Members of the Lorain Board of Education were presented with two potential paths to remove the district’s CEO earlier this week, but the head of Lorain’s schools says he doesn’t report to the board and doesn’t plan to attend its future meetings.
A gubernatorial candidate presented members of the board with the legal options to eliminate CEO David Hardy Jr.
Hardy was hired by an Academic Distress Commission to turnaround the failing district last year and, as prescribed by state law, took over almost all of the local board’s responsibilities.
During his monthly town hall meeting Thursday, Hardy did not address the discussion of legal action, but said he’s invited board members to talk about his plans for the district on several occasions, but didn’t receive a response.
“I think there are fantastic individuals on the school board who care deeply about their city. I think the challenges tend to be more adult issues than kid issues and as you can see by things I tend to focus on, when they’re not about kids I don’t pay attention.”
A lawsuit filed by the Youngstown Board of Education challenging its Academic Distress Commission and CEO system was thrown out by an Ohio judge last year. Three members of that commission abruptly quit earlier this month and the CEO is a candidate for a school district in Colorado.
