An Akron Public Schools employee has filed a complaint against their supervisor — Al Jones, the district’s director of safety and security — alleging he “lost control of his temper” during a meeting, resulting in a brief physical altercation.
Superintendent Mary Outley told Signal Akron on Monday evening that Jones was placed on administrative leave.
The allegation presents a broader test for APS: how the district holds its public safety officers accountable when they are the very people entrusted with keeping others safe. Jones, a retired Akron Police detective, oversees non-police school safety officers and school resource officers.
In an emailed complaint sent to the Akron Board of Education, Superintendent Mary Outley and Signal Akron on Aug. 30, a safety officer alleged Jones was verbally hostile, resentful and that the “situation rapidly escalated into physical violence” during a meeting in which they discussed the officer’s transfer from I Promise School to Ellet Community Learning Center.
Signal Akron is not naming the complainant as the person is a prior victim of sexual harassment.
The officer and their union representative, Matt Buser, reportedly met with Jones in his office on Aug. 26 to dispute the transfer, which was reportedly done without written notice. During that meeting, Jones allegedly shoved the chair the safety officer was seated in and his knee “forcefully collided” with theirs, according to the complaint. They also alleged Jones “violently yanked” a chair out from under Buser before screaming at the pair to leave his office.
Outley, the superintendent, witnessed at least part of the altercation and intervened, according to the complaint. As of Monday, a police report had not been filed regarding the incident.
The following morning, Jones allegedly showed up at Ellet CLC, where the safety officer was stationed. Their complaint does not state if Jones had direct contact with them that day, but it did define the unannounced visit as “a direct act of ongoing workplace intimidation.”
Union representative: Complaint is ‘accurate representation of the meeting’
Buser, SEIU Local 1 Northeast Ohio organizer, declined to provide a formal statement. He did confirm the union has grieved the officer’s transfer and that it is in communication with Akron Public Schools regarding the Aug. 26 incident.
“The statement [the safety officer] provided is an accurate representation of the meeting,” Buser said in an email.
Barbara Sykes, the president of the Akron Board of Education, declined to comment on the complaint except to confirm it had been forwarded to the superintendent for review.
In response to a request for comment sent to district spokesperson Joanne Isaac, Outley and Jones, Isaac responded via email: “Akron Public Schools is currently evaluating the matter through our established processes. As this involves an active personnel issue, the district cannot comment on the allegations, or provide any additional details at this time.”
Complainant was victim of prior harassment
Earlier this year, APS approved an $80,000 settlement with the same employee regarding a sexual harassment complaint they made against Tom Varney, a grounds maintenance operator. Varney was suspended for five days for violating the district’s anti-harassment policy.
The employee referenced the previous settlement in the complaint and said that reassignment to Ellet CLC took them away from their “established support network aiding [their] recovery…”
Under the current union contract, a principal may request that an employee be transferred, but there must be a conference with that employee prior to the transfer taking place. An employee may appeal their transfer through a grievance.
The safety officer’s demands, addressed to the Akron Board of Education, included placing Jones on administrative leave pending an independent, third-party investigation and requiring the district’s human resources department to furnish workers’ compensation injury report documentation and a Family and Medical Leave Act application to their email.
