Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.
Two leaders of the Detroit school board will not be on the Nov. 3 ballot, creating the potential for a major shake-up in the governing body’s future direction.
LaTrice McClendon, who chairs the Detroit Public Schools Community District board, and Corletta Vaughn, the board’s vice chair, were both listed as disqualified on a list of candidates city officials provided Chalkbeat shortly after the filing deadline Tuesday.
Vaughn was disqualified because of late fees owed to Wayne County, city officials told Chalkbeat.
McClendon said she was disqualified because of a late fee her campaign team missed in December 2025. That late fee was paid last week. McClendon said she’d received notice that she could refile until 4 p.m. Tuesday.
But by then she had already changed her mind about running for reelection, opting instead to prioritize family.
“I’m going to miss it because I’ve worked hard,” she said of her time on the board since being elected in 2022. “But you have to know when to move on.”
Five of the seven board seats are up for grabs in the election. In addition to McClendon and Vaughn, the terms of Iris Taylor, Steve Bland Jr., and Bessie Harris will end this year.
Bland, Harris, and Taylor filed for candidacy, city records show.
Vaughn, first elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022, told Chalkbeat Tuesday she made a last-minute decision that she wouldn’t run this time. A county filing from July 13 showed that Vaughn owed $950.
“I sometimes think maybe those things are signs to not keep going,” she said of the filing issue.
Political consultant Mario Morrow said paperwork issues and unpaid fees that invalidate candidacies are common in Michigan elections.
“Either you mess up or you have a campaign team or people who are running the organization of your campaign who dropped the ball,” he said. “That’s why you have to be on top of this stuff day and night. Signatures, financial reporting errors — anything can happen.”
Morrow said McClendon’s and Vaughn’s absence from the race could be problematic for Superintendent Nikolai Vitti’s administrative agenda.
“You’re losing two allies,” Morrow said. “It’s going to be a major power shift which will change the direction of the Detroit Public Schools Community District over the next four years.”
Vitti did not respond to a request for comment.
The board has the power to hire and fire the district’s superintendent. It also makes decisions that shape district policy, curriculum, and funding.
McClendon, a parent of three children enrolled in DPSCD, said she is proud of holding the district accountable and pushing for transparency. She was elected board chair in January.
McClendon is director of the Knight Foundation’s Detroit program. She previously was a market executive for Huntington Bank.
Vaughn, a bishop and senior pastor of Holy Ghost Cathedral Church, said she is pleased with her work expanding faith-based partnerships in the district. She said she advocated to streamline services for children experiencing homelessness, as well as for the creation of the district’s Health Hubs.
Vaughn started her career as a nurse, wrote a book, and had a stint on reality TV.
This story has been corrected to make it clear that Board Chair LaTrice McClendon paid late election fees last week and could have filed to run to reclaim her seat, but decided against another reelection campaign.
Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
Christine Ferretti is the managing editor for BridgeDetroit. You can reach her at cferretti@bridgedetroit.com.
