Former D65 Staffer, Dr. Simone Griffin, leaves Benton Harbor Superintendent Job

Over the years, a few District 65 staffers have gone onto careers as superintendents in other districts. One of those folks is Dr. Simone Griffin - she was D65’s Director of Research, Accountability and Data (RAD) during the Horton years from 2022-23. Part of her purview in D65 included implementing the MIRACLES program and equity progress indicators. She came to D65 after a 23-year career in the Chicago Public Schools and left in 2024 to work for a consulting firm, Learnwell Services.

The MIRACLES program is a framework that Dr. Horton developed in 2018 and brought with him to District 65 from Jefferson County, Kentucky. MIRACLES stands for Motion, Instruction, Rigor, Attract/Retain Staff, Commitment to Accountability, Learning Environment, Expected TargetS. You can kind of get a sense of the intent of the program from the D65 2020-21 MIRACLES in action report. It was a big deal in District 65 and up until the indictment, there was a MIRACLES banner in the Board room during D65 Board meetings.

This was something I complained about early on in FOIA Gras - the District was investing public resources into privately owned intellectual property. And indeed Dr. Horton took MIRACLES with him to DeKalb and it lives on through his current consulting firm, Ed Gazoo and his spouse’s firm Seismic Shift Ed (more on this below).

Another District that was interested in MIRACLES was the Benton Harbor Area Schools (BHAS) in Michigan — a small district with 6 schools and 1,240 students. It’s struggling badly, in the bottom 5% of performers in Michigan and is currently under a partnership agreement with the state and Berrien county. It’s also in difficult financial shape, in 2023 the State of Michigan had to forgive roughly $12 million in debt. Enrollment is plummeting, the District lost 360 students between 2021-26, a 23% drop.

In July 2025, the BHAS board hired search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates (HYA) to recruit a new Superintendent [1], and D65’s former Director of Research, Accountability and Data, Dr. Simone Griffin, was one of three finalists. On July 8, 2025 the BHAS trustees selected her by a 5-2 vote. Almost immediately, BHAS began to implement the MIRACLES program. From a September 2025 meeting:

Trustee Gavin agreed and remarked that it's important for everyone to memorize the MIRACLES framework, since it serves as the foundation for all district initiatives moving forward in unity.

To help implement the MIRACLES program, BHAS awarded Seismic Shift Ed, a firm operated by Dr. Horton’s spouse, a no-bid contract. The $28,000 executive coaching proposal, obtained via FOIA, was submitted a month after Dr. Horton’s October 2025 indictment. The scope of work was to provide coaching to the superintendent:

Seismic Shift Ed proposes an eight-month executive coaching partnership to support Dr. Simone Griffin in leading strategic improvement, building organizational coherence, and sustaining personal and professional balance.

The focus areas included things like leadership, MIRACLES alignment, and stress management.

1. Strategic Leadership Alignment – Converting vision into measurable action

2. Instructional & Organizational Excellence – Improving results through MIRACLES alignment

3. Equity & Access Leadership – Embedding fair policies and resource practices

4. Community & Board Relations – Building trust and transparent communication

5. Executive Well-Being & Resilience – Managing stress, clarity, and decision-making

6. Talent Development – Coaching leaders for shared ownership and growth

7. Change Management – Leading adaptive, data-driven transformation

The contract wasn’t completed in full and the District paid Seismic Shift Ed $11,588.25 for work invoiced between December 2025 and February 2026 (check register).

I reached out to BHAS for comment and inquired about who performed the work and what the output was. BHAS gave me the following comment, that didn’t really answer any questions.

Benton Harbor Area Schools' professional services agreement was with Seismic Shift Ed, owned by Christiane Horton. The District never had a contract with Devon Horton as an individual, nor was he a vendor of record for the District. The professional services agreement was approved administratively by the former superintendent, Dr. Simone Griffin, and was not brought before the Board of Education for approval. Moving forward, the District does not intend to use Seismic Shift Ed for future services.

The District has no further comment at this time.

Unrelated to MIRACLES, Dr. Griffin’s tenure grew contentious: a videotaped hallway confrontation with a student in November 2025 drew public criticism. It’s not entirely clear what went down and you can read her side of the story. Shortly after that, local TV news obtained records from Chicago Public Schools and reported that she “mismanaged student incidents” but didn’t publish the original records, so I can’t verify. In March 2026, the board voted unanimously to issue a formal written warning over her staff communications but didn’t specify the specific infractions, and trustees repeatedly clashed over her performance evaluation.

Griffin resigned on June 30, 2026, a few days shy of her one-year anniversary, and the Benton Harbor High School principal was named interim superintendent, effective July 25, 2026.

[1] Hazard, Young, and Attea (HYA) is currently a finalist in District 65’s Superintendent search process. The District will be evaluating them as one of three finalists next week.