The Rochester Community School District is under scrutiny for its handling of a situation involving local parent and school board trustee, Carol Beth Litkouhi.
She was accused of leaking confidential information about a proposed school millage in Oakland County through an op-ed she wrote for The Detroit News. However, it is important to note that all the information she shared was publicly accessible at the time.
Litkouhi grew up in Rochester, attended Rochester High School, and is a teacher.
“It was really 2021 when I got involved, and it was during the pandemic, you know, I had my kids at home, and started paying more attention to school board stuff,” she said.
She explained that her eyes were opened when she heard what former classmates of hers were posting on social media about the “History of Ethnic and Gender Studies” course at Rochester Adams High School.
“I asked the school district about it [the course], and they refused to give me the curriculum. They told me to send FOIA requests. So I sent FOIA requests, and then they denied that any information existed regarding the class,” Litkouhi said. “I was like, ‘What is going on here?’ Because the secrecy has always been what seems so strange about it.”
Litkouhi decided to run for the RCS School Board, motivated by a desire for transparency, accountability, and academic excellence, following the experiences of other parents who faced repercussions for expressing their views about the school district. She won her seat in the general election in November 2022.
However, her efforts to promote transparency led to significant challenges with the majority establishment. They accused her of filing “voluminous requests” and asking “too many questions,” especially regarding budget allocations.
Then, in response to The Detroit News article she wrote, Litkouhi was censured and removed from the Budget and Operations Committee and from her liaison roles for one calendar year during the Board of Education (BOE) meeting on Nov. 10, 2025.
The board’s reasoning was that Litkouhi shared private information; however, the proposed Oakland County School millage was openly discussed at meetings of other Oakland County school boards. Also, two other districts conducted public board meetings to openly discuss the Oakland County School millage.
For example, on April 7, 2025, the Clawson Public School Board addressed the millage in their meeting minutes. Additionally, on Oct. 7, 2025, the Oxford Community School Board discussed the millage proposal.
After the Nov. 10 board meeting, School Board President Michelle Bueltel sent a letter to parents in the community via the school district’s communication email system, ParentSquare, regarding Litkouhi’s censure. The community’s reactions to the letter were filled with anger and questions regarding the board’s decision.
Community parent Shannon Fashho commented: “Wait a minute, did I really see this correctly? Is she really using the district’s official communication system to blast out a political attack on Trustee Carol Beth Litkouhi? This is an outrageous abuse of power.”
At the Jan. 12 meeting, the Rochester School Board conducted its annual officer election and amended the board handbook. These changes include a new restriction requiring all trustees to obtain prior approval from both the board president and the superintendent before requesting any documentation from the school district.
The updated handbook also no longer permits minority board members to add items to the agenda at the beginning of a meeting; instead, they must propose agenda items through the board president and the superintendent.
These changes make it extremely difficult to maintain transparency with the public and share information with taxpayers—a core commitment Litkouhi made during her campaign.
Another member of the community commented: “I am trying to understand. So Trustees will now need another Trustee’s permission to get documents any ordinary citizen can get with a FOIA request? Do you realize how absurd that looks?”
“It takes a special kind of arrogance to impose punitive sanctions, deny they were punitive, and then send that denial to thousands of people in writing. One would hope that elected officials could at least keep track of the actions they themselves approved, but apparently that bar is too high,” another community member remarked.
“That means individual trustees—especially anyone in the minority—could be blocked from seeing basic district information unless they make a FOIA request,” Litkouhi said. “As we discussed before, this bylaw change moves us in the wrong direction. It takes us from ‘each trustee can request existing district documents’ to ‘only the Board, through the President, can make those requests.’”
Trustee Litkouhi continued, “And even then, should a trustee now be expected to pay exorbitant FOIA fees for materials we are legally responsible for overseeing in a volunteer role? I make zero dollars doing this. Should I really be paying lawyers to redact information that should never be withheld from a trustee in the first place?”
Trustee Litkouhi expressed her concern that this change is a mistake, stating, “It will lead to more delays, confusion, and wasted time.” Furthermore, she believes that restricting any trustee’s authority, whether now or in the future, will not ensure transparency and accountability to the community.
At the meeting, the Rochester Board also conducted its annual officer election. Litkouhi received a nomination from Trustee Shelley Lauzon. Due to Litkouhi’s censure, Bueltel said Litkouhi was not eligible for the board leadership position.
“Well, the only other name I heard was yours, and I believe by the censure, you are unable to hold office,” Bueltel told Litkouhi.
Bueltel then called a brief recess to verify Litkouhi’s eligibility to run for office. This hesitation reflects a broader pattern where the board’s establishment bloc appears to default toward restricting Litkouhi’s participation as a duly elected official.
Despite finding Litkouhi could run for office despite the censure, the establishment-aligned board installed Gupta as board president over Litkouhi’s objections. This vote signaled that the anti-parent status quo remains in Rochester, silencing the voices of the families Litkouhi represents.
Jennifer Ayres is a native Michigander, wife, and mother to two beautiful children, with a passion for writing.
