated district policy — and helped craft an administrator’s resignation letter that bashed his bosses | Education Blog

Investigation finds that Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles violated district policy — and helped craft an administrator’s resignation letter that bashed his bosses | Education Blog:

Investigation finds that Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles violated district policy — and helped craft an administrator’s resignation letter that bashed his bosses

By Matthew Haag
mhaag@dallasnews.com
8:50 pm on September 6, 2013 | Permalink

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An investigation of Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles found he violated a district policy and the terms of his employment contract — both of which are cause for his termination, according to a copy of the investigative report obtained Friday by The Dallas Morning News.

The report clears Miles of any wrongdoing in the initial complaint, which questioned the handling of a service contract for parent education services. But it found that he violated a district policy by talking to witnesses during the district’s initial internal investigation into the contract.

The investigation also found that Miles helped write a top administrator’s resignation letter — which slammed the board of trustees but praised his leadership — and is believe to have leaked it to the media. The report said that action violated his contract, which states Miles must maintain an effective working relationship with trustees.

Miles used the resignation letter “as an opportunity to generate positive publicity for himself and negative publicity for the board,” the report said.

The report wraps up a six-week investigation by former U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins, who was hired in July by the board of trustees. Investigators interviewed 30 people and analyzed more than 411,000 emails from 23 employees.

“We found no violations of any laws, civil or criminal,” the report states. “However, we determined that Superintendent Miles violated board policy DH (Local) and his employment contract on two occasions by contacting witnesses and discussing facts relevant to the pending OPR investigation.”

Trustees received the report Friday afternoon and are scheduled to discuss it in private on Thursday. It’s not immediately clear what impact the investigation could have on Miles’ job. His support among trustees has faded since he arrived last year, and the report could further diminish their relationship.

Board president Eric Cowan declined to comment Friday. Trustees have instructed Miles not to discuss it. However, Cowan and Miles are scheduled to deliver a state of the district speech Tuesday at a Da