TCR 22-12 — The People Who Vouched

What Is TCR 22-12?

On August 4, 2023, State Superintendent Michael F. Rice granted Brian Banks a school administrator certificate despite 8 felony fraud convictions, subject to 7 conditions. The Michigan Department of Education’s own professional staff objected. The Attorney General’s office argued against granting it. Rice overruled his department.

Five people testified in Banks’s favor. Their testimony is public record. Their assessments can now be compared to Banks’s documented conduct in 2026.

The Department Objected

The Office of Educator Excellence — the people whose job is to evaluate whether someone should work in schools — raised formal objections to the ALJ’s recommendation. The AG’s office (Kathleen Halloran, Shelley McCormick) represented the department in opposing the certificate.

The professionals said no. The political appointee said yes.

The “Diagnoses” That Aren’t Diagnoses

Two professionals offered clinical-sounding assessments of Banks:

Terrence Shulman — Licensed Social Worker

• Not a physician. Not a psychiatrist. Cannot diagnose.
• Referred by State Bar of Michigan in 2011
• 6 sessions in 2011, then 12 sessions in 2020-2021
• Described Banks as “not dishonest as a matter of character”
• Concurred with Leno’s PTSD finding — but a social worker cannot independently diagnose PTSD under the DSM-5
• His specialty: “issues related to dishonesty” and “individuals who have had issues with various theft-related behaviors” — a niche practice focused on shoplifting and financial crime addiction

What he said: Banks “took ownership for all his actions and had paid off any debts he had owed.”

What happened: Banks told police “I am a lawyer” (2026). Banks has $14,500+ in unpaid PAC fines. Banks filed a retaliatory police report. The behavior didn’t stop — it evolved from checks and credit cards to claiming credentials he doesn’t have.

Michele Leno, Ph.D. — Licensed Psychologist

• Psychologist (can diagnose), but assessment based on ~13 sessions over ~2 months (Dec 2020-Feb 2021)
• Found Banks to be “a person of integrity”
• Diagnosed PTSD from childhood adverse experiences
• Said “no reason to believe criminal behavior will recur”
• Found Banks “no longer in need of formal therapy”

What she said: Banks has integrity, won’t reoffend, and is “keenly focused on redemption.”

What happened: Three years later, Banks told police he is a lawyer (false), filed a retaliatory police report, denied a legal father’s representative access to his children’s school using false legal authority, and operates a $4.28M enterprise with a convicted drug offender and zero independent oversight.

What These Assessments Actually Are

Neither Shulman’s nor Leno’s evaluations are clinical diagnoses in the medical sense:

• No psychiatric evaluation was conducted by an MD/DO
• No standardized diagnostic testing referenced in the record
• No longitudinal observation — Shulman had 18 total sessions over 10 years; Leno had 13 sessions over 2 months
• The PTSD finding was based on self-reported childhood experiences, not clinical assessment with validated instruments
• Both professionals’ practices are oriented toward rehabilitation advocacy, not forensic evaluation

These are character references with clinical language — verbal agreements between professionals outside the medical diagnostic field that Banks had changed. The language of diagnosis was used to give institutional weight to what is fundamentally an opinion.

Testimony vs. Reality

The 7 Conditions

The conditions imposed by Rice acknowledge the risk the enablers minimized:

1. Remain free of financial convictions
2. Provide this order to governing board
3. Shall not handle cash
4. Shall not be sole person to approve expenditures
5. Submit compliance verification (current assignment)
6. Submit compliance verification (future assignments)
7. Every 6 months — written verification of #3 and #4, signed by board president

Who Signs the Verifications?

Nicole Wells-Stallworth — MacDowell Board President.

The same person who:

• Hired Banks knowing his criminal history
• Killed an MDE investigation in 2 hours 24 minutes
• Is married into a political dynasty with a federal money laundering conviction
• Whose stepdaughter sits on the DPSCD board that authorizes the charter

The compliance verification system relies on the enabler certifying the enabled.

The Condition #4 Evasion

Condition #4: Banks “shall not be the sole individual responsible for approval of any expenditure.”

Banks is sole member of Purpose Group LLC. Purpose Group receives $4,285,201 (72.67%) of school revenue. All teachers and staff are employed by Purpose Group, not the school.

The entity structure routes school money through a private LLC where Banks IS the sole approval authority. Condition #4 is not violated at the school — because the money doesn’t stay at the school. It flows to Purpose Group, where no conditions apply.

The structure was designed to evade the condition.

Source Documents

• TCR 22-12 Final Decision and Order (Aug 4, 2023) — 18 pages
• TCR 22-12 Cover Letter — State Superintendent Rice
• MDE FOIA Response (Sep 25, 2026)
• MDE Supplemental Records (Sep 30, 2026 — unsolicited)

All documents received directly from Michigan Department of Education FOIA Coordinator David Head.

Verify

• Contact MOAHR for full hearing transcript and exhibits
• MDE: MDE-Professional-Practice@Michigan.gov
• David Head, FOIA Coordinator: 517-855-1139

All sources: TCR 22-12 Final Decision (public record via MDE FOIA), hearing testimony as quoted in the decision.