Embroiled in controversy, Akron school board rescinds Varsity Tutors contract

In a 5-0 vote, Akron school board members voted Thursday evening to rescind a state-funded tutoring contract that is the focus of an unfair labor practice charge filed by the Akron Education Association.

Board members Rene Molenaur, Barbara Sykes, Bruce Alexander, Carla Jackson and Diana Autry voted to rescind the contract at the special meeting. Summer Hall and Job Perry were absent.

Varsity Tutors: Akron school board goes forward with Varsity Tutors contract despite union opposition

The vote followed a 40-minute executive session to discuss the Varsity Tutors contract, which would have used $156,000 of state funds. It allowed for 2,400 one-on-one 60-minute tutoring sessions for fourth graders who did not get a promotion score on the third grade Ohio State Test.

Varsity Tutors previously told the board it had until Feb. 1 to sign the contract or the Ohio Department of Education would request that the company reallocate its tutoring seats to another school district, said Superintendent Michael Robinson.

The district argued it would have benefitted students and could have helped fill some of the 70 vacant tutoring positions in APS, most of which are school-day positions during class time. Although Varsity Tutors could pull in tutors from outside the school district, Robinson asked them to prioritize the hiring of APS teachers and tutors for after-school positions.

"This was an incredible opportunity for our scholars," Robinson said. "Unfortunately, we are not able to proceed with this program."

Union members, including AEA President Pat Shipe, said the contract would outsource tutor jobs that could be filled by APS teachers to a private, for-profit company. Among her concerns are the quality of the instruction students would receive from Varsity Tutors.

"Hiring out-of-state, unqualified, and remote strangers to instruct our students should never have happened in the first place," Shipe said in a union news release.

'We support our students'

The Rev. Gregory Harrison of Antioch Baptist Church spoke in favor of the contract before the vote, asking the board to put the students first.

"A community can do two things at one time," Harrison said. "We can support teachers, and we can support our students. When we can't do both, it's clear we support our students.

"To allow yourself to be bullied, to allow the newspaper to say you are dysfunctional − everything is not up for a rubber stamp," he continued. "People are attacking the school board and the superintendent because they don't like what is happening."

Harrison told the board that many kids in Wards 3, 4 and 5 have reading levels lower than their grade, while Black students are more likely to be suspended than their white counterparts.

"Help them read," he said. "Are the students failing in school, or are the schools failing the students?"

After the meeting, Harrison said the decision to rescind the vote was disappointing.

Future of lawsuit against APS

Despite the vote, the union intends to pursue the ongoing lawsuit it filed last week.

Although the Varsity Tutor-related portions will be dismissed, AEA Attorney Don Malarcik said the union will continue to sue over the missing 40 seconds from the record Jan. 8 meeting.

"The board's action tonight was a step in the right direction toward transparency and accountability," Malarcik said after the special meeting. "I hope the board and superintendent realize now that collaboration and communication is much better than litigation."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron school board rescinds Varsity Tutors contract amid union lawsuit