Officials hint at possible communications

Dimacchia rips Town Hall as ‘sham’

It’s too soon to tell if 2019 might bring a thaw for the relations between the Lorain Schools board and CEO Hardy.

Four members of the Lorain City Schools Board of Education attended the Jan. 10 Town Hall meeting with the district’s chief executive officer.

However, it was too soon to tell if 2019 might bring a thaw for the chilly relations between the Lorain Schools board and CEO David Hardy Jr.

Board members Mark Ballard, Tony Dimacchia, Bill Sturgill and Timothy Williams attended the Town Hall held in a packed cafeteria at Longfellow Middle School.

It appeared to be the first time in months they all were in the same room willingly with Hardy on school business.

Board members generally have not gone to Hardy’s Town Halls or Community Business School Partnership breakfasts and he generally does not attend school board meetings.

But Hardy during the meeting and Ballard afterward hinted at a possible detente.

Dimacchia, who has been vocal in his public criticism of Hardy and the state law governing Lorain Schools in academic distress, said the Town Hall was “a sham.”

Board member Yvonne Johnson said she was unable to attend the Jan. 10 Town Hall due to illness.

“The next one, I’ll be there,” Johnson said.

Olive branch?

In the Town Hall, Hardy acknowledged local officials in the crowd but did not single out the board members.

As for the board members, at times they appeared to wince, scowl or hold their heads in their hands during parts of Hardy’s presentation.

The audience fired questions at Hardy about a number of topics, including the rumor that he was seeking employment elsewhere, possibly in Chicago.

Hardy said he loved Chicago and is a fan of Chicago Bulls basketball great Michael Jordan, but he was emphatic that he was not leaving Lorain for the Windy City.

He used his answer to hint at possible talks with the Lorain Schools board.

“There’s no doubt that my heart is here,” Hardy said. “I want to be part of the solution. You have my word, you have my presence, you have all these other people as witnesses. I want to be a part of that solution.

“I think part of that solution means opening up new conversations and communication lines . ...

“I think now there’s momentum to do so, and I’m excited to engage in those conversations. And I’m excited for us to actually think about a partnership in a way that makes sense for this community. And so if that’s an olive branch to show that that’s another level of my commitment, please know that is coming, because I think it’s important for people to see, I don’t want to go anywhere, nor do I desire to educate anywhere else in America.”

Talk over coffee

After the meeting, Ballard, who serves as board president, noted the board in its meetings opens up the microphone to the public because people should have a forum to speak about Lorain Schools.

Like all the school board members, Ballard has criticized Hardy and his lack of direct communication to the Board of Education. Last year, Ballard said he would support a school levy for Lorain, but only if Hardy resigned his post.

After the Jan. 10 Town Hall, Ballard said he had coffee with Hardy earlier in the week and let Hardy know the board wants to be cooperative and work for the betterment of Lorain Schools.

As board president, he encouraged fellow board members to attend, just as they want Hardy to check in at board meetings as well.

“I was very happy that the team came out,” Ballard said. “I think it was good for the community to see in 2019, we want to be cooperative and help better our school district.”

‘A sham’

Dimacchia, who is school board vice president, ripped the format for the Jan. 10 gathering.

Instead of community engagement, Hardy “intentionally controls the room with ridiculous videos and questions that most people are not there to watch or hear his Google-created answers,” Dimacchia said. “He does that so that the people in the room cannot ask the tough questions. Because he doesn’t have the answers.”

Hardy minimized the time for the community to ask those questions “and that is not effective engagement,” Dimacchia said.

“Listening to him talk for an hour and 15 minutes is not engagement,” he said. “Turning the Town Hall into a professional development is not effective communication.

“I’m not surprised, but I am disappointed for all of the people that came tonight to get answers.”