More than 16 people at North High School were paid more than $76,000 during the 2022-2023 school year, mostly for coaching positions. This includes former Athletic Director Carrie Stewart, who recommended herself to coach freshman girls soccer and freshman girls wrestling.
Stewart was also paid to advise the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society and a new Board Games Club.
What’s uncertain after a lengthy investigation commissioned by Akron Public Schools is whether employees hired for at least 18 supplemental contracts showed up to mentor students. It’s also unclear, based on the report, who was responsible for ensuring employees fulfill their contractual obligations.
North baseball coach Jason Halverson pushed back on the investigation’s findings, which concluded administrators did not observe his son, Jonathan Halverson, at practices prior to the cancellation of the 2023-23 season.
“Jonathan was with me and the other assistant coach every day until the season was cancelled,” Jason Halverson told Signal Akron over email.
“There was never an administrative presence in the gym before, during, or after practice, so it is no surprise that none of them would recognize that he was there.”
The investigation into coaching contracts, which concluded in October, relied on administrators’ observations to determine whether coaches attended meetings, practices and events. Administrators did not observe coaches for baseball, boys basketball, girls softball, track and an assistant director for marching band performing their duties at practices or games.
APS Coordinator of Athletics Joe Vassalotti told investigators that it is not the responsibility of athletic directors to ensure supplemental contracts they recommend are carried out.
The report noted that “oversight for supplemental contracts at the building level should be reviewed.”
Spokesperson Stacey Hodoh declined to make North High School or district-level administrators available for interviews, and did not respond to multiple emails inquiring if head coaches or principals are tasked with making sure assistant coaches, an assistant band director and club advisers fulfill job duties.
The supplemental contracts probe followed an initial investigation into unauthorized cameras Stewart installed in her office — that investigation ended in July.
Stewart, who resigned from her athletic director position on Jan. 15, did not return messages seeking comment. But Don Malarcik, an attorney with the Akron Education Association, said he felt Stewart would have been eventually vindicated, “yet I certainly understood her desire to move on and avoid years of litigation.”
Daughters’ coaching contracts spark additional investigation into Stewart
Stewart recommended coaching contracts for her two daughters, including Erika Johnson, who was paid $3,497 to coach North’s freshman boys volleyball team.
The contract prompted then-principal Kathryn Rodocker to scrutinize other supplemental coaching contracts sent to the Board of Education for approval, leading to the investigation.
“No North administrator saw Erika Johnson at any volleyball games or practices,” the report states.
Erika Johnson did not respond to a request for comment from Signal Akron sent over Facebook.
“Stewart violated APS Policy by recommending herself and her daughters for supplemental contracts,” the supplemental report states. “Doing so raises a ‘reasonable question of conflict’ with her duties and responsibilities as Athletic Director…”
Report questions if Stewart fulfilled advising duties for North’s National Honor Society
The report also raises questions about Stewart serving as an adviser for North’s National Honor Society and a new Board Games Club. Rodocker recommended Stewart lead the National Honor Society program during the 2022-2023 school year — since she was the adviser in years past.
Stewart was paid $1,849.
“There were no building permits for after school meetings, no announcements for meetings, no induction ceremony for NHS during the 2022-2023 school year,” the October report states. “A partner church that did projects around the school put up a NHS wall with pictures of the student members the year or two prior. It was not updated during the school year.”
Stewart also failed to recruit additional students to North’s National Honor Society. “We never held a ceremony, received a final list of NHS students or applied to be an official chapter of NHS,” the report states.
The Board Games Club at North was proposed by Stewart as an extended learning program. It had two paid moderators, Emily and Erika Johnson — Stewart’s daughters.
A roster for the club was requested by a North administrator, but none was provided. Administrators eventually secured a club roster, but students listed were involved in other activities that took place at the same dates and times as the Board Games Club, the report stated. Also, Rodocker and another administrator checked with the students about their involvement.
“None of the students listed on the roster had participated in the club during the 2022-2023 school year,” according to the report.
It’s unclear how much Stewart’s daughters were paid as Board Games Club advisers, but the report notes “hours were submitted” for them.
