Commissioners spar over CEO evaluation

Lorain City Schools’ CEO is “ineffective” leading the academic turnaround of the district, said two members of the Lorain Academic Distress Commission overseeing operations of the district.

But CEO David Hardy Jr. said the rating will not distract him from his main focus — educating Lorain’s children.

The Lorain Academic Distress Commission met Aug. 27 to discuss Hardy’s job performance.

They agreed on two ratings, one each for the 201718 school year and the 201819 school year.

On a scale of one to four, Hardy earned a score of 2.6, a rating of “developing,” for the 2017-18 school year and 1.6, or “ineffective,” for the 2018-19 school year.

But those two numbers should stand separately and should not be averaged together, said Lorain Academic Distress Commission members Diane Xander and Steve Cawthon.

They spoke Aug. 29 about comments this week from Lorain Academic Distress Commission Chairman Randall Sampson.

In a message to The Morning Journal, Sampson said over the two-year period, the Lorain Academic Distress Commission evaluation scale of the CEO has averaged to be “developing.”

“The evaluations were totally separate from one another,” Cawthon said. “There was never any discussion of averaging them out.”

Cawthon said he did not want to create a false narrative that represents the direction of the Lorain Academic Distress Commission.

Speaking after the meeting Aug. 27, Sampson said the scores alone are not the only way to review Hardy’s performance.

Other factors would include more data from Ohio school district report cards, graduation rates and the state’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee, a program to identify students who are behind in reading and help them get on track by the end of third grade.

But the evaluations should be final because the Lorain Academic Distress Commission members never discussed additional information to create a complete picture of Hardy’s performance, Xander said.

On the evaluation across five performance areas, the scores range from 4 being effective, 3 being skilled, 2 being developing and 1 being ineffective.

Based on her experience, Xander said she graded Hardy at one, or “ineffective,” across the board.

“There needs to be an immediate exit strategy for him to leave the district,” she said. “I’ve been vocal about that, we need to have an exit strategy and it needs to happen as soon as possible.”

Sampson agreed the evaluations “are two totally different ones” and he did not want to make the situation

look better than it is.

Evaluating teachers or other organizations, it is helpful to consider performance over a period of time, not just a snapshot of one instance, Sampson said.

“You’re going to have ups and downs over time,” he said.

Sampson said he has not yet discussed the results with Hardy, but part of that conversation will be Hardy lending his voice to the evaluation.

When reviewing teachers, administrators talk with them about their goals and Hardy should have a chance to present evidence about what he believes the numbers should be, Sampson said.

Hardy responds

On Aug. 29, Hardy said he had not seen his job evaluation.

But it was “disappointing” to be evaluated without being told by the Lorain Academic Distress Commission and to learn of it from news reporters, Hardy said.

It’s unfortunate that these are the circumstances, he said.

“At this point, I intend to put my focus on what is most important and that’s our kids,” along with making it the best school year possible, Hardy said.

Hardy