New Whitehall school board member plans to revisit superintendent contract Jan. 11
The newest member of the Whitehall school board hopes to reverse the board's decision last month to end Superintendent Sharee Wells employment at the end of this school year.
On Dec. 14, the board voted 3-2 not to extend the contract with Wells, who was hired in 2021 and has a two-year contract that expires on July 31, 2024. Newly elected board member Lorena Lacey said that the superintendent's contract was not on the original agenda and the vote was taken after returning from an executive session.
The agenda said that the executive session was being held "for the purpose of considering the employment and/or dismissal of a public employee."
The board came out of executive session, voted to place Wells' contract on the agenda, then voted not to extend it, Lacey said.
Lacey said that she plans on bringing up Wells' contract when she joins the board at its organizational and regular meeting on Thursday, Jan. 11.
"My intention is to revisit that Dec. 14 decision," Lacey said.
Board members Michael Adkins, Zach Wright and Jeff Lees voted not to extend her contract, Lacey said. Lacey is replacing Lees on the five-member board.
Meanwhile, a group called Open Government Advocates sued the Whitehall school board on Dec. 28 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, claiming the school board did not post notices for 19 special meetings in 2022 and 2023.
The lawsuit claims that during these meetings the board took action and entered contracts illegally, and that any actions taken duing those meetings were invalid.
The plaintiffs want the court to order the board to comply with the state's Open Meetings Act, and an order invalidating unlawful acts, along with costs and expenses.
The lawsuit does not mention anything specifically about the school superintendent vote.
Brian Ames, who lives in Portage County in northeast Ohio, is behind Open Government Advocates, and is no stranger to filing these suits, including one against the Columbus school board in March 2023 over its use of a consent agenda that requires no readings of resolutions before they are voted on.
Ames, whom some local governments have called an open records "bounty hunter," said that the superintendent vote meeting date wasn't included in the lawsuit because it came late in the process. He said about 15 similar suits are pending around the state.
"What we’re doing is a survey of all the schools around the state, picking out worst offenders," Ames said. "Anyone who looks like they have not followed the law, we're going to come to them sooner or later. They're cheating the public out of the right to know."
Erin Krumm Meyers, an Avon Lake-based lawyer for Ames' group, said that while the Whitehall complaint does not reference the superintendent decision, she said it’s very apparent the district's school board is engaging in habitual violations of the Open Meetings Act.
Lacey said that she also is concerned about the Whitehall board's lack of transparency.
Brian Seymour, Whitehall assistant superintendent, said in an email that the district has no comment on the issue.
Asked if any vote on the superintendent's future was taken in executive session, Seymour said in an email, "The vote was not taken in executive session. The vote was taken outside of the executive session once the Board of Education reconvened the meeting."
Wells had been assistant superintendent of Hilliard City Schools before becoming superintendent at Whitehall. She succeeded Wade Lucas, who became interim superintendent after Brian Hamler died in June 2021 of a lung illness. Hamler had led the district since 2013.
The Whitehall School Board will holds its organizational meeting, tax budget hearing and regular meeting meet at 5:30 pm. Thursday, Jan. 11, at the high school auditorium, 625 S. Yearling Road
mferench@dispatch.com
@MarkFerenchik
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Whitehall school board member plans to discuss superintendent contract
