by Ellin Walsh
Reporter
Cuyahoga Falls -- In the wake of controversy over the School Board's inability to agree on the superintendent's evaluation, a citizen demanded that member Barbara Gunter resign.
"I'm not resigning," Gunter told the Cuyahoga Falls News-Press April 19. "I didn't do anything wrong."
Board members were unable to reach a consensus on whether a composite evaluation of Dr. Edwin Holland -- compiled from each Board member's individual written comments -- accurately represented the majority opinion of the superintendent's job performance, and they voted to dispose of the evaluation forms.
At the Board's April 18 meeting, former School Board candidate and district resident Jon Turney said Gunter gave Holland the lowest marks of any of the five Board members. He noted that in September 2006, the Board approved a multi-year contract for Holland running from Aug. 1, 2007 through July 31, 2011.
"The public deserves an explanation as to why [Gunter] voted 'yes' to approve a contract worth close to a half a million dollars to a man that [she gave low marks to]," Turney said, referring to a 3.3 percent salary increase effective Aug. 1, 2006 which raised his salary to $108,622 per year.
"I think that the community deserves some very direct answers from the Board and specifically one Board member for ... her evaluation of Dr. Holland," he said.
Gunter told the Falls News-Press the superintendent thanked her for her input regarding his evaluation, adding the "strained relationship" between the Board and superintendent is common knowledge.
"I'm receiving pats on the back [as well as criticism from the community]," Gunter reported, maintaining she had evaluated the superintendent as Board president Curt Grimes had instructed her to. "I will proudly sit on the Cuyahoga Falls City School District Board of Education until 2010."
The next regularly scheduled Board of Education Meeting will be May 2 at 7 p.m. in the Board Room of the Harold E. Wilson Administrative Center, 431 Stow Ave. This will be a Board work session only. The following meeting will be conducted May 16 in the Board Room at 7 p.m.
E-mail: ewalsh@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-686-3908