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Volume 55, No. 22
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, March 27, 2024
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West G BOE Settles With ‘Bounty Hunter’ Ames By Brian Doering brian@karlovecmedia.com West Geauga Schools Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution March 18 to enter into a settlement agreement with Brian M. Ames, paying him $4,000. Ames filed a Writ of Mandamus Jan. 9 alleging the school board did not fully comply with Section 149.43 of the Ohio Revised Code about providing requested public records. “I don’t know that we have ever been violators of that transparency, but obviously, he feels that we have, so we needed to settle. It’s a lot cheaper to settle than to litigate,” Superintendent Richard Markwardt said. The school board provided Ames with all of the requested records he sought as part of the litigation and Ames has acknowledged receiving them. “The school board denies Mr. Ames’ claims in the litigation and further denies all allegations of wrongdoing asserted by Mr. Ames,” the agreement said. Once he receives payment of
$4,000, Ames has three days to file a voluntary dismissal with prejudice with the court, rendering the litigation settled. He also agreed to cease actions against West Geauga on the matter. “Ames shall discontinue all claims regarding, relating to, or arising out the facts and circumstances alleged in the litigation and shall discontinue all public records requests and any other claims arising from the facts and circumstances alleged in the litigation,” the agreement said. Ames, who lives in Mogadore, is a self-appointed “bounty hunter” for open meetings violations. He has filed lawsuits against a long list of alleged violators of the state’s Sunshine Laws, including government bodies and school districts around the state, as reported in the Feb. 8 issue of the Geauga County Maple Leaf. “I specifically knew that he was filing similar suits in a lot of districts, so I figured it was just one of many,” Markwardt said. “I knew it was a complaint that was being
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The West Geauga Schools Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution March 18 to enter into a settlement agreement with Brian M. Ames and pay him $4,000 to avoid defending against a costly lawsuit. Ames filed a Writ of Mandamus Jan. 9 alleging the school board did not fully comply with Section 149.43 of the Ohio Revised Code about providing requested public records.
lodged against a number of districts and I knew the complaint was being lodged against West Geauga.” The board does what is accountable and is open and honest with the public, Markwardt added.
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“I think sometimes objective criticism is always welcomed. I don’t think that accusations that are unfounded are welcomed,” he said. “I certainly wouldn’t welcome them if I were a board member.”
Pam Claypool Clarifies Previous Curriculum Comments By Brian Doering brian@karlovecmedia.com West Geauga Schools Board of Education member Pam Claypool clarified her position on reviewing the district’s curric- Claypool ulum during the board’s March 18 meeting. Claypool explained her remarks at a previous board meeting intended to address how public review of class curriculum is handled. “I didn’t mean to imply that I had any concerns about the curriculum,” Claypool said. “If it's not a program of studies and it’s actually a curriculum, then I think we should call it that.” After the board approved West Geauga Middle School’s program of studies for the 2024-2025 school year Feb. 26, Claypool had asked when the board would review the
district’s curriculum. School Assistant Superintendent Nancy Benincasa briefly explained the process for the program of studies during the meeting, to which Claypool said the board’s responsibility is to approve the curriculum according to the Ohio Revised Code. “I get the programs. I get what it is. At some point, I would think we would review the curriculum. It’s part of our responsibility,” Claypool said. In a follow-up interview Feb. 29, Benincasa said the program of studies is a representation of the curriculum. “The program of studies lists the courses available to students,” Benincasa said. “Each course has a detailed curriculum, which is generated by our teaching staff based on the Ohio Learning Standards.” At the March 18 meeting, school board President Christina Sherwood suggested defining curriculum through units and lessons.
“Units are our broad basis covering large pieces of overall standards and as a public school in the state of Ohio, we use the Ohio state standards. If I was going to be teaching a unit on literature, then that’s the broad overreaching unit that I’d be working with,” Sherwood said. “Then, I move down into lessons, which are our day-to-day instructional components. These are both the way we are going to be teaching and the way we are going to be assessing it so we can gauge our student's learnings.” Claypool noted how pieces of a curriculum are between a lesson plan and a high-level program of studies. “I think there are some specifics and I understand they’re available. Are they readily available? Can I go online at home and look at the health course? I’m not sure,” Claypool said. “Can I get a better feel for what Second Step is and how it is integrated into our curriculum?” She added, “I don’t want to
start this off by implying that I have concerns, I certainly don’t. I think it just goes to a little bit more transparency with the public if we, as a board, see some things with the curriculum and review it.” Sherwood explained how uncomfortable she would be sharing her daily lesson plans with the exception of sharing within her departments. “From a teacher’s standpoint, we get very protective of the work we do. We work very hard to develop lessons that are both rigorous and diverse enough that we can modify those for a wide range of abilities in the classroom,” Sherwood said. “I would be really uncomfortable putting it out there because anybody can take my intellectual property at that point.” Sherwood called “readily available” a subjective term. “We (district residents) live in fairly close proximity to each other to get to a school. We are not travelSee Claypool • Page 4
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