The superintendent of Akron Public Schools pushed back Thursday on a report that he was dishonest about his resumé when he applied for the job last year.
In an article Wednesday, the Akron Beacon Journal reported that Superintendent Michael Robinson had two versions of his resumé, both of which listed him as a senior executive of a consulting firm, though he never received a paycheck from that firm. One version states Robinson worked for a second company as a senior associate, though he was not paid to work there either, the story said. On both resumés, the jobs began in November 2018 and continued until at least 2020.
Signal Akron reported previously that Robinson did not get paid for his work at Burns/Van Fleet, a consulting firm where he was listed as a senior executive. On his resumé, Robinson said he assisted with superintendent coaching and support, performance audits and transition reports while at the firm.
In a statement, Robinson said the Akron Education Association’s focus on his credentials in a deposition regarding a lawsuit the group filed about a video of a school board meeting the AEA claims the district edited “is nothing more than an attempt at distraction and misdirection away from its dismissal of its frivolous litigation against the Board of Education” related to the video.
“AEA’s baseless conspiracy theories — whether about the livestreaming of Board meetings or my resume — serve to do nothing more than waste time and energy, when we all instead should be laser-focused on how to improve the social and educational achievements of our scholars,” he wrote.
Don Malarcik, an attorney representing the teachers union, framed queries about the resumés as a matter of Robinson’s credibility, which he said was central to the lawsuit.
“The resumé he submitted to Akron Public Schools is not accurate; it’s fake,” Malarcik said. “He claimed to work for three years on multiple projects, with multiple people, very closely. We know that is an absolute lie. It’s not true.”
Malarcik added that Robinson has “failed by example.”
“What’s concerning is he still isn’t being honest and transparent with the public,” he said.
Robinson: Consulted to build connections, learn from CEO
Stuart Berger, the CEO of Burns/Van Fleet, completed a transition report for Akron Public Schools this spring. When asked whether there was a conflict with the district hiring him because Robinson had previously worked there, Berger said Robinson was a consultant for the firm, but the right project for him never came about.
While Robinson may have contributed to the firm, Berger said, he didn’t consider Robinson an employee.
“I know he was never paid,” Berger said in May.
In a statement Thursday, Robinson said from 2018 to 2021 he engaged in “sporadic” consulting work with Burns/Van Fleet and BRP Associates, the firm where his resumé lists him as a senior associate. He did so, he said, with the intent to build his connections in the education industry and to learn from Berger and others.
His resumé says the work he did for BRP included developing, implementing and providing leadership development training for principals; providing feedback and coaching for principals; and supporting principals around culture and climate, instructional leadership and school management.
“Because of the minor amount of work I performed for BRP, I chose not to include them on my resume submitted to Akron,” the superintendent wrote. “Further, given the limited work I performed with Burns/Van Fleet, the difference between the dates listed for such work on my resume was immaterial and irrelevant, and of no consequence to the important work today of Akron Public Schools.”
Approached Thursday at a Press Club event, Robinson said he had nothing to add to his statement.
“I’m not answering any questions, period,” he said.
School board member: ‘None of that has anything to do with training our children’
Robinson’s resumé became the focus of a deposition the Akron Education Association conducted in a lawsuit related to accusations the school district edited the live-streamed video of a public meeting. The AEA withdrew the lawsuit this week, saying that it wanted more time to investigate issues related to Robinson’s resumé and intended to refile the suit within a year.
In the deposition, Robinson was asked about discrepancies between the two copies of his resumé. Malarcik said his questions came after Robinson attacked the AEA in a speech at a church, accusing the union of being the devil, and attacked the union’s credibility by questioning the merits of the lawsuit.
The resumé issue, he said, goes to Robinson’s credibility.
Barbara Sykes, a member of the school board, said she was bothered that the deposition, which was related to the video-editing accusation, delved into an unrelated topic. She called concern about the fact that Robinson wasn’t paid for the work “bullshit,” saying in her former role as president and CEO of Ohio United Way, she often relied on volunteers for high-level work.
“That is not unusual that a person will say, ‘I will take my professional expertise and go volunteer, go help,’” she said. “If that’s how the superintendent chose to spend his time, to say, ‘I’m willing to volunteer to get the educational expertise and so that I can fill in my time while I’m waiting to get another job,’ I have no problem with that.”
The school board president, Diana Autry, did not respond to a phone call seeking comment. Sykes echoed Robinson’s statement, saying the issue of his resumé was a distraction from focusing on the educational needs of the children in the school district.
“Whether or not the superintendent lumped in his time on his resumé or not, none of that has anything to do with training our children,” Sykes said. “That’s what concerns me. That’s why I’m on this board.”
