The Akron Board of Education voted to start termination proceedings against three teachers for what it said was misconduct involving, or in front of, students.
Timothy Patrick, a Marine Corps JROTC instructor at East Community Learning Center; Crystal Kouns, a teacher at Ellet CLC, and Elizabeth Sholar, a teacher at Forest Hill CLC, each allegedly violated board policies and district guidelines during the 2025-26 school year.
The resolutions passed Monday evening after a lengthy executive session. They place each individual on unpaid suspension and recommend termination.
Pat Shipe, president of the Akron Education Association, said the union will meet with its three members to review their options and take further action in the next 10 days.
“Any employee of Akron Public Schools, whether in our bargaining unit or not, has the right to due process under disciplinary matters,” she said. “The three employees referenced in the resolutions the board passed last night are all members of AEA and now have 10 days to respond to the board how they wish to proceed.”
JROTC instructor allegedly struck cadet in throat
Timothy Patrick, a major and a senior marine instructor for East CLC’s JROTC program, struck a cadet in the throat, “causing him to turn red and cough” during an incident May 14, according to the board’s resolution passed Monday.
Patrick was speaking with two student cadets. One of the cadets said the other students were not following her directions and Patrick suggested she “engage in a physical altercation” with them to enforce her authority. He then struck the other student cadet in the room.
Both cadets described it as a punch to the throat. Patrick acknowledged he “made physical contact with the student’s neck.”
It is unclear whether Patrick was placed on administrative leave after the incident, nor is it clear whether his incident was reported to Akron Police.
Patrick served in the Marine Corps from 1995 to 2018. He started working at East CLC in 2019.
Teacher reportedly held ‘negative conversations,’ accumulated absences
Kouns, who has been with the district since 2014, allegedly had “negative conversations” with students about other students, coworkers and administrators from June 2024 to May 19, 2026, according to the board resolution. She also discussed opinions and allegations of staff misconduct with students, had conversations with students about their sexual behaviors that fell outside educational settings, and made a “racially offensive comment” toward a student.
She also accumulated 60 absences out of 79 scheduled work days from Aug. 18 to Dec. 12, 2025, the resolution said, and another 55 unexcused absences from Feb. 25 to May 19. She also failed to provide required medical documentation for the absences, according to the resolution.
Akron school board resolution says teacher interfered with state test
Sholer, first hired into the district for the 2021-22 school year, allegedly interfered with student testing during the Fourth Grade Ohio State Test administered April 21.
According to the district, Sholer reportedly gave students hints to indicate their answers were incorrect, helped some students respond to test questions, pointed to specific answers or errors in students’ work, wrote on a student’s paper about fractions, discussed test questions with students and reviewed a test for errors before it was submitted.
It is unclear if those test scores impacted any of the state report card data released on Tuesday.
Akron Public Schools did not respond to additional follow-up questions by deadline Tuesday.
