This story has been updated with additional information.
An independent factfinder has determined that Akron Public Schools has valid reasons to fire a supervisor who violated the district’s trust and its written policies.
The Akron school board on May 26 unanimously accepted William Dowling’s report that found credible evidence supported the district’s allegations against custodial services supervisor Darian Johnson and recommended Johnson’s firing. In the same resolution, the board also voted to fire Johnson, effective immediately.
The board, which met in a closed-door session before the vote, did not discuss the report publicly. Board member Summer Hall, who in January opposed the board’s intent to terminate Johnson, was not present for the May 26 vote because she was a speaker for East Community Learning Center’s graduation ceremony.
Johnson, who was put on paid administrative leave in November and was suspended without pay on Jan. 29, continues to deny the allegations against him. He said on May 27 that he and his attorney are exploring all possible legal options.
Johnson could choose to appeal the board’s decision in Summit County Common Pleas Court under state law.
Darian Johnson faced insubordination allegations
Johnson, who joined Akron Public Schools in May 2024 after holding jobs for the city of Akron, Akron Municipal Court and the Akron chapter of the NAACP, faced allegations that he took paperwork from his boss’s desk after hours, disobeyed repeated directives, provided false statements to district investigators and didn’t return district property.
In January, Johnson appealed the school board’s decision to start termination proceedings against him and took the unusual step of choosing to make the appeal hearing open to the public.
Dowling, a longtime attorney in the region, presided over the quasi-judicial hearing, which spanned 16 hours over four days in February and March and included testimony from 13 witnesses, including several of Akron Public Schools’ top brass.
The hearing, which the Akron Beacon Journal attended, marked the first time district officials publicly discussed allegations against Johnson and highlighted the district’s struggle to move beyond the disruption and chaos of the past five years, which has included three different superintendents, three different treasurers, the abrupt departure of at least four other key administrators and significant and ongoing staffing reductions.
Appeals hearing referee sides with Akron Public Schools
In his 19-page report, Dowling overwhelmingly sides with school district attorneys.
He found the testimony of the district custodians who said they saw Johnson in his boss’s office to be “highly credible” and the district’s internal investigation of the allegations to be “fair and thorough,” despite attempts by Johnson’s attorney to undermine the credibility of the witnesses and district investigators.
Dowling also found Johnson’s written statement, in which Johnson claimed he went near his boss’s office in the administration building on Nov. 4 to look for his lost house keys, not credible, citing inconsistencies between the written statement and surveillance videos.
“Johnson may have lost his keys, but a legitimate search for the keys would not have justified his entry into either conference Room 500 or (his boss’s) office,” wrote Dowling, who noted that Johnson had not visited either room earlier in the day on Nov. 4.
Dowling also said he believes that Johnson lied about finding his house keys on Nov. 6 outside his boss’s office, citing district records that show Johnson did not use his district-issued ID badge to access the administration building or the fifth floor that day.
Dowling also found fault with Johnson’s reasons for not immediately returning district property, noting that records show Johnson had used his ID badge minutes before telling human resources officials that he didn’t have the badge with him.
“His continuing failure to turn in the items was insubordinate,” Dowling wrote.
Additionally, Dowling took issue with Johnson choosing not to testify during the hearing to try to explain the inconsistencies or to respond to the testimony that wasn’t favorable to him.
“He could have testified that his actions were somehow justified, or that he did not take papers from (his boss’s) desk, or that he told the truth when he claimed not have his ID badge at his meetings with (human resources officials), but he chose to say nothing, relying instead on self-serving written statements he prepared after the board’s investigation began,” Dowling wrote.
Dowling concluded that each allegation against Johnson was an act of insubordination and “an affront to any reasonable conception of acceptable conduct.”
“At best, Johnson disregarded authority,” Dowling wrote. “At worst, he was outright defiant of authority.”
He said Johnson’s misconduct meets the legal standard of good and just cause for termination.
Johnson says he’s a victim of retaliation
Johnson said district leaders are targeting employees who had been identified as being part of former Superintendent Michael Robinson’s inner circle. Stacey Hodoh, the district’s spokesperson who testified in support of Johnson at the hearing, was placed on paid administrative leave on May 8 amid a review of concerns about her “statements, communications and other escalating conduct” over several months. Hodoh has declined to comment on the district’s investigation, but messages she sent to district officials earlier this month show that she raised concerns about retaliation.
Johnson said he believes Dowling didn’t listen to his side and improperly allowed the district’s human resources director to listen to other witnesses’ testimony during the hearing despite also being a witness. He also said the factfinder wrongly penalized him for not testifying during the hearing.
Johnson maintains that district leaders have fabricated the allegations as a way to retaliate against him for exposing what he sees as failings of the district, including the district’s delayed response to a female employee’s sexual harassment complaint that resulted in an $80,000 settlement payout to the employee.
“The district picks and chooses who is getting disciplined,” Johnson said. “I’m fighting this because we have to bring change.”
Reach Akron Beacon Journal education writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kweir@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Public Schools fires supervisor after factfinder recommendation
Reporting by Kelli Weir, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
