Akron Public Schools is rethinking its previous decision to close three schools — instead deciding to reopen one and shuffle some programs into other buildings.
The school district closed Stewart Early Learning Center last year and delayed the previously agreed-upon closings of Essex Early Learning Center and the Conrad Ott building. On Monday, members of the Board of Education agreed to reopen Stewart. They will close Ott, as they agreed to do in 2023. Essex will remain open, though it will no longer house preschoolers.
School board members also agreed to send a request for qualifications for a firm to design the new North High School and to move forward the job description of a new general counsel, though that job description was not made publicly available.
In a 6-1 vote, members of the Board of Education agreed to reopen Stewart, which housed preschool students when it closed last year.
The move came over the objections of one board member, Rene Molenaur, who said the administration had not adequately explained the financial implications of reopening the school. Board members were told a year ago that closing Stewart would save the district $345,000.
“The fact that there isn’t a single board member who has seen the numbers on paper tells me we are not ready for a resolution,” Molenaur said before the vote. Later, she said the board was making its decision “after receiving zero financial information.”
Essex and Stewart will house the programs previously operated at Ott — Akron Alternative Academy, APS Online and the SOAR program, a contracted program that educates students who would have otherwise been expelled.
Under the new plan, Akron Alternative Academy would be relocated to Stewart, which will be repainted and furnished for high school students. APS Online and SOAR will be moved to Essex, while the four preschool classrooms that are housed there will be absorbed elsewhere.
Superintendent Michael Robinson said space would be available in other buildings, though he could not say exactly where. The district’s preschool classrooms are not full, Robinson added, so while the number of students will remain consistent, the number of classrooms may decrease.
There’s not a lot of effort needed to retrofit Stewart and Essex, the two buildings that had housed preschoolers, said Tamea Caver, APS’ chief academic officer. There are adult-sized bathrooms in both buildings, in addition to the ones for younger children.
Caver said Ott needs a new roof and a parking lot, so the costs to renovate that building would be higher.
Akron Alternative Academy has about 175 students, but high school students are on an a.m./p.m. schedule, meaning not all are at the school at the same time. APS Online students are largely not in the school, but staff would be housed at Essex. And there are about 100 students who rotate in and out of SOAR; students there are evaluated after 45 days to see if they meet the criteria to return to the schools they previously attended. They can stay as long as a semester.
North High School plan moving forward
School board members also agreed to move forward with plans to build a new North High School, approved by voters last fall. The school board voted to send a request for qualifications for the new school to qualified design firms. They will be able to respond to the request for qualifications beginning Friday, when the processit opens; it will stay open for 30 days.
Voters in November approved a levy that will allow the district to take out an $85 million bond to build a school to replace the crumbling North High School.
The request for qualifications will help the district find the firm that will lead the project. It will be followed by a review and a selection process, said Steven Keenan, the facilities director. The request was put together with the help of the Harpst Becker law firm.
Job description for general counsel approved
And the board approved a new job description for its general counsel position. Angela Carter, the superintendent’s chief of staff, said lawyers representing the district updated a previous general counsel job description; Molenaur said she was concerned that the job description had not gone through a committee before being approved by the board.
It was approved in a 6-1 vote, with Molenaur opposed.
The district has not had a general counsel since 2019. In the last year, there have been a number of instances when board members asked for legal advice during a meeting but did not receive any.
In recent years, the district’s legal costs have surpassed $1 million.
The issue comes as costs continue to be a concern for the district. Although voters approved a levy in the fall, CFO and Treasurer Steve Thompson said Monday that the federal appetite for eliminating the Department of Education — and the funds that come with it — is “a bit disconcerting.”
“There’s an awful lot on the line,” Thompson said, “not just for Akron Public Schools, but for all public schools right now.”
Outgoing IT director to be replaced by communications director
The school district also on Monday announced the resignation of its director of information technology. Zachary Hanshaw will be replaced on an interim basis by the communications director, Stacey Hodoh, a former global executive at Google. Hanshaw started with the district in July 2023; his last day is Feb. 21.
Hodoh’s career stops include overseeing technology modernization strategies as a global executive for Walmart and serving as a chief supply chain and technology officer for a private manufacturing company, according to a press release announcing that she would step into the district IT role.
In an email, Hodoh called the position a “temporary assignment” for her while Robinson “initiates a district-wide organizational assessment or restructure” to identify a leader for the IT department.
The press release said restructuring and reorganization would continue in the department, but it did not specify what that would entail. Hodoh said her priorities will include IT strategies that “empower student learning, streamline school management, and build the infrastructure required for achieving our strategic blueprint.”
“I’m honored to support APS in any way that I can,” Hodoh said in the email, adding that as an alumna of the district, “anything I can do to serve APS is gratifying.”