The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Hill stays on during search for treasurer
Lorain City Schools Treasurer Joshua Hill will stay on the job until Nov. 14.
Meanwhile, the Lorain City Schools Board of Education and CEO David Hardy Jr. will work together, and with the Ohio Association of School Business Officials, to search for a new treasurer.
A hearing was scheduled Sept. 11 at Lorain County Common Pleas Court to consider the school board’s lawsuit against Hill and Hardy in hopes of keeping Hill on the job.
Hill has been selected to be the next treasurer of South Euclid Lyndhurst City Schools, but Lorain school board members have said they don’t want to let him go.
Instead of a hearing, those involved went into eight hours of negotiations to work out an agreement to replace Hill. The hearing was scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. but it was after 6:30 p.m. when the lawyers involved and Judge Mark Betleski agreed on the final court order.
Afterward, Lorain School Board President Mark Ballard said the board was satisfied that they came to an agreement and the school district will move forward on a positive plane.
Hill and Hardy both were present at the county courthouse during the day but were not present when Betleski presented the court order. Hardy declined to comment on the court case.
Hill could not be reached immediately for additional comment. He will remain as interim treasurer until Nov. 14; until then, the school board will begin a search to find a replacement.
Hill will not be required to attend school board meetings, but he will provide month-end financial reports and other public records to the board, according to the ruling.
Meanwhile, the school board will employ the Ohio Association of School Business Officials to search for a new treasurer. The Lorain school board and Hardy are due back in court on Nov. 14 to explain progress on the search process.
The association will identify at least five candidates to become the next treasurer. Hardy and his cabinet will interview the candidates.
If the school board determines that three or more
candidates are not acceptable, the school business officials association will offer additional applicants unless the school board and Hardy agree on a new treasurer.
If the school board determines that three or more applicants are acceptable candidates, the school board will select a new treasurer, although Hardy may reject the selection. If that happens, the school board will select a new candidate and the process will continue until a new treasurer is chosen, according to the ruling.
Hardy is prohibited from “knowingly preventing the school treasurer from performing the statutory duties of school treasurer and from taking any action to terminate, suspend or alter the interim treasurer contract” that was signed by Hardy, Hill and Ballard.
Under the interim contract, Hill will be paid $75 an hour for his work in Lorain.
It appeared Hill may yet take the job in South Euclid Lyndhurst Schools. Linda N. Reid, superintendent in that district, also signed the court order about Hill and the Lorain school board’s