Columbus school board members at odds over leaked task force document

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A leaked document allegedly written by a sole Columbus Board of Education member threw Tuesday's Board of Education meeting into disarray. Now, Columbus City Schools (CCS) and that member are saying conflicting things about the document titled "Taking Control of the Task Force Narrative." The CCS Superintendent's task force is looking [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A leaked document allegedly written by a sole Columbus Board of Education member threw Tuesday's Board of Education meeting into disarray.

Now, Columbus City Schools (CCS) and that member are saying conflicting things about the document titled "Taking Control of the Task Force Narrative."

The CCS Superintendent's task force is looking at which schools in the district should be closed, consolidated, or left as is.

The leaked 6-page document includes things like dividing the teacher union from other staff, moving meeting locations between the two at the last minute, and calling opponents of the school board "dangerous,” all in an attempt to control the narrative of what the task force is proposing.

The teachers’ union, the Columbus Education Association, said the document was given to a third party by a school board member and then to the union president. 

The document outlines ways to handle what and how the community hears about the task force.
The district said the document was written only by board member Brandon Simmons and that he was not asked to do so.

Simmons came out before the board meeting saying the opposite.

"I just want to reiterate that I, we are all, we are all collectively, because it was a true collaboration, we are all very sorry that this is the version of the document our community is seeing and our labor partners are seeing,” Simmons said. “We are all very sorry.”

Simmons would not answer questions following his statement. As the meeting started, he left after giving another statement. 

"I just, I want to emphasize that this absolutely was not the intended thing for the public to see and throughout the many meetings and collaboration efforts that we had about this document, you know, I'm very, very sorry that this is the version folks are seeing," he said. "We're very sorry and it's very regrettable that that's the version people are looking at. It was a collaboration. There is input from many, many different people and ideas from many, many different folks."

Board president Christina Vera also addressed the document at the start of the meeting, reading a statement that was also sent out by the district before the meeting. It reads: 

"A member of the Board of Education expressed personal opinions about how they thought the Community Facilities Task Force work should be communicated.

To be clear, the work of Task Force is directed by the Superintendent at the request of the Board of Education. Board members do not direct the Task Force, nor do they provide counsel or set procedures for the Task Force.

The Board Member was not asked to provide any recommendations and did so independently. The Board Member’s recommendations are solely their own and do not represent the perspectives of the Columbus City Schools or the entire Board of Education.

The Columbus City Schools Board of Education expects civility, respect, and the highest ethical standards in the important work on behalf of our students. No action has been or will be taken by the District or the Board of Education to implement the Board Member’s suggestions.

The Columbus City Schools Board of Education is focused on our students and committed to collaborating with families, students, teachers, staff, our community and all stakeholder groups in the students’ best interests." 

Vera identified Simmons as the board member she was speaking about while reading the statement at the meeting. 

Some of the recommendations in the documents include bringing in loud equipment during Columbus Education Association press conferences outside of the BOE building and encouraging a divide between the board, other staff and the teacher union. 

This has some community members shocked and many came out to make their voices heard at Tuesday's meeting.

"The things that were being said were just outrageous,” Indianola Informal Instructional Aid Catt Perry said. “I mean, this is to your own people. You know, we're all supposed to be on the same side.”

"I think we need to understand how the district is going to move forward off of this and come up with a viable plan and then communicate that plan out to the public, not behind closed doors," parent leader with All in For Ohio Kids Jason D. Marshall said.

Many community members are also asking for a pause on the task force, saying parents, teachers and community members have questions about the impact of school closures that are not being answered.

"As far as the school closures go, I don't think that it's sensible to say that we shouldn't have any at all, but I think that we really need to have a hard look at which schools need to be closed and the way that we're functioning as a district currently," Perry said. 

Multiple groups are calling for Simmons to resign including community members at the board meeting, the CEA and Columbus City Councilmember Rob Dorans. Simmons said he remains committed to the district. 

The leaked document can be read below.