Home Care In North Royalton, OH

NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio -- Michael Laub, superintendent of North Royalton City Schools, has accepted that same position for Avon Local Schools and will become superintendent there next summer.

On Oct. 21, the Avon school board approved a five-year contract for Laub. He will start there in August.

It will be a homecoming for Laub, who was superintendent of Avon Schools from 2012-2021 before moving to the North Royalton district.

“I am very appreciative of the time I have spent in North Royalton,” Laub told cleveland.com in a Monday email.

“I am proud of what our team has accomplished for our students and the relationships we have developed with families and the community.

“I will miss the people here and want nothing but the best for the district,” Laub said. “At the same time, I am excited to return to Avon.

“I couldn’t be more appreciative of the opportunity to finish my career back home,” said Laub, who lives in Avon.

“It is certainly a special opportunity.

“My plan is to finish strong the rest of the year here in North Royalton and provide the best possible transition for whoever they choose to be the new superintendent,” Laub said.

At the Oct. 23 North Royalton Board of Education meeting, board President Jacquelyn Arendt said the district would post the superintendent position to internal candidates.

The board will interview the candidates at its Nov. 10 work session.

If no one now employed by the district applies for the job, the board will determine its next steps at the Nov. 10 work session to seek outside candidates, Arendt said.

“The board wishes to express its sincere appreciation for Mr. Laub’s dedication and service to North Royalton, “Arendt said at the Oct. 23 meeting.

“His leadership has been instrumental and his presence will be missed,” she said. “We value the dedication he shows to making sure our district has time to plan for his replacement.”

Arendt said she wasn’t sure whether the board could have matched the offer from Avon Schools.

Laub didn’t indicate that money was involved in his decision. His starting salary will be $173,000 in Avon, news5cleveland has reported.

His current salary in North Royalton is $171,325.

Other incentives in Laub’s contract in Avon were unknown at the time of this story. Laub didn’t answer when asked about the amount of salary increases he will receive under the contract.

“I know Avon never wanted to give him up, so they seized the opportunity to bring him home, especially since he’s part of their community,” Arendt said Oct. 23.

Changing his mind

Laub’s move to Avon was surprising because just weeks before he accepted the job there, he was planning to retire at age 52.

The North Royalton school board was considering rehiring him after he retired so that he could “double-dip” -- collecting his taxpayer-funded state pension while simultaneously earning his superintendent salary.

On Sept. 11, the school board unanimously approved a resolution that began the retire-rehire process.

The board was planning to host a public hearing on Laub’s post-retirement rehiring, as required by state law, at its Oct. 23 meeting.

By Oct. 23, however, Laub had already decided to leave for Avon.

Laub didn’t answer when asked when he had received a job offer from Avon and when he accepted the position.

Arendt and board member Lisa Shuck told cleveland.com that Laub told them he was leaving North Royalton on Oct. 16 -- five days before the Avon school board approved his new contract.

When asked whether they believed Laub had used the Avon Schools job offer to leverage a rehire-retirement arrangement in North Royalton, or vice versa, Shuck and board member Jeremiah Sawyer said no.

Shuck and Sawyer said they would have supported Laub’s retire-rehire arrangement.

“It would have saved the district money, and he was a fantastic superintendent with great performance reviews,” Sawyer said.

“His leadership, vision, integrity and positive attitude shows in the many accomplishments the district has achieved,” Shuck said.

When asked if she would have voted in favor of rehiring Laub post-retirement, Arendt said, “We had a tentative contract before we started the process to show we wanted Mr. Laub.”

Board members Christiana May and Carlin Culbertson didn’t comment, saying school board policy requires them to defer to the board president.

Outside influences

Laub didn’t answer when asked whether an email from former school board member Dr. John Kelly had influenced his decision to leave North Royalton.

On Oct. 4, Kelly sent an email urging board members not to rehire Laub after his retirement. He didn’t criticize Laub, but expressed opposition to double-dipping in general.

“This whole concept presents a very negative image to the electorate and community,” Kelly said in his email. “It is rarely if ever met with enthusiastic support.”

Kelly sent his email only to Arendt, May and Culbertson. Board members Sawyer and Shuck, along with Laub, were not included and didn’t receive Kelly’s email until Oct. 10 -- six days later.

It’s not clear why Kelly emailed only three board members and why Arendt waited six days to forward the email to Sawyer, Shuck and Laub.

Kelly didn’t return emails seeking comment, although he later apologized to school officials for leaving Sawyer, Shuck and Laub out of his Oct. 4 email.

Arendt didn’t answer when asked why she waited six days to forward Kelly’s email to Sawyer, Shuck and Laub.

“I meant to send this (Kelly email) sooner, but forgot,” Arendt told Shuck and Sawyer in her Oct. 10 email.

Sawyer said “it was very suspicious” that Kelly omitted him and Shuck from his email.

“It was political in nature,” Sawyer said. “John Kelly endorsed Arendt and May when they ran previously. He is also endorsing (my and Shuck’s) opponents in this election.”

On Oct. 12, Laub emailed all five board members, telling them he would be happy to discuss Kelly’s email with them.

He said Kelly, as a citizen, had the right to express his opinion.

“I am not going to go item by items to correct all of the misinformation in (Kelly’s) email, but please know that much of this is inaccurate,” Laub wrote.

“This clearly goes beyond an opinion of not supporting retire-rehire and is a personal issue,” Laub wrote.

“Regardless, it is clear this is a community member’s opinion against retire-rehire.”

Laub didn’t respond when asked what in Kelly’s email was inaccurate.

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NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio -- An email from a former North Royalton Board of Education member to three current school board members regarding Superintendent Michael Laub has generated controversy.

It’s uncertain whether the Oct. 4 email -- from John Kelly, a one-time school board president -- was a factor in Laub’s decision to leave North Royalton and accept a position as Avon Local Schools superintendent.

The email also raised concerns that Kelly had a conflict of interest when he, in his email, urged board members not to rehire Laub if he retired and then offered his own company’s help to find a new superintendent.

The board was considering approval of a retire-rehire arrangement with Laub -- through which Laub would have retired and started collecting a state pension while simultaneously earning a salary as superintendent, a practice known as “double-dipping” -- when he accepted the job in Avon.

Kelly didn’t return emails Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 3 and 4) regarding the matter.

Laub, in a Monday (Nov. 3) email to cleveland.com, didn’t say whether the email influenced his decision to accept the Avon superintendent position.

The email

In his Oct. 4 email, sent to board members Jackie Arendt, Christina May and Carlin Culbertson, Kelly said the public views the practice of double-dipping negatively.

Kelly also said it was Laub, not the school board, who suggested the double-dipping arrangement. He said it’s usually the other way around.

“I should also point out that the last two superintendents who preceded Mr. Laub were offered the opportunity to consider retire/rehire and both declined,” Kelly said.

“Being community members, they both knew the response in the community would not be good for the district.”

Kelly acknowledged that Jim Presot, when he was assistant superintendent for North Royalton Schools, became a double-dipper in 2019 after he retired.

The school board rehired him so that he could manage and act as “owner’s agent” for a massive building project.

“He (Presot) was absolutely the best person to be in place and also serve as our owner’s agent during the process,” Kelly said.

“An owner’s agent generally can cost 1 percent of the total project (nearly $1 million in our case),” Kelly said.

“Jim did it for us for his regular salary and did his (assistant superintendent) job as well.

“Note also that when the construction was done, he (Presot) resigned,” Kelly said.

Kelly then offered the services of Finding Leaders, a Sagamore Hills Township-based recruiting firm that specializes in helping school districts and boards identify superintendent candidates.

He said the firm can help North Royalton find a replacement for Laub.

North Royalton Schools paid Finding Leaders $14,900 to find Laub, who replaced Greg Gurka as superintendent.

Kelly is listed as an “additional consultant” for Finding Leaders on the company’s website. Presot is also listed as an additional consultant.

The CEO of Finding Leaders is Edward Vittardi, former North Royalton Schools superintendent and now the principal of St. Albert the Great Catholic School in North Royalton.

“With my involvement with Finding Leaders, I can tell you that there are lots of administrators anxious to be superintendents, and North Royalton would be at the very top of anyone’s list of possible destinations,” Kelly said.

“Don’t be fooled that you won’t find anybody,” Kelly said in his email to school board members.

“You will find several good candidates, some of whom may even come from within.”

Kelly wrote that the district is not dealing with any pressing issues or big projects, so the time is right for a change in leadership.

He added that a new superintendent would likely mean cost savings for the district in terms of salary and benefits.

Also, the school board should require the new superintendent to live within the district, Kelly said. Laub does not live in North Royalton.

“A superintendent who lives in the district he or she manages knows and understands the community better in my opinion,” Kelly said.

Finally, Kelly said that a double-dipping scenario with Laub would leave a bad taste in the mouth of voters, who will likely be called upon to approve a levy in 2028.

The reaction

It’s uncertain why Kelly sent the email to only three board members.

Jeremiah Sawyer and Lisa Shuck, who are running for re-election to the school board today (Nov. 4), were left out, as was Laub.

Arendt, school board president, forwarded Kelly’s email to Sawyer, Shuck and Laub on Oct. 10 -- six days after she received it.

She said she forgot to forward the email.

In a later email, Kelly apologized for not including all board members, plus Laub and district Treasurer Biagio Sidoti, in his Oct. 4 email.

On Oct. 12, Laub emailed all five board members, telling them he would be happy to discuss Kelly’s email with them.

He said Kelly, as a citizen, has the right to express his opinion.

“I am not going to go item by items to correct all of the misinformation in (Kelly’s) email, but please know that much of this is inaccurate,” Laub wrote.

“This clearly goes beyond an opinion of not supporting retire-rehire and is a personal issue,” Laub wrote.

Laub didn’t say precisely what was inaccurate about Kelly’s email. When asked that question by cleveland.com, he didn’t answer.

Then, on Oct. 14, Laub emailed Paul Pendleton, owner of Finding Leaders, and Russ Bennett, another “additional consultant” for the firm.

“I think it is disappointing he (Kelly) would put Finding Leaders in this position,” Laub wrote.

Laub indicated at the time that he was still hoping to retire and get rehired in North Royalton.

“Please know that most of the information in this (Kelly’s) email is inaccurate/incomplete and is being framed in a way to discourage the (North Royalton school) board from bringing me back,” Laub told Pendleton and Bennett.

“His (Kelly’s) opinion is certainly his to have,” Laub said. “It is disappointing he would share inaccurate/incomplete information in an attempt to impact my potential employment.”

On Oct. 16 -- two days after sending that email to Pendleton and Bennett -- Laub contacted North Royalton school board members and told them he had accepted the job in Avon.

Seeking answers

At the Oct. 23 school board meeting, district resident Christine Koprowski said she learned of Kelly’s Oct. 4 email through a public records request.

Koprowski asked the board if it was a normal process for an ex-board member to share opinions on district business with sitting board members.

Also, Koprowski asked if the three board members discussed Kelly’s email among themselves before Arendt finally forwarded the email to the other two board members, Sawyer and Shuck.

In addition, Koprowski asked whether Kelly’s email changed any minds among school board members about whether to rehire Laub after his retirement.

“Do you think it’s a conflict of interest now since Mr. Kelly (a Finding Leaders consultant) suggested using Finding Leaders?” Koprowski said. “Is it ethical?”

Koprowski said the board showed “a lack of integrity and character” not to make sure that all board members received Kelly’s email immediately.

“Six days is a very long time to not forward it to the other two board members, along with Mr. Laub and the treasurer,” Koprowski said.

Arendt told Koprowski she would get back to her with answers to her questions.

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NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio -- A proposed municipal charter amendment that will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot has been so controversial that, for the first time, City Council formed an ad-hoc committee to edit the amendment’s language.

The committee -- consisting of council members Joanne Krejci, Paul Marnecheck and Michael Wos, plus Michael Michalski and Joel Spatz, both members of the 2025 Charter Review Commission -- voted July 7 to make two minor changes in the amendment’s wording.

The proposed amendment, which is Issue 25 on the ballot, is controversial because it may in effect force council President Marnecheck to either step down from office or quit his full-time job with the City of Brook Park.

“This is not good government,” Marnecheck told cleveland.com. “This is politics at its worst.

“They couldn’t beat me at the ballot box, so they are using shenanigans to try to overturn the will of the people. Simply put, this is un-American.”

Issue 25 would prohibit council members from holding an “appointed” position with any other federal, state, county, municipal or school district government.

Marnecheck was appointed commissioner of economic development for the City of Brook Park in February 2022. His responsibilities include drawing in businesses to increase Brook Park’s tax base.

Marnecheck served on the ad-hoc committee that adjusted the charter amendment’s language.

An Ohio Ethics Commission legal opinion -- which Marnecheck himself sought -- said that he should not have served on the committee due to a conflict of interest.

However, the opinion came too late -- after the committee had voted on the two language changes in the proposed charter amendment.

Early voting on Issue 25, along with two other charter amendments and various council races, started Oct. 7.

Collaborative Committee

Before 2021, under the city charter, council was required to place all proposed charter amendments recommended by the charter review commission on the ballot.

Council was not permitted to keep an amendment recommended by the commission off the ballot or change the language of an amendment.

Under a charter amendment proposed by council and approved by voters in November 2021, if a majority of council disagrees with the charter commission over the language of a charter amendment headed to the ballot, two commission members, two council members and the council president would form a collaborative committee “to determine by majority vote on the actual text of the amendment” submitted to voters.

This year, after the 2025 charter commission made its recommendations, council decided to appoint a collaborative committee for the amendment that would become known as Issue 25.

On June 17, Law Director Tom Kelly told council that he didn’t see a conflict of interest for Marnecheck, as council president, to serve on the collaborative committee, even though Issue 25 might directly affect him if passed by voters.

However, Kelly added that to avoid even an appearance of a conflict, Marnecheck should recuse himself from the committee.

Marnecheck, working through his own lawyer, said he was seeking another opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Defining ‘appointed’

The collaborative committee met just once, on July 7. Marnecheck, still waiting for a legal opinion from the ethics commission, took part in the committee meeting.

Wos, a committee member, recommended two changes to the Issue 25 charter amendment.

Originally, the amendment read, “No member of council ... shall hold any other elected or appointed office or be employed by (the City of North Royalton), except for employment with a board of education or a school district...”

Wos said the phrase allowing board of education or school district workers to serve on council was unnecessary, because school board members are elected officials and can’t serve in two elected offices at the same time.

Meanwhile, the mention of school district employees wasn’t necessary, Wos said, because the charter amendment already established that appointed officials -- including a district superintendent or treasurer -- cannot hold a council seat. Non-appointed school workers, like teachers, can be council members.

Secondly, Wos wanted to clarify in the amendment the definition of an “appointed” public official.

He suggested that the terms “elected” and “appointed” officials be defined as “any position in federal, state, county, municipal or school district government to which a person is chosen by election or appointed by a public official or body.”

Marnecheck voted no on both recommended changes and suggested that the charter commission was targeting him to get him out of office.

Marnecheck asked Spatz -- a member of the collaborative committee and chairman of the charter commission -- who first suggested the Issue 25 amendment to the charter commission.

Spatz said the commission was studying potential conflicts of interest, and most commission members agreed that council members should not hold appointed positions for governments in other municipalities.

Grandfather clause

At the committee meeting, Marnecheck did not recommend applying the charter amendment, if approved by voters, only to future council members, thus “grandfathering” him in.

Marnecheck said he didn’t suggest a grandfathering clause because the idea had already been discussed by the charter commission in February and by council in May and never gained traction.

“It’s clear that they did not want a grandfather clause,” Marnecheck told cleveland.com. “This (charter amendment) was aimed directly at me.”

Krejci, who was chairperson of the collaborative committee, said she would have been opposed to a grandfathering clause.

“Since the purpose of this amendment is to avoid conflicts of interest, it would be counter-intuitive to allow someone to remain in a position that has been determined to have a conflict of interest under the new law,” Krejci told cleveland.com.

Wos agreed, adding that if the charter amendment passes on the ballot, it’s not a foregone conclusion that Marnecheck would have to leave his council position.

“If the amendment is passed, conflicts would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, something our law director has stated many times,” Wos said.

“Should and if a conflict be determined, the individual in conflict would have the choice to resign one position or the other,” Wos said.

“They could absolutely remain on council if they opt to step away from a conflicting role.”

Ethics opinion

In a July 18 legal opinion, the Ohio Ethics Commission said it would be a conflict of interest for Marnecheck to serve on the collaborative committee.

The commission, in a letter to Marnecheck, said it’s a conflict because his serving on council while keeping his full-time position with the City of Brook Park is a financial benefit to him.

Ohio law prohibits elected officials from using their authority or influence to “secure anything of value.”

“This means you cannot participate on the (collaborative) committee or as a member of council on matters regarding the (charter amendment),” the ethics commission said.

“You cannot vote, discuss, deliberate, lobby other committee or council members or act in any other manner, formally or informally, regarding the (charter amendment),” the ethics commission said.

“Although the voters of the city will ultimately decide whether to adopt the (charter amendment), your participation in any stage of the process leading up to such vote is prohibited,” the ethics commission said.

Krejci said Marnecheck should not even be discussing or campaigning against the Issue 25 charter amendment with anyone, let alone serve on the collaborative committee.

Marnecheck said he and his attorney are appealing the ethics commission opinion.

“As my attorney stated at the Oct. 7 council meeting, the Ohio ethics law focuses on official actions that create a particularized personal benefit -- something that is not present here -- and I do not forfeit my First Amendment right to express a personal viewpoint because of my official role,” Marnecheck told cleveland.com.

“The appeal process is ongoing, and I hope the ethics commission will reverse their opinion,” Marnecheck said.

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