Akron Public Schools superintendent candidate withdraws name from consideration

The pool of finalists for the Akron Public Schools superintendent job is down to three.

Nia Campbell removed her name from consideration, school board President Derrick Hall said Monday night.

Campbell, the chief of academics for Aurora Public Schools in Colorado, was one of four finalists the board named last week.

Hall did not say why Campbell withdrew her name from consideration, but it comes after the revelation that as a principal in Florida in 2019, she was investigated but not charged or disciplined for alleged battery of two students following a basketball game. She was also a finalist for a superintendent job in South Carolina, but it was not clear Monday if she had been or would be appointed to that job.

Two students at her Central Florida high school accused Campbell of battery, with one saying she pulled his hair and the other that she pushed him, after students stormed the court following their team's win. Police investigated, according to multiple news reports at the time and within the last few weeks and months as Campbell has been up for other jobs, and found enough evidence to charge her, but the students ultimately declined to prosecute.

The remaining superintendent candidates are Jermaine Dawson, Mary Outley and C. Michael Robinson.

Outley is currently serving as interim superintendent, and was previously the executive director of elementary education for Akron schools.

Dawson is the chief academic and accountability officer for Birmingham City Schools in Alabama.

Robinson currently serves a the chief academic officer for East Baton Rouge Parish School System in Louisiana.

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: APS superintendent candidate withdraws name from consideration