Top Headlines of the Week, Nov. 29, 2025
Here are some stories you may have missed on BeaconJournal.com and in the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper.
- An Akron Public Schools employee filed a sexual harrasment and assault complaint with district officials in July.
- Her complaint remains unresolved despite district policies and admininstrative guideliness that say such complaints should have been resolved months ago.
- Akron school board members say they were recently made aware of the situation and are concerned about the district’s response.
A female Akron Public Schools worker reported to human resources twice over the summer that another district employee sexually harassed her and touched her inappropriately.
But nearly five months after her first complaint, she’s still waiting to hear the outcome of the district’s investigation into her allegations – even though district policies and administrative guidelines say such complaints should have been resolved months ago.
The woman has agreed to share her experience because she believes other Akron Public Schools employees, particularly Black women, have been hesitant to come forward with complaints due to the district’s slow response and seemingly indifferent attitudes.
“Anywhere in American society, this is taken seriously because it’s the law,” she said. “Not here at APS. Anywhere else you work, they would be fired for failing to address complaints when, in fact, this happened twice.”
The Akron Beacon Journal typically does not name alleged victims in sexual assault cases. The accused employee also is not being named because district officials are still investigating the allegations.
A school district spokesperson declined to comment on an ongoing personnel matter.
Akron Public Schools employee details sexual harassment, assault
The female employee had been working a temporary assignment over the summer with Akron Public Schools’ grounds maintenance crew to move equipment from one district building to another.
According to information she shared during interviews with the Beacon Journal, in an Akron police report and in an email to school board members, here’s what she said happened:
In mid-July, she was riding an elevator in the former Ott building with a male grounds maintenance operator, who had been supervising and leading the five-member crew. Just as the elevator doors were about to open, she felt the crew leader slide his finger from her buttocks up to her neck. Shocked and confused, she rushed out the elevator doors.
She told a coworker what happened, but hesitated to notify district officials because she had no camera recording and no witnesses. She worried officials wouldn’t believe her.
Her family eventually convinced her that the crew leader should be held accountable for his actions and she went to the human resources department a few days later to file the complaint.
A human resources specialist assured her that the district would take the complaint seriously, but said it could take some time because school would be starting soon, the district had recently hired a new general counsel and negotiations with the teachers union were underway. The female worker wasn’t offered a different work assignment.
Over the following days and weeks, the crew leader continued to periodically make suggestive comments toward the female employee and one time even stood between her and the doorway of a room so she couldn’t leave. He also made comments to the crew about owning and using guns that she found bizarre and unsettling.
While moving computer monitors at Firestone Community Learning Center in mid-August, the crew leader unexpectedly grabbed her from behind like a bear hug. She said his grip around her chest was so strong that she struggled to break free.
She again went to human resources to report his actions. The human resources specialist insisted that she also file a police report, which she did on Aug. 14.
Frustrated by the district’s slow response, the female worker also notified a facilities services supervisor about the crew leader’s actions. The supervisor relayed the female worker’s concerns in an email that was sent to district administrators on Aug. 17, according to a copy of the message obtained by the Beacon Journal. The supervisor on Nov. 7 shared the message with school board members as an example of what he believes is selective policy enforcement by administrators.
With the start of school on Aug. 21, the female worker left the grounds crew assignment to start her regular job with the district, where she was no longer forced to work alongside the crew leader.
Still, she worried that he would find a reason to visit the school where she worked. Or that she’d encounter him while visiting her parents, who lived near him. She still didn’t know whether he knew she had filed the complaints against him, or whether he’d retaliate.
At the end of September, the district human resources specialist contacted her to say the district hadn’t forgotten about her complaint and asked her to continue to be patient. Roughly a month later, the human resources specialist said the investigation into her complaint was completed, but the results were confidential until they notified the crew leader.
She was told the district would send her an email and a mailed letter with the outcome. As of Nov. 28, she still hasn’t received the messages.
She also said she has not heard any updates from Akron police. No criminal charges have been filed against the crew leader, according to Summit County court records.
The employee has retained a lawyer and is reviewing her legal options.
APS policies say sexual harassment to be investigated ‘timely’
The Beacon Journal asked school district officials on Nov. 14 for details about its investigation into the female employee’s complaints and about the district’s policies for notifying complainants.
Spokeswoman Stacey Hodoh responded on Nov. 19 that the district could not release information regarding ongoing personnel matters or internal investigations. She also provided three district policies regarding anti-harassment, bullying and aggressive behavior and nondiscrimination.
A review of those policies, as well as the district’s administrative guidelines, shows the district has not followed its prescribed timelines for responding to complaints alleging sexual harassment. District policies and guidelines include sexual assault under the definition of sexual harassment, which covers a range of unwanted conduct that is considered severe, pervasive and objectively offensive.
District policies call for a “prompt and timely investigation” after a complaint is filed and the “timely” completion of the investigation, which it describes as within 31 calendar days of the complaint being received.
District administrative guidelines, which provide the process for employees to follow, give more specific and shorter deadlines for investigating sexual harassment complaints.
They state that within two business days of receiving a formal complaint, the complaint coordinator is to inform the person accused of wrongdoing that a complaint has been received and give the person the opportunity to submit a response within five business days.
The district also is to initiate a formal investigation within two business days of receiving the complaint and attempt to complete the investigation within 14 calendar days, according to the guidelines.
The administrative guidelines also state that the complaint coordinator is to keep the complainant informed of the status of the investigation and the decision-making process and to consider whether any action, such as a job reassignment, should be taken to protect the complainant from further harassment or retaliation.
A board policy also states the school board will take immediate steps to discipline employees who disregard, fail to adequately investigate, or delay investigation of allegations of harassment.
What do Akron union officials and school board members say?
Camilo Villa, northern Ohio coordinator for the Service Employees International Union Local 1, declined to comment on the allegations or the district’s investigation. Both the female employee and the grounds crew leader are members of SEIU Local 1.
“It’s an ongoing disciplinary investigation situation,” he said. “There is a process for that, that the school is following. We take safety on the worksite extremely seriously. … Every person has a right to a workplace that is physically and socially safe, and that’s nonnegotiable.”
Villa said district union contracts do not include deadlines for investigating complaints.
The female employee emailed school board members on Nov. 26 to express her frustration about the district’s lack of communication and slow response to her complaints and to plead for help.
She asked the board to intervene, to remove the current district officials who were supposed to be investigating her complaints and to retrain human resources staff on district policies as well as state and federal laws regarding sexual harassment and assault.
“Many of us do not have confidence in the leadership here,” she wrote in the letter that she shared with the Beacon Journal. “This is why. I should matter.”
Board President Carla Jackson did not return a text message on Nov. 28 from the Beacon Journal seeking comment. But in email responses to the female employee, some school board members expressed concern with the district’s response.
“I want to acknowledge the courage it takes to come forward and the distress this has caused you,” board member Rene Molenaur wrote in an emailed response obtained by the Beacon Journal. “I have reviewed your email and share your concern about the seriousness of the situation.”
Molenaur told the female employee that she requested a written update from the superintendent regarding the district’s handling of the complaint, including timelines, safety measures, policy compliance and next steps.
Board member Diana Autry wrote in her email response to the employee that she was disappointed to read the employee’s message. She noted the board often is not aware of the district’s day-to-day operations unless issues are brought to its attention.
“I expect our leadership to be trustworthy to properly carry out their job roles,” Autry wrote. “If that is not happening, it is a sad reflection on the district and the board who governs it.”
Board members Summer Hall and Gregory Harrison both responded to acknowledge the employee’s email. Harrison also noted the board was recently made aware of the allegations.
“I assure you we, the school board, will follow this closely,” Harrison wrote.
Reach Akron Beacon Journal education writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or [email protected].
