LORAIN CITY SCHOOLS

BOARD OF EDUCATION
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Ballard, President of the Lorain City Schools Board of Education, 440.341.0402

Board of Education Disputes CEO Hardy’s Allegations and Calls on CEO

to Enforce Treasurer’s Contract for the Good of the District

Lorain, Ohio – The Board of Education today vehemently disputed CEO Hardy’s erroneous
claims that the restraining order issued regarding Treasurer Josh Hill’s existing employment
contract would somehow stop teachers and staff from being paid.

“This is yet another scare tactic and fabrication from Mr. Hardy, designed to deflect blame for
his failures” said Board President Mark Ballard, “the fact is, any responsible leader would not
leave a school district in this much turmoil, without a treasurer. It is irresponsible and
harmful for Hardy to release one of the only district employees left who understands where
the money went. If Hardy wants a renewal levy, this was the exact wrong way to show our
community that he respects us and is a good steward of our local funding.”

On August 15, 2019, Judge Ewers issued a temporary restraining order barring David Hardy
from taking any action to terminate, suspend or alter the contract, as mended by the MOU,
employing Joshua Hill as Lorain School Treasurer. This order does not preclude the district
from spending any money so it is unclear why CEO Hardy would claim that payroll would not
be processed.

Ohio law requires that any district employee seeking to void an existing contract after July 10
may do so only with the approval of the Board of Education. Since HB 70 granted all board
authority to the CEO, that decision was Hardy’s alone. The Board of Education publicly
questioned Hardy’s motives in allowing Treasurer Hill, and others, to be released.

“It is not in the best interest of our district to have valued employees continue to leave”, said
Board Member Tim Williams, “David Hardy knows that his contract will not be renewed; he
knows the State Board of Education unanimously agree that HB 70 is not working, he knows
the legislature is looking for a long terms fix so his days at Lorain are numbered. We are
very concerned as a Board that Mr. Hardy is allowing the district to further decline because
he’ll move away and forget about us and we’ll be left to pick up the pieces of his destruction.
There’s simply no other reason that Mr. Hardy would think that Josh Hill leaving our district
was in our best interest.

Lorain has been through enough with House Bill 70 and CEO Hardy’s irresponsible actions
must be stopped. This community has no confidence in him and he continues to damage our
district. This Board will do all in our power to stop the bleeding”.

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