(WXYZ) — A school choir director in Ypsilanti is enveloped in controversy after the director was placed on leave.
Crystal Harding was placed on leave shortly after a recent interview with 7 Action News. She was speaking out about a dispute with a videographer hired to film the choir's performances, which is now resolved.
However, the school district has pulled her from the classroom.
The district is saying the choir director is valued and appreciated, but in a letter, it says there is a lot of misinformation and baseless accusations surrounding her paid leave.
In February, Harding and her students raised $700 to pay a company to make a memorable video for their concerts.
Harding said the owner stopped taking her calls, and when 7 Action News stepped in, the video was delivered one day after the story aired.
According to Harding's family and friends, she was placed on non-disciplinary leave.
"It just seems very unjust and unfair. We are not receiving any answers," Marissa Harding, Crystal's daughter, said.
Myles McClain said his old teacher, Harding, had a way with students.
"Every time I was in the choir I felt like I wasn't at school. I felt like I was somewhere I wanted to be," McClain said.
The district sent a letter to us saying Harding was pulled from the classroom pending an "investigation."
The district said the action cannot be disciplinary without "due process" and emphasized it had nothing to do with our story.
During a school board meeting on Monday, many parents and even the Ypsilanti mayor spoke up.
"I attended one of the concerts in February and I was incredibly moved-to tears actually by seeing our students really convey the need and the lack in our district," Mayor Nicole Brown said.
Brown went on to say that Harding was irreplaceable.
"If your mayor is coming out and saying this about a member of your community and a teacher and you're not listening as the administration, as the board, that's a problem," Harding's friend, Christy Bullock, said.
Her friends and colleagues say she's a quarterfinalist for the 2024 Grammy Music Educator of the Year award and they hope the investigation will not impact her chances.
