A dispute between the leadership of the Akron Public Schools and its teachers’ union that erupted over a school board vote to hire private tutors has become increasingly contentious.
Akron Education Association President Pat Shipe on Thursday filed a grievance on behalf of all union members, claiming that a Jan. 8 school board vote to hire tutors should have been subject to the district’s collective bargaining agreement.
The filing comes after Shipe and APS Superintendent Michael Robinson traded letters in which each accused the other of misconduct. Shipe, on Tuesday, sent a letter to members calling the vote “incredibly alarming.” She also accused the Board of Education of illegally discussing the tutoring program in executive session and said the district had altered video of discussion surrounding the vote.
In response, Robinson sent a Wednesday letter to Shipe saying her “pattern of conduct has continued to be accusatory and combative towards members of my administration.” He called her accusation that the video had been altered “both reckless and inaccurate.”
Shipe said Thursday that after Robinson sent the letter, he canceled six months’ worth of meetings with her. She also said he was, “diverting attention away from very serious matters,” like the board’s 6-1 vote to hire tutors, by releasing his letter to the press.
Robinson, through a spokesperson, did not respond to multiple requests from Signal Akron for comment about the disagreements.
In addition to filing a grievance with the district, Shipe said she would be filing an unfair labor practice complaint with the State Employment Relations Board. And she said she intends to ask the Summit County Court of Common Pleas for an injunction to keep the tutoring program from moving forward.
“We believe the issues that we’re raising are absolutely credible and have been substantiated,” Shipe said. “As with anything, grievances and unfair labor practices can be settled at any time. I find it even more concerning that rather than be open in that discussion, they’ve chosen to cut off all lines of communication.”
Mark Williamson, a district spokesperson, said in an email that Robinson canceled his meetings with Shipe because a new labor relations director, Michael Defibaugh, will begin with the district Jan. 29. He will “more appropriately” guide the meetings, Williamson said. He added that Robinson is “more than happy to meet with any of our union leaders whenever asked.”
Shipe, meanwhile, said she’s not sure how to communicate with the superintendent when he has “cut off all” avenues for doing so.
“Our hope is that once his anger settles down, he reflects on the position he’s put himself and the board in,” she said. “We will always be open to reestablishing communication.”
Varsity Tutors
The grant that led to the clash is for a $156,000 tutoring program that pays for 2,400 hour-long sessions with Akron Public Schools students through the end of June. A Missouri company, Varsity Tutors for Schools, will provide the tutors. The contract will be paid for by the Ohio Department of Education.
In a Tuesday missive to members, Shipe described the tutoring program as “one of the most disturbing assaults on our collective bargaining agreement and workplace conditions we have seen in the recent past.” She said the plan threatens members’ jobs, undermines the contract the school board agreed to, and “greatly damages and further erodes the trust and transparency which we have attempted to maintain in good faith” with the administration.
“Strong language is required for a very serious, serious concern,” she said, saying that her letter to members was not inflammatory. “We have a right, a duty, to ask questions and demand transparency.”
Diana Autry, the president of the board of education, said the tutoring program was privately discussed by board members in executive session before a public vote because there were legal questions, though she declined to give specifics.
She said the program will help students who were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic recover from learning loss. The way the board conducted the vote, she said, was “not out of order in any way.”
Shipe also contended in her letter that two previous attempts to vote on the tutoring program didn’t happen because the board thought it was illegal, a stance Autry disputed. She said she was disappointed to see Shipe speaking for the board without authorization to do so.
“I respect her role, but we are not at war with the teachers,” Autry said. “This does not have to be contentious. We are all on the same team.”
Don Malarcik, an attorney representing the union, said it’s rare that grievances go to arbitration, but given the heated nature of the dispute, he expects this one will. His and the union’s concern, he said, centers on the decision to hire people outside of the contract to do the work of teaching students. He said a private tutoring company isn’t held to the same standards as employees are.
“The obligations of both parties don’t end at 3 o’clock, when the dismissal bell rings,” Malarcik said.
He said he expects high union turnout at the next scheduled board meeting, on Monday, including from other unions he expects to come out in full force who are “just as concerned as we are.” Malarcik said other groups, in addition to teachers, worry that their work could be directed to private companies if the program is allowed.
The district contends that because teachers can apply for the private positions, and tutoring is planned for after-school hours, it doesn’t affect the teachers’ work day. Additionally, Robinson wrote, there are about 70 unfilled tutor positions currently in the district. And acceptance of the state grant requires partnering with a provider from its list. He said it was not a district initiative.
“No teachers are harmed by this grant,” Robinson wrote.
Autry said staffers would have the first opportunity to apply for the positions.
‘Important work to do’
Malarcik said he plans to ask for an injunction next week to stop the tutoring program from moving forward. The request hinges on two things: the reason the board went into executive session and what Malarcik said he believes was an intentional alteration of the video recording of the meeting during the period when the vote was discussed.
In the recording, time is missing during a period when board member Rene Molenaur is beginning to explain why she voted against the tutoring program. A jump in the recording cuts off her comment and resumes while the vote is being taken.
“When you edit, destroy, conceal or alter a government document, that’s a crime,” Malarcik said. “That 40 seconds is gone. That’s a problem.”
He said he didn’t have evidence that the recording had been edited, but it was “not credible” to think that the only error in the taping was during the discussion for the Varsity Tutors item.
“It’s too much to believe,” he said. “It’s obviously edited.”
Robinson, in his letter, called the accusation one of many misleading statements Shipe put out.
Autry said she supported Robinson’s decision to correct Shipe’s inaccuracies in his response.
“I don’t think he could have done anything differently,” she said. “I think he responded appropriately.”
For her part, Autry said she didn’t want to further escalate the disagreement. She said she hoped to have a good working relationship with Shipe and the board, but that relationship building would take time.
“I’m definitely concerned about our children and the example that we’re setting for them,” Autry said. “I have zero interest in a back-and-forth type reality show situation, because we have important work to do.”
