Akron Public Schools Superintendent Mary Outley’s evaluation is done, with board comments noting her first full year at the district’s helm as “exemplary.”
Outley’s end-of-year review, alongside Treasurer Wayne Bowers’ evaluation, saw board members and the administrators reflect on the completed goals for the 2025-26 school year and those still in progress, with Outley “met or [exceeding] expectations” and making “satisfactory progress” toward her goals.
Both administrators received positive remarks in the board’s comments, compiled by Leadership and Learning LLC, a firm paid $6,000 to facilitate the mid and end-of-year reviews for the two leaders.
“My goal was to make sure that all the board members had an opportunity to say what they wanted to say and express any issues and concerns,” Board President Barbara Sykes said of the process.
Outley is a longtime APS educator and Buchtel High School alumnae who rose in the ranks to become the district’s interim superintendent in 2023 before being named its executive in April 2025 at the same meeting the Board of Education approved her predecessor’s departure.
This year’s evaluation is a measure of her first full year at the district’s helm, with three board-defined goals for the 2025-26 school year: increase the number of third-graders on track by 4 percent; cut the district’s operating budget by $11 million; and monitor its construction projects at Buchtel and Ellet community learning centers, Miller-South/Pfeiffer schools and North High School.
Of those, she completed two — cutting the district’s budget and monitoring its construction projects — while improving third-grade test scores was listed as “in progress,” though test scores included in Outley’s evaluation showed marked improvements in early literacy.
Outley’s 58-page, year-end evaluation is in line with her 26-page midyear review — and remains a break from the three-page, 517-word assessment of her predecessor, Michael Robinson.
“Are we on the mountain top? No,” Outley said on Friday. “But we are working together … We have a lot of work to do, don’t get me wrong. But when people are willing to do the work, that makes a difference. I feel like the work is doable because so many people are on board to do the work.”
For Bowers, board members lauded his “sound fiscal leadership.” His end-of-year evaluation saw his work with the Auditor of the State listed as “in progress,” alongside initiatives to reduce the district’s footprint and decide when a levy may need to go to voters.
“I encourage [the board] to give me constructive criticism so that I can be sure that I’m doing what they need,” Bowers said. “Other than that, I felt like we had a good discussion on all the items in there. My goal was to make sure that I was doing what they need. I feel like they seem pretty happy with it and what I’m providing them. We’re just going to keep plugging away.”
Improving state test scores still in the works
Improving early literacy has been one of Outley’s priorities. It was a key in her state of the schools address this spring, and a component in the board’s review of her work in leading the district.
Fewer than half of the district’s third graders scored proficient in reading on its most recent state report card — reflected in the district’s one star rating from the state in early literacy.
“We all agreed that reading is a gateway to success and that we wanted to see a focus on our literacy,” Outley said.
That focus included creating a foundation for APS’ youngest learners through the science of reading and explicit instruction to keep children engaged and demonstrate their knowledge during lessons, she said.
Preliminary testing data included in Outley’s evaluation showed a substantial jump in the number of children entering kindergarten on-track in early literacy — from 26.2 percent for the 2024-25 school year, to 46.8 percent for the 2025-26 school year.
Suggested Reading
The number of students on track in later grades also increased, though not as sharply. The district’s i-Ready reading diagnostic, given in the fall each year, saw a boost from 35.1 percent of third graders on track in 2025 to 37.7 percent in 2026.
Similarly, preliminary state testing data showed a 3 percent hike in third-graders reading proficiently as of the spring — from 39 percent in 2025 to 42 percent in 2026.
Other preliminary state testing data, shared with Signal Akron on Sunday but not included in Outley’s evaluation, projects the district will still have a one star rating in its early literacy component for the 2025-26 school year.
That data saw a slight dip in the percentage of third graders who were proficient — 44.8 percent for the 25-26 school year compared to 46.1 percent for the 2024-25 school year. That data does not include students who attended the district’s Third Grade Reading Academy in the summer and took state assessments at the end of the program. Those children’s scores will be included in the final report card score.
Final state report card data will be released in September.
The number is still far below the state standard of 60 percent proficiency; and the increase was below Outley’s annual goal of a 4 percent increase in test scores – though it could change once scores are finalized in the fall, she said. The item is marked as “in progress” as she, and the district, move into the 2026-27 school year.
In its compiled comments, the Board of Education stated it found the data included in Outley’s evaluation valuable in monitoring progress and looked forward to future presentations on the matter.
“Increasing our third-grade proficiency test, the state has set what the goal should be,” Sykes said. “We’re working every day to try to meet it and we’re getting closer and closer to that. If we had adequate funding, the process would be much easier.”
Treasurer, superintendent plan to work together on future budget reductions
Bowers’ review noted his “effective leadership” and the significant time he devotes to his position, alongside his professionalism and adaptability during a “particularly challenging period for the district.”
The board’s comments encouraged him to share information in a timely manner, provide updates on any delays and use consistent language in financial recommendations.
“I’m happy to hear that they’re pleased with how I’m doing and the direction I continue to talk about going in,” Bowers said on Friday. “They’ve been very positive about my ideas and it’s been a good relationship so far.”
Those ideas include potentially moving its payroll cycle to two pays per month, rather than bi-weekly, and changing its accounting software.
He and Outley plan to “tag team” future budget reductions to get the district’s spending against its cash balance under control. APS faces an estimated $27 million budget deficit next school year, which will require spending cuts to fill.
Those budget reductions, Bowers said, include looking at the district’s footprint to determine if it needs all the buildings it occupies, and whether or not it is reducing staff on par with its enrollment losses.
Outley said she learned a lot from the $11 million in reductions last school year, and, like Bowers, said the reductions could look at “right-sizing” the district or restructuring at the administrative level to avoid touching student-facing staff as long as possible.
Akron Public Schools is also working with the Auditor of the State for a performance audit. It paid $114,534 in November for its first performance audit since 1998 — which will examine the district’s efficiencies compared to similar schools in the state. Bowers expects the completed audit sometime this fall and hopes to use some of the information to help inform future budget reductions.
Akron School Board president: ‘It’s not just a one-way street’
Outley and Bowers’ evaluations bookend a year of budget reductions, policy discussions and building projects, and set the stage for continued goals going into the 2026-27 school year.
Those goals will be defined in collaboration with the board, Sykes said. She expects discussions on those upcoming goals to take place at the board’s July 25 retreat.
There is room for improvement on both sides, Sykes said.
“Even though the board is responsible for hiring and evaluating and these are the two employees that report to the board, they also should have some expectations of board members,” Sykes said. “We have a responsibility to make sure that we are responding in a consistently professional manner as we work with the superintendent and treasurer in trying to achieve these goals — it’s not just a one-way street.”
Outley recognized an ongoing need for communication with the board and community at large — something reflected in board comments on her evaluation.
During her first year as superintendent, she attended City Council ward meetings and hosted listening sessions in each APS cluster and established several advisory boards to capture family, student, business and faith-community concerns. She plans to continue those interactions for the 2026-27 school year.
“[I] want to make sure the communications are clear and always flowing between myself and the board, that they always feel that they’re in the loop,” Outley said.
Just like board members are dedicated to APS’ success, so too are Outley and Bowers, Sykes said. At the core of every decision the administrators, or board, makes is a commitment to educating Akron’s children.
“We’re constantly trying to figure out what we must do in order to educate almost 20,000 students that we have — regardless of the lack of funding, we have to figure this out,” Sykes said. “Next year we’ll be talking about cuts, we’ll be looking at where we’re going to best use the funds [we have] …. We have an awesome task ahead of us. That’s what’s in the front of my mind all of the time.”
Board members will formally vote on a resolution approving the pair’s evaluations at an upcoming meeting. The evaluations are already part of each administrator’s personnel files, Sykes said.
