'We have much to do': Derrick Hall, Diana Autry to lead Akron Public Schools board

The Akron Public Schools Board of Education has new leadership.

The board on Monday voted for Derrick Hall and Diana Autry to serve as president and vice president, respectively.

Hall served the last two years as vice president, with N.J. Akbar as president. Akbar said previously he would not seek a third term in leadership.

"I want to thank my board colleagues for their faith and trust," Hall said in remarks after taking the oath of office. "I appreciate each of you and the variety of strengths and talents each of you bring to this organization. I will work hard as I do not want to let you down.

"And as a quick aside, I already have some ideas for how we can shorten our at times lengthy board meetings. You can laugh, that's OK."

He later followed through on his first idea: board member comments during the community and school reflections portion of the agenda will now be limited to three minutes each.

"I'll start by saying, that's an interesting request from you," Akbar said, laughing. "But since I'm no longer in that seat I'll honor that request."

The change in leadership came the same night the board unanimously approved a three-year contract with the Akron Education Association, representing more than 2,700 teachers in the district. The union is expected to vote on the tentative agreement Tuesday night.

Hall said the board will continue to work closely with the AEA, particularly as it relates to issues of school safety, which the union was publicly vocal about during the negotiation process.

"Signatures on a contract do not make all of our challenges go away," Hall said. "Rather, our agreement represents unity in how we proceed forward together."

Hall has been one of three voices of dissent on the board, pushing back against Superintendent Christine Fowler Mack and levying strong criticism of her in her first evaluation. The board is in the process of finalizing Fowler Mack's second evaluation. Hall has also voted against several requests from the administration to spend its federal stimulus dollars, asking for more transparency in the process and what spending and initiatives the district plans to keep after those dollars expire.

Derrick Hall takes stance:Two APS board members are now voting against spending stimulus dollars. One explains why.

Both Hall and Autry joined the board in January 2020, just before the start of the pandemic. The board as a whole has just one member, Bruce Alexander, with at least a full term of experience. Hall, Autry, Akbar and Valerie McKitrick all are in their fourth year on the board. Carla Jackson and Job Esau Perry joined last year.

Hall said in remarks he had enjoyed working with Autry on the board the last three years.

"I am very excited for our partnership," Hall said. "We have much to do."

Hall is a lawyer and works in health care administration. Autry is a registered nurse and served as the head of the Buchtel Parent Teacher Association before joining and while serving on the school board.

"When I think about my background and how I got here, I just want to encourage folks to take advantage of their parent groups, their PTAs," Autry said.

Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Public Schools board selects Derrick Hall, Diana Autry as new leaders