AKRON, Ohio —
The Akron Education Association (AEA) says it will move forward with a lawsuit against the Akron Public Schools Board of Education, alleging it altered public record.
The teachers union claims video from the Jan. 8 Board meeting was illegally edited to cut out board member Dr. Rene Molenaur's comments. Molenaur can be heard voicing concern about a contract for outsourcing a tutoring company called Varsity Tutors after the board returned from discussing the action in executive session, but then the video appears to jump straight to the vote.
"The district has said that it was a buffering issue," AEA President Pat Shipe told 3News. "They have been posting and live streaming their videos since 2020; there have never, ever been any substantial issues with buffering."
Shipe also claims that was the only glitch in the over two-hour video of the meeting.
"We believe that this lawsuit will force the Board and the superintendent to be as transparent and honest and deal with integrity as they claim they are," Shipe added.
Watch the moment from Jan. 8 in the video below:
In regard to Varsity Tutors, Shipe says the attempt to outsource educator jobs violates the AEA's collective bargaining agreement, reached last year to avert a potential strike. The union also filed a grievance and an Unfair Labor Practice claim.
The Board has since rescinded the Varsity Tutors contract, but multiple teachers still voiced their frustrations at Monday night's meeting.
"Through your own actions, this Board and Superintendent [Dr. C. Michael Robinson Jr.] have sent a clear message to the public that teachers are easily replaced by unqualified outsiders," one teacher said at Monday's meeting. "Simply put, you believe teachers are expendable."
On the other side, former Akron Board of Education member Rev. Dr. Curtis Walker spoke out against the teachers and the AEA lawsuit.
"I'm very disappointed that the Akron Education Association, AEA, its officers have put the Board in such a difficult situation by their failure to cooperate and to negotiate and to work together to resolve the issue before us," Walker opined.
Walker shared his support for Varsity Tutors, offering the personal experience of his granddaughter.
"I have a Varsity Tutor, and for the leadership of AEA to say that the people who are in that training who teach our students don't know them, don't love them, don't care for them, don't work in this community, is false," he said.
An APS spokesperson told 3News they are unable to comment at this time due to the pending litigation.