New allegations of hostile behavior exhibited toward colleagues by Akron Public Schools Superintendent Michael Robinson are being raised by the district’s retired communications director, Mark Williamson.
In a Dec. 5 letter to members of the Board of Education, Williamson said, “I found myself repeatedly in meetings where, after speaking the truth, I would be accused of lying, planting anti-APS stories in the media and not knowing ‘“how to do (my) damned job.’ There were always plenty of witnesses to these episodes.”
In October of 2023, Williamson said he and another manager were called out of a large meeting by Robinson to ”loudly chastise us for something that displeased him. The door to the meeting room was open, people on two floors heard him. He spent 15 minutes yelling at us, much to the discomfort of many others.”
Williamson said more than a dozen future meetings in Robinson’s office followed the same pattern, where Robinson would raise his voice enough ”to cause his outer office staff to leave the area and move down a hallway.” Yamini Adkins, the district’s director of human capital, and Mike Defibaugh, its labor relations director, who were identified by title but not named in the letter, “were in nearly every single one of these sessions,” Williamson said. He said they expressed shock at the way Robinson spoke to him.
“I believe his very public displays of displeasure with me were done to shame, denigrate and prove his ‘tough-guy’ leadership style,” Williamson wrote.
“I’m not in line for martyrdom, I’m merely trying to detail events I found unprofessional, hostile and disturbing to me and others,” he said. “It’s my belief that our kids, families and employees deserve better.”
In another anecdote, Williamson said “a prominent and respected member of our community” who was waiting to meet with the superintendent heard an “especially virulent” exchange between the two men. When Williamson left the superintendent’s office, the gentleman said, “No one is allowed to speak to anyone that way.”
In a January 2024 meeting, Williamson said the superintendent referred twice to the education reporters for the Akron Beacon Journal and Signal Akron, who were not present, as “hos,” a derogatory term used toward women.
“He did this twice and in the presence of a number of women including our HR director,” Williamson said.
Robinson: Accusations are ‘not accurate and quite disturbing’
In an emailed statement from APS’ strategic communications director, Robinson said he was only recently made aware of Williamson’s allegations against him, calling them “not accurate and quite disturbing.”
“I believe in the importance of a respectful and inclusive environment for all community members in our district – including members of the media,” Robinson said in his statement. “… I want to be clear, I categorically deny using the derogatory language that was referenced.”
Similarly, Angela Carter, Robinson’s chief of staff, said in the statement that she “never observed or heard anyone mention that Dr. Robinson or any APS department head for that matter, has used derogatory language.” Carter was not mentioned in Williamson’s letter.
Al Jones, director of school security, said in the release that he never witnessed Robinson using derogatory language.
The emailed statement did not address questions Signal Akron asked about the allegations that Robinson repeatedly shouted at staff in front of others; it instead addressed the derogatory language he is accused of using.
New allegations follow previous complaints about superintendent’s treatment of colleagues
The allegations raised by Williamson mirror previous allegations by other district officials and employees that the superintendent has created a hostile work environment and bullies employees and at least one board member.
In November, Director of Facilities Steve Keenan wrote a letter to Akron Board of Education President Diana Autry that included allegations the superintendent subjected employees to “ridicule, demeaning behavior, and beratement.”
Keenan has been sidelined in the day-to-day operations of the district. He has maintained his title but was moved to the Business Affairs department, where he will oversee the district’s multiple construction projects. He no longer has employees reporting to him.
Keenan wrote his letter to Autry after he said he raised concerns with the superintendent about Robinson’s plans to restructure the Facilities Services department. Keenan said his concerns were met with anger and vitriol by the superintendent.
“My reservations were met with swift rebuke, including reiterated statements such as, ‘You know that I am the Superintendent, and I am the one that makes these decisions,’ and ‘You understand that this is my authority, and I am the Superintendent,” Keenan wrote.
“I was treated as though I had purposefully challenged Dr. Robinson’s authority and needed to be reminded of my place,” Keenan wrote.
Prior to Keenan’s letter, Robinson was accused by Rene Molenaur, an elected board member, of bullying. In an eight-page July letter to her board colleagues, Molenaur outlined a pattern of behavior that she said was abrasive and unprofessional and threatened to lead the district in a “dangerous direction.”
Molenaur alleged that Robinson called her a “headache” and threatened to take legal action by filing a grievance, lawsuit, and ethics violation against her. She accused Robinson of bullying her several times, culminating in an incident where she said Robinson was screaming at her during a virtual meeting in March, loud enough for some within earshot to privately message her to make sure she was OK.
According to Molenaur’s letter, Robinson told her: “You think that I’m stupid and you’re trying to play me and that’s not going to happen. And if you think that I’m that dumb then I feel sorry for you because you can sit there and play games all you want to, but I can tell you this much, if you come for me, I’m not going to take it lying down.”
Board to hire outside firm, investigate Robinson, other administrators
The Board of Education decided Dec. 19, after hours spent in three separate executive sessions, to hire an outside firm to investigate Robinson and other unidentified administrators.
The news marked the first time the district acknowledged “personnel-related issues” pertaining to Robinson that the board discussed during several lengthy executive sessions.
The focus of the investigation is unknown. Also, the name of the firm, and its area of expertise, was not included in the Dec. 19 press release. Robinson will continue in his role as superintendent while the investigation is conducted.
“It is the Board’s responsibility to take any allegations seriously,” according to the school board’s press release. “The independent firm will commence this review promptly and the Board will make its findings public upon completion.”
“The questions before the board are: How much bullying should we tolerate in the school system and what would we expect a teacher to do to a student who uses sexist and misogynistic slurs against a student or staff member?” said Don Malarcik, an attorney representing the Akron Education Association, the teachers’ union. “Akron students deserve a better role model.”
Board President Autry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Williamson, a long-time Akron-area media professional, worked as the spokesperson for Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic before moving to the Akron schools in 2013. He retired from the district Oct. 31.