Parents, residents, students and others in the Dearborn Public Schools community are invited to learn more about the three finalists for superintendent at different events scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday (April 22 and 23, 2026).

The finalists include Thomas Ahart, former Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools; Mike Esseily, Executive Director of Special Populations at Dearborn Public Schools; and Moussa Hamka, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at Grosse Pointe Public Schools.

Community meetings with each candidate will be held on Wednesday, April 22.  At each meeting, guests can submit written questions they would like to ask the candidate to learn more about that finalist.  The meeting schedule is 5:20 to 5:55 for Moussa Hamka, 6 to 6:35 for Mike Esseily, and 6:40 to 7:15 for Thomas Ahart.

Later on Wednesday, community members, staff and others are invited to an informal meet and greet from 7:20 to 8:45 p.m. with all three candidates.  All of the public meetings will be held in the Board Room at the Administrative Service Center at 18700 Audette St., Dearborn.

On Thursday, April 23, the Board of Education will hold interviews with the finalists starting at 6 p.m.  Each candidate will have 75 minutes. The first part of their interview will include a presentation on their vision for the district for the next few months and years, including but not limited to improving reading scores.  After that, each candidate will answer questions from the trustees.

The interviews with the finalists are open to the public and will also be shown live on the district’s YouTube Channel.

Starting on Wednesday afternoon, brief forms will be available in English, Arabic and Spanish allowing community members and staff to offer feedback on each of the three finalists.  A QR code to link to the forms will be available at the in-person meetings and shown periodically during the YouTube broadcasts.  The forms will be available until May 3 at 6 p.m.  On May 4, 2026, the Board of Education has a special meeting planned at 6 p.m. to select who they want to hire to be the next superintendent.