Board OKs contract with CEO’s wife

Erin Graham hired as director of communications and community engagement

The Lorain City Schools Board of Education will oversee the contract with the district’s communications chief, who also is the wife of Lorain Schools’ top administrator.

The school board this month voted 5-0 to hire Erin Graham as director of communications and community engagement.

Her contract through July 31, 2022, lists her salary at $110,000 a year.

Erin Graham is the wife of Lorain Schools CEO/Superintendent Jeff Graham.

This month, he delegated authority to the school board to administer and control the function of communication and public relations for the district, along with spending up to $250,000 a year for the job.

Jeff Graham delegating authority to the school board is allowed under Ohio law governing Lorain Schools, because the district remains in the state’s “academic distress” rating and under control of an appointed Lorain Academic Distress Commission.

Graham noted his predecessor, CEO Greg Ring, “specifically delegated to the board the authority to hire or contract with a communications director and/or public relations manager to manage all communications from the district to the district’s students, parents, employees and other stakeholders as well as the news media.

Board response

Board of Education President Mark Ballard said he was happy the district has Erin Graham as communications lead.

“Erin worked for us before she was a Graham,” Ballard said.

She did a great job but was terminated when former CEO David Hardy Jr. cleaned house among the district administration, Ballard said.

“Now that he’s gone, everybody acknowledges that she does a great job, she did a great job and she’s one of the best in Northeast Ohio that does it, I mean, well sought after by many districts,” he said. “So, absolutely, we feel comfortable with her work, 100 percent.”

Ballard said there was little, if any, board deliberations about requesting proposals or qualifications from other communications consultants.

He compared the situation to having the best doctor or nurse available to treat a medical condition or selecting LeBron James, the best basketball player, to be on a team.

“I want the best people doing the job, and she’s the best at what she does,” Ballard said. “The optics of it, I’m not really interested; we just need somebody that can get in there and do the work.

“So, for me, I’m going to put the best people on the field that we can get on the field. And that’s what I feel, that she’s the best.”

CEO and staff

Jeff Graham said he hired Erin Graham, formerly Erin Gadd, twice before they had a personal relationship.

That was for communications duty in Parma and Lorain schools.

“She is someone I hired twice because she is just incredibly competent,” he said.

Erin Graham returned to Lorain Schools earlier this year before Jeff Graham applied to be CEO/Superintendent.

“The board was very clear that they wanted her to stay,” Jeff Graham said.

Working with a family member is just not an issue, he said.

Erin Graham reports to Michael Scott, assistant superintendent for school improvement, and the school board.

That arrangement is not unique, Graham said.

Treasurer Tia Kearney

reports to the Board of Education, not the CEO, and the school board has taken over financial management of the district.

Erin Graham said she grew up in a family business, so working with family feels normal to her.

She said when she left Lorain Schools, her school communications consulting business grew quickly.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” Erin Graham said. “But when your job is crisis communications, and all of your clients are going through a crisis of pandemic proportions at the same time, you have to ask yourself: how much longer can I sustain working 15 hour days? Would I be more effective if I focused my efforts?

In February, when Ballard and board member Timothy Williams reached out about consulting for Lorain Schools, “everything in me said yes,” she said.

“There’s unfinished business, and such great people to work with to get it done,” Erin Graham said. “These last few months have shown the world what special stuff Lorain is made of, and I want nothing more than to be a part of it.”

Communications begin

Graham, the school board members and academic distress commissioners began communicating about Erin Graham’s position over the last month.

“For those of you who are not aware, my wife is a paid consultant for the district,” Jeff Graham said in an Oct. 16 email to the Lorain Academic Distress Commission members and Kearney. “She was hired by Greg Ring in February of 2020.

“The contract Greg provided her runs through July of 2021.”

Graham said he spoke with John Richard, Ohio deputy superintendent of education, before applying for the CEO position.

He said Richard “assured me that if I was selected to be the CEO, her employment in the district would

Erin Graham

Jeff Graham

not (be) an issue.”

To protect the district, Graham said he reached out to attorney Anthony Giardini as legal counsel for an opinion on potential conflicts of interest for Erin Graham’s current and future employment.

“While our attorney was researching the situation, I was contacted by a member of the ADC (Academic Distress Commission) inquiring about the appropriateness of my wife’s status as a paid consultant for the district,” Graham said. “I made assurances that I would share our attorney’s response with the members of the ADC and BoE.”

Legal opinion

In his legal opinion, Giardini noted the CEO generally would be prohibited from employing a spouse or member of a household in a school district where the CEO has complete authority granted by House Bill 70, the Ohio law governing schools in academic distress.

The school board previously hired Erin Graham before she was married to Jeff Graham, meaning she was qualified for the position before becoming a family member of Jeff Graham, Giardini said.

At the time of the legal opinion, Erin Graham was not an “employee” of the district, but was a contractor as a public relations consultant.

House Bill 70 permits the CEO to delegate some of his powers to a superintendent or an elected school board, Giardini said.

That is an important consideration because if the school board has authority to hire or contract Erin Graham, then the CEO is not in the line of authority.

If the school board is acting independently, it is not a violation of Ohio law, Giardini said.