Joe Pollack

Joseph F. Pollack, an Eastern Michigan University administrator, former superintendent of the Ypsilanti school district and former principal of Pioneer High, died Saturday after a brief illness.

Pollack, founder of the charter schools program at EMU, mentor to other educators and crusader for desegregation, was 76. He lived in Ann Arbor.

When Pollack returned to Washtenaw County in 1995 to take the helm of the new Charter Schools Office at EMU, he already had a long history here. He began his education career teaching high school English at Detroit Public Schools, then became principal at Pioneer. He left the area to take a job as deputy superintendent in the Jackson school district, but retuned to head Ypsilanti schools.

At Ypsilanti schools, Pollack left one of his greatest legacies, said James Hawkins, who served as the district’s school chief in the early 1980s and return to lead the district four years ago until his retirement last month.

Pollack led the desegregation efforts of Ypsilanti Public Schools. 

“Ypsilanti schools had vestiges of segregation. Some (school buildings) had a disproportion number of minority students,” Hawkins said. “Joe felt that was a violation of the concept of equal opportunity.”

Hawkins said Pollack was his closest friend, a relationship that spanned nearly four decades and included a time when Hawkins worked under Pollack at the Evanston-Skokie 65 School District north of Chicago. He was with Pollack when he died. 

“Joe was perhaps the finest school superintendent that I’ve ever had the opportunity to work under,” Hawkins said. “He was a superintendent extraordinaire. He had tremendous interpersonal skills and he was a staunch and passionate believer in equal opportunity and diversity.”

Pollack served as superintendent of Ypsilanti, Flint and Evanston-Skokie - and even worked for UNICEF in New York City for two years. But he returned to his home state to establish EMU’s Charter Schools Office. 

“Joe often said that charter schools represent the option for parents who can’t afford the option of private or parochial schools,” said Malverne C. Winborne, assistant director of the Charter Schools Office.

Central Michigan University was the first state university to take advantage of new legislation that allowed charter schools, and EMU wanted to follow suit, said Winborne. Early on, it was a one-person operation, he said.

Pollack helped develop schools in Detroit, Inkster, Pontiac, Southfield, Melvindale, Grand Blanc, Dearborn and Ann Arbor (the Ann Arbor Learning Community). None of the schools EMU chartered under Pollack’s leadership have closed, Winborne said. 

“As the authorizer of the schools, we are hands off," Winborne said. "We don’t run the schools. But we make sure they are in compliance with laws, and Joe took this very seriously.”

And while Pollack was serious when it came to his work, he was also a man who knew humor, Winborne said. “He always found a way to diffuse a situation with humor. He found a way to make you laugh.”

Pollack could have retired years ago - and actually had retired two other times - but wanted to continue to work, Winborne said. “Joe loved to work. Joe loved education.” 

Pollack didn’t lose his zest for the job, Winborne said. He even attended evening and Saturday school board meetings for the charter schools.

He was a storehouse of educational knowledge, Winborne said. Hawkins agreed: “No one will ever be able to walk in his moccasins.”

The family will hold private services, but a public celebration of Pollack’s life and work will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14 in Room 310 of EMU’s Student Center building.

In lieu of sending flowers, the family is asking people to donate to the EMU foundation in Pollack’s memory.

Janet Miller is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.