The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled against Kent City Schools in its bid to justify its termination of a former Kent teacher.
The court ordered the district to reinstate former Stanton Middle School teacher Shawn Jones’ contract and to award him back pay from May 2020, when Kent school administrators chose not to renew his contract. Jones sued later that year, saying the school district had failed to follow proper procedures for observing him at work.
He pointed to Ohio’s civil law, which states that school districts must conduct three observations of teachers “being actually engaged in teaching” before terminating educators hired on limited teaching contracts: those being contracts of up to five years, with automatic renewal at the end of each five years unless nonrenewal procedure have been strictly followed.
The Supreme Court’s July 31 ruling centered on Jones’ third observation, which all parties agreed consisted of an administrator viewing a remote class session Jones did not attend.
The court directed Portage County Common Pleas Court officials to calculate Jones’ back pay.
The Kent schools hired Jones, who already had two decades of teaching service with the district, during the 2019-2020 academic year. He signed a one-year limited teaching contract and began teaching communications technology at Stanton Middle School in the fall of 2019.
In October of 2019, Jones was suspended for three days for leaving the school building before the end of the academic day six times without notifying administrators and for failing to fulfill his duties on early release days and teacher work days.
Jones admitted he left the building at 2:40 p.m. when students were released, not as he should have at 2:45 p.m. He also admitted that he left early on early-release and teacher workdays, but, according to court documents, contended that “he still completed his work.”
When Jones failed to report to work at all on Jan. 6, 2020, and did not schedule a substitute or notify his administrators that he would be absent, his classes were left unsupervised. The district notified him that he would be put on a “full-cycle OTES” (Ohio Teacher Evaluation System) protocol, which requires three formal observations.
Districts using OTES routinely observe teachers twice a year, but teachers under full-cycle evaluation protocols have qualified administrators observe their work three times a year. Each observation is to be surrounded by conferences meant to clarify what would be happening during the lesson and to review the administrator’s conclusions as to what actually occurred.
According to court documents, Jones’ first formal observation took place on Jan 29, 2020. The required pre- and post-observation conferences were held as required.
Then Covid-19 struck, shuttering schools across Ohio and playing havoc with state rules directing schools to have all evaluations completed by May 1, and all written reports in teachers’ hands by May 10.
The Kent Education Association, a union that represents district teachers, reached an agreement with the administration that if the evaluations weren’t complete by March 16, 2020, they could be done virtually by May 22, 2020. The agreement also pushed the deadline for the written report back to May 29, 2020.
Court documents indicate that Jones’ second observation on May 1 was virtual, and that the third was completed on May 15, also virtually. The only problem with the third observation was that Jones wasn’t there. After he’d experienced chest pain his physician chalked up to stress, Jones was placed on medical leave from May 11 through June 1.
The Kent Board of Education met May 19, and before the deadline for the evaluator to submit her final report had passed, approved then-Assistant Superintendent Tom Larkin’s recommendation to not renew Jones’ contract. Jones was informed of that decision in a letter dated May 20.
On May 28, the evaluator submitted her final report, rating Jones at the highest possible performance level.
Jones appealed his termination to Portage County Common Pleas Court, which ruled in favor of the school district, then to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in his favor. The case finally wound its way to the Ohio Supreme Court.
According to The Buckeye Institute, which tracks the pay of public employees, Jones was earning gross wages of $92,000 a year in 2020, not including benefits.
Larkin, now the district superintendent, declined comment other than to say the district is “disappointed” in the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision.
Donald Malarcik, who is Jones’ attorney, said Jones not only must get his job back, but is also entitled to missed back pay, pay raises, sick time and retirement fund credits.
“This decision is a victory for all Ohio teachers,” Malarcik said. “If the administration is going to observe a teacher, the teacher needs to be present. This was a decision based on reason and common sense.”
Jones declined comment until he communicates with the school district and the court proceedings are finalized.
Portage County Common Pleas Court is expected to schedule a hearing regarding Jones’s compensation before the end of the summer, Malarcik said.
Clarification: This article is updated to reflect that Tom Larkin was assistant superintendent of the district when Jones was fired and is now superintendent.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.