Secrecy surrounds $100,000 settlement
With a little more than six weeks left on her contract, the Reynoldsburg Board of Education approved a legal settlement making Superintendent Tina Thomas-Manning an education consultant from her home office for a full year for $100,000 plus benefits. In return, she agreed not to sue the district.
And even though they publicly voted 3- 2 last Wednesday to approve the deal, the board members did not share publicly what they were voting for, calling it simply “the agreement with Ms. Tina Thomas-Manning as presented.” They did this after emerging from a private session. The two opposed to the deal were board President Joe Begeny and member Elaine Tornero.
This latest action caps a year and a half of acrimony between Thomas-Manning and the board. Four of the five members declined to renew her contract in September. In April, the board selected Melvin Brown, the current deputy superintendent of Cuyahoga Falls City School District in Summit County, to replace her.
Both sides took the step to “avoid the time, expense, and distraction of protracted disputes and litigation,” according to a written statement the district released Monday afternoon. “This agreement will allow both Ms. Thomas-Manning and the Reynoldsburg City Schools to move forward.”
Under its terms, as of June 12, Thomas-Manning is no longer reporting to her district office but will be available by phone and email for other administrators to approve board agenda items until her contract runs out on July 31.
The board will rescind its nonrenewal of her contract and she will officially resign effective July 31. Then she begins her fulltime consulting work from home, using a districtissued laptop, monitor and iPad. She can submit vehicle mileage for reimbursement and the district will pay for 20 days of vacation, health insurance and her entire share of her retirement contribution to the State Teachers Retirement Fund.
Thomas-Manning agrees to do her best to find other employment, using a letter
of reference that Begeny wrote for her, but if she can’t find a position by Aug. 1, 2018, she can apply for a year of unpaid leave of absence. After another year, if she’s still searching for work, Thomas-Manning can request to return to the district as a teacher.
In exchange, ThomasManning agrees not to sue. She also agrees not to seek election to the school board or any position of authority with the Reynoldsburg teachers union.
Before the document was released on Monday afternoon, board member Tornero said she wished she could say what the vote was about and what the agreement contained. However, she said the district’s legal counsel, Bricker & Eckler, “really pushed the fact that we aren’t supposed to talk,” and that all questions were to be directed to the central office.
“What is the point in publicly voting on it, if ( members of the public) don’t even know what you’re voting on?” Tornero said.
The settlement further states, under the heading “MEDIA COMMENT REGARDING THIS AGREEMENT,” that: “The Parties will not comment on this Settlement Agreement unless required by law to do so, and instead will present to the media and any media representative the Joint Statement attached as Exhibit B.”
After the mystery vote was taken last Wednesday, Tornero asked to read a letter from Thomas-Manning.
In it, she announced that she intends to set up a $50,000 education fund, the Tina Thomas-Manning Education Foundation, for the students of Reynoldsburg schools.