Director of Ohio’s teachers' pension fund placed on leave by board members

The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio voted on Friday to place the pension fund's director on administrative leave and begin an investigation.

Bill Neville, who could not be reached for comment, has run the pension fund since July 2020.

A spokesman for the pension system issued a written statement on behalf of STRS Board Chairman Dale Price, which said, in part, that an outside third party has begun investigating Neville for personnel related matters.

An anonymous letter purporting to be from STRS staff alleged that Neville has been verbally abusive toward staff and prone to violent outbursts, according to a report from NBC4, a television station in Columbus.

“Any allegation of misconduct of this nature is troubling,” said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in a written statement. “Half a million teachers and retirees rely upon the fiducial trust of STRS, which compounds my concern. I have appointed outside counsel to conduct a thorough, independent investigation of these allegations.”

STRS is the fifth largest public teacher pension system in the U.S. and is governed by an 11-member board that is a combination of elected and appointed people. It serves 528,000 teachers and retirees. It has roughly $90 billion in investments.

Lynn Hoover, the pension fund's chief financial officer, will serve as interim director.

STRS has been under pressure from retirees who have been angry over the cuts to the cost of living adjustments, a perceived lack of transparency and the payment of bonuses to pension investment staff.

A faction of reformers on the board have failed to take over a majority of seats. Some of the reformers have called for Neville's replacement.

Nevill's annual salary is $318,270.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: STRS Ohio pension director placed on administrative leave