Akron superintendent says resume questions are 'baseless conspiracy theories' by union

Akron Public Schools Superintendent Michael Robinson said in a statement on Thursday that questions about his resume are one of many "baseless conspiracy theories" from the teachers union.

Robinson issued a press release Thursday morning in response to a Beacon Journal story that highlighted a gap in Robinson's resume between jobs over a 2½-year period.

Robinson blamed the Akron Education Association for "choosing to waste time and energy on alleged 'discrepancies'" and attempting to draw attention away from a lawsuit the union dropped against the district and the school board on Tuesday.

AEA attorney Don Malarcik said Robinson was "a classic example of Dr. Robinson's failure to take accountability and be honest.

"He's attacking the union for his own mischaracterizations," Malarcik said.

He also accused Robinson of lying under oath when asked about his resume during a deposition last month, which was made public Aug. 30. Robinson had claimed he didn't know anyone who Malarcik could contact to verify his employment, despite having said earlier in the deposition he was still in contact with people from the two consulting firms he had listed on his resume.

Prior to the union raising its allegations, the Beacon Journal performed an independent examination on the gap in time on Robinson's resume and found he used two different explanations for that time when he applied to different jobs. His resume also did not indicate whether he was paid for the work.

The version of his resume Robinson submitted to Akron Public Schools said he was a "senior executive" for consulting firm Burns Van/Fleet from November 2018 to January 2021, a little over two years. But the one he used previously reflects him working there for less than a year, from "March 2020 — Current," which would have been the end of 2020.

The second resume also lists a second firm, BRP Associates, from "November 2018 — Current," roughly accounting for two years' worth of time starting after he left the superintendent job in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he took a $50,000 buyout.

"My work with each was sporadic, with the goal of building my connections in the education industry and learning from seasoned professionals such as Stuart Berger with Burns/Van Fleet," Robinson said in the statement. "Because of the minor amount of work I performed for BRP, I chose not to include them on my resume submitted to Akron. Further, given the limited work I performed with Burns/Van Fleet, the differences between the dates listed for such work on my resume was immaterial and irrelevant, and of no consequence to the important work today of Akron Public Schools."

Derrick Hall, who was president of the Akron school board when it hired Robinson last year, said it was not clear that Robinson was not paid for work he did for Burns/Van Fleet. The information came to light when Robinson hired that same firm to perform a transition report after he became superintendent in Akron.

Robinson's statement put the onus on the union, accusing them of trying to distract from their withdrawal of a lawsuit related to a gap in a video feed from a Jan. 8 board meeting. The union had alleged someone in the district administration or the board had tampered with the video feed to cut out a moment where a board member questioned a contract with an outside tutoring firm. The union was able to depose Robinson on Aug. 9 as part of that case.

Robinson wrote it is "clear AEA's efforts to focus attention on my credentials is nothing more than an attempt at distraction and misdirection away from its dismissal of its frivolous litigation against the Board of Education related to its live streaming of Board meetings."

The union will refile the suit but needs time to further investigate because Robinson's resume issues raised further questions, Malarcik said previously. Malarcik said Robinson's resume was relevant as "credibility" as a superintendent and a witness in the case.

"AEA's baseless conspiracy theories — whether about the live streaming of Board meetings or my resume — serve to do nothing more than waste time and energy, when we all instead should be laser-focused on how to improve the social and educational achievements of our scholars," Robinson said.

Malarcik said teachers' focus is solely on their students.

"Our members, our teachers, our educators are focused on the students 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said. "My job as union counsel is to provide the community transparency and accountability. We ask a lot of our community, and the biggest thing we ask of them is their trust. And Dr. Robinson has violated that trust."

Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron superintendent says resume questions are 'baseless conspiracy theories' by union