Oak Park schools former executive director for business and finance has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the district and is making some stunning claims.
On Jan. 30 Sharrece Farris-Foster filed suit in Oakland County Circuit Court alleging retaliation for reporting financial misconduct.
The complaint, filed by The Sharp Firm, claims that Farris-Foster was terminated after refusing to overstate budget projections and reporting unauthorized actions including improper credit card limit increases, misuse of STEM grant funds and unlawful salary reductions while on medical leave.
The suit names Superintendent Angel Abdulahad, the Oak Park school board and the district as defendants.
Among the allegations in the lawsuit:
In July 2025, Abdulahad told Farris-Foster to increase the limit on his district issued credit card by $25,000
Soon after raising the limit on his credit card, Abdulahad bought $10,000 worth of electronics equipment with funds meant for the creation of a STEM lab. The purchases were made at Best Buy and staff reported that he kept them for personal use after asking that they not be tagged as district property.
Abdulahad asked Farris-Foster to authorize $40,000 payout for future accrued leave days and that the checks be spread out over multiple payments for his financial benefit and hide a lump sum payment.
In August 2025, while on paid medical leave, Abdulahad suspended her pay, denied her access to sick days and reduced her base salary by $15,000.
The superintendent repeatedly submitted reimbursement requests not allowable under district policy and not providing receipts.
That he “and several members of the (school) board” exceeded daily conference per-diems and spending limits and sought reimbursement from the district. The conference was not specified.
In November 2025, Abdulahad accused Farris-Foster of a mistake costing the district $4 million in state aid funds and he intended to fire her for it. The aid funds were received on time and the Michigan Education Association told her she was not at fault, but a communication issue with their auditing firm.
In May 2025, Abdulahad instructed her to overstate to the school board that the district had over $1 million in available funds.
The district refused to comment on the lawsuit.
Farris-Foster, who was hired in Oak Park in May 2023, claimed she reported all of the financial issues to the board of education and the Michigan Department of Education.
Abdulahad was selected as superintendent in May 2022 following the retirement of Jamii Hitchcock.
Abdulahad was placed on paid, non-disciplinary leave at a special meeting on Nov. 18, 2025 and Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Shana Murphy was named acting superintendent. Farris-Foster was terminated at a board meeting on Dec. 9.
One of the claims made in the lawsuit was that Abdulahad spent $10,000 to purchase electronics equipment for his personal use which were actually grant funds to be dedicated to the creation of a STEM lab for students.
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Abdulahad remains on administrative leave and the district has not taken any action on the issue almost three months later.
The reason he was placed on leave was not explained by the district despite repeated requests by The Oakland Press for more information.
“The board has placed the superintendent on paid, non-disciplinary administrative leave pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation,” the district said. “This action is a standard administrative procedure and does not imply any finding of wrongdoing.”
According to Kevin Keys, a former teacher in the district and graduate of Oak Park High School, Abdulahad was put on leave due to “financial mismanagement and discrimination.”
The board received the final report on the investigation done by Allen Telgenhof PLCC at a special meeting on Jan. 27 and held their first meeting since receiving the report on Feb. 9. The district has not divulged the cost of the investigation or the if the final report will be made public.
The board did not take any action during their meeting on Monday and only acknowledged the issue with a statement.
“The board is legally required to protect the integrity of personnel matters and respect due process obligations,” board President Paige Mattison said in a statement. “For that reason, the board is unable to share publicly the details and other rights. We appreciate the community’s patience and engagement.”
Abdulahad’s contract with the district ends in June and his salary and benefits for 2025 total $391,273.
The issue of credit card use did come out at a school board meeting before the superintendent was placed on leave.
At an Oct. 27 board meeting, Abdulahad was questioned about financial statements to be approved by the board.
When Trustee Aisha Tyler sought a more detailed breakdown of those statements, Abdulahad became defensive.
“Don’t beat around the bush, come out and say it. Come out here in front of the public and say what you want, take action on it and we will produce it,” he told her. “But to allege something different that we are not giving you, It is insulting to me.”
Trustee Dawn Corporan later specified that she wanted an itemized listing of all credit card usage by administrators in the district.
The district refused to say what their future plans are for the superintendent position, if they will release the report to the public or if any board action will be taken.
Keys is concerned with several issues within the district, including the lack of transparency with the allegations surrounding Abdulahad.
He let the board know on Monday what he plans on doing about it.
“Anyone who voted for, enabled or quietly agreed with the decisions that harmed students, undermined safety and ignored transparency bears responsibility,” he said. “If the board does not take action and resignations do not occur before the end of the week, we will begin the formal process to recall every single member of this board who participated in or enabled this corruption one by one.”
The suit seeks compensatory damages, back and front pay and other relief for alleged violations of Michigan Public Policy and The Whistleblower Protection Act.