Stefanko Resigns from Auburn BOE
Auburn Career Center Board of Education member Paul Stefanko resigned April 22, calling the board’s response to a teachers’ union lawsuit “unethical.”
Auburn Career Center Board of Education member Paul Stefanko resigned April 22, calling the board’s response to a teachers’ union lawsuit “unethical.”
Since 2011, when the Career and Technical Association filed a legal complaint over a violation of their contract with ACC, the school has lost multiple appeals.
In an October 2021 trial court decision, Lake County Court of Common Pleas Judge Patrick Condon ordered ACC to pay $1,486,045 to multiple teachers. A list attached to the judgment shows 42 teachers waiting for payouts, with amounts owed ranging from a few hundred dollars to $80,000.
In his resignation letter, Stefanko said he requested financial numbers regarding the CATA lawsuit.
“(The request) was refused by the ACC treasurer because it would result in a record that could be requested by the public,” Stefanko wrote. “I find this response to be unethical and will not be a part of intentionally withholding information from the public. I cannot and will not be a party to this type of behavior from anyone, especially those who are entrusted to be good stewards of taxpayers’ money.”
Stefanko, a former Chardon Schools Board of Education member, said he informed the school district of the need to replace him on the ACC board.
In an email April 30, Chardon Schools Superintendent Michael Hanlon said the school board must vote to accept Stefanko’s resignation and appoint a new representative to the ACC board.
“Up until this terrible situation, I have always supported Auburn and held all of the staff in high regard. I will sincerely miss Auburn, but I have always believed that if you do not stand for something, then you will fall for anything,” Stefanko said. “This is unacceptable to me as a representative of the Chardon local school district and I cannot continue to serve in this capacity and under these circumstances.”
Brian Massie, a blogger who has covered the case at www.lobbyistsforcitizens.com, posted a version of Stefanko’s letter he said was released to him by ACC as the result of a records request.
The ACC version is heavily redacted and omits any reference to Stefanko’s reasons for resignation.
On his website, Massie said ACC told him the redactions contained confidential attorney-client and executive session information. ACC Superintendent Brian Bontempo’s office did not respond to a request to verify the redacted version of Stefanko’s resignation letter prior to press deadline.
Stefanko could not discuss the ongoing case with CATA, he said in a phone call April 29.
“I absolutely believe that Auburn should be able to identify how much a lawsuit is costing,” he said. “That it shouldn’t take an enormous effort to put that dollar amount together. And when a board member asks for it, I think they should be able to get it.”
The case started in 2011 with CATA asking for a $144,000 payment for that year only, but after over a decade in the court system, the number rose to over $1.4 million by 2021. On his blog, Massie said he has information showing the case could cost ACC $3 million.
“If that $3 million figure is inaccurate, then the board is responsible to correct it and make sure the proper information is being put out in public,” Stefanko said. “If it’s not right, then in my opinion, they need to fix that. It is taxpayer dollars; the public has a right to know. In fact, the districts have a right to know because they’re paying for it.”
CATA President Bob Hill said the payout due to teachers has grown by about $150,000 every year because ACC continues to violate its contract with the union. The court awarded CATA the appropriate payout for the first 10 years of violation, but Hill said the past two school years were not included in the ordered payout.
“We all work there, we love the school, we love the students that we teach and this is putting a black mark on our own school,” Hill said in an interview April 29. “That’s not what we’re about.”
The case was kept quiet over the years, Hill said, adding teachers never spoke about it to students or parents while they continued to educate.
After not getting anywhere with the ACC board, the union had no other choice but to go public, he said.
“They know what the judge’s ruling is. They’re just trying to change words that he’s using in his decision,” Hill said of ACC’s recent appeals to the 2021 judgment. “That part is what is so hard, because attorneys fighting this out is not the answer. You know what the answer is? Sitting down, having positive dialogue with our superintendent and treasurer, having positive dialogue with the board members and coming to a rational conclusion to this.”
The state supreme court rejected an ACC appeal in March 2023 without hearing arguments. However, a nunc pro tunc order last fall changed the initial 2021 ruling to a new one, stating the payout should be made “(minus) governmental withholding and the stipulated amounts owed to STRS,” the state teachers retirement system.
Hill said this shows ACC is working hard to circumvent the retirement system.
“(I have) 34 years at the school, over one-third of my (teaching) life with my retirement system is not gonna go to me,” Hill said. “People who retired during this are being paid less money right now than they will be when this is over. We pay 14% of our retirement to STRS, the school pays 14% of it, that’s what employers do. One of their biggest problems is the school board owes interest and penalties for not paying this over these years.”
