The Akron Board of Education on Tuesday evening voted 4-1 with two abstentions to place Superintendent Michael Robinson on administrative leave, one day after it received this investigative report examining allegations that he bullied, harassed and retaliated against district staff, creating a hostile work environment.

The 24-page report issued by the Brennan Manna Diamond (BMD) law firm and provided to school board members Monday detailed serious allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers by Robinson, hostility and threats toward perceived and real critics, insults made against students, public records law violations, and other damning allegations.

“The allegations of this behavior were substantiated by interviews with 16 current and former APS employees and supported by information from many witnesses,” said Board President Carla Jackson on Tuesday. “Much of Superintendent Robinson’s negative conduct is in clear violation of the APS Code of Conduct and is simply not acceptable conduct by a school official.”

The report was obtained through a public records request made by Signal Akron.

Signal background
sm_Fact Finding Report _Michael RobinsonDownload

Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.