The Akron Board of Education appears to have mistakenly eliminated more than 100 administrators’ jobs across the public school district, an error its board members are expected to rectify during Friday evening’s special board meeting.
The jobs ranged from campus and academy principals to an assistant superintendent. In total, the vote impacted 112 jobs.
“I can confirm that the Board of Education did not intend to vote down the motion to renew the administrative staff contracts,” APS spokesperson Stacey Hodoh told Signal Akron in an email.
If the school board’s decision stands — worst-case scenario — the employees would be out of jobs on June 1. And the school district’s operations would be immediately impacted — even during summer months.
Why did it happen?
“There was a misunderstanding among board members regarding the motion itself and the implications of the vote,” Hodoh added.
Board President Carla Jackson also expects the school board to revote to approve the administrators’ contracts on Friday. Jackson said doing so will buy time to further review administrative staffing levels.
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Why is this important right now?
Akron Public Schools, now under the leadership of Superintendent Mary Outley, continues to make staffing cuts across various departments in hopes of avoiding running a budget deficit in coming years.
How Akron school board members voted Tuesday
Jackson was one of five board members to vote no; fellow board member Barbara Sykes abstained due to a conflict of interest. Board member Bruce Alexander was absent.
“The impression was their contracts would automatically renew,”Jackson explained to Signal Akron.
Planned protest votes go awry
Two members, Gregory Harrison and Rene Molenaur, planned to vote against the motion as a form of protest.
“I was going to vote no anyways, due to legal reasons,” Harrison told Signal Akron.
The other three no votes were not planned.
Harrison took issue with the administration including 112 names for approval at once instead of going through each position individually.
Molenaur told Signal Akron she had an issue similar to Harrison’s. It was about the process. She does not plan on attending Friday’s special meeting due to a scheduling conflict.
“It is particularly troubling that classroom positions directly impacting student learning are being cut instead of administrative roles at 10 N. Main [district headquarters] sending the wrong message about our priorities,” she said Tuesday night.
