BUCYRUS — Despite pushback from community members, the Bucyrus Board of Education accepted the resignation of Treasurer Ryan Cook, and then appointed him as Treasurer and Director of Operations from September 27, 2019-July 31, 2020 and from August 1, 2020-July 31, 2025.
Cook’s current contract as treasurer was set to expire in 2021.
During the time allotted for public participation, former Bucyrus English teacher Margaret Thornton addressed the board on her concerns in relation to Cook’s new contract.
“I want to compliment you on your new furniture, your new chairs look very comfortable. But the reality is, that in November three of you won’t be sitting here, and that is by your own choice, but three of you won’t be here—this board will change and there will be three new members on the board,” Thornton said. “I think that employment decisions that we make long-term, we have to consider that we don’t want to hamstring a new board of education by presenting a long-term contract, even to a highly qualified person, before we have a new board sitting in these chairs. I think we are talking about a one-year contract, and yes I am referring to Mr. Cook’s contract, and I have great respect for his ability with numbers, but a one-year contract seems more appropriate to me, than one that will run through 2025.”
Resident Jerry “Pudge” Hargis also spoke to the board.
Another resident who addressed the board, was Terra Hamm.
“Why the need for a director of operations, when we have a superintendent?” she asked. “What does that job entail? What is that going to do to the logistics?”
Board of Education President Dr. Paul Johnson gave the reasoning.
“It is not unusual in Ohio now for treasurers to also become the director of operations. Mr. Cook will be having daily oversight over information technology, food service, buildings and grounds and maintenance,” Johnson said. “As a board, our desire is to take as many of those responsibilities off of the plate of the superintendent, principals, and assistant principals, so that they can focus on the primary reason they exist. We want to have our superintendent and principals laser focused on our students’ education.”
Board member John Kime gave his input on the matter.
“Last year we weren’t really getting any good results in the areas that Mr. Cook will be taking over, some of the floors hadn’t been polished in three years, there were snow removal problems and we had a staff member fall, along with other problems that he can help take care of,” Kime said.
“Why is he qualified to do all that—why not search for someone who has experience in those areas?” Hamm asked.
“I would say he’s qualified, he’s actually sought out training from a managerial standpoint,” Kime said. “We felt he would be a good person to assume those duties.”
Fellow board of education member Adam Stone gave his point of view on the decision.
“There were a lot of roles (Cook) had to step up and assume in a transition period that was really difficult,” Stone said. “There’s a lot of people who question the decisions we make, and I respect the fact that people question them, but they’ve also not been here at these meetings while these decisions were being made. I appreciate the fact that everyone is here now, probably to question those decisions that have been made, or I am assuming so. A lot of the time that we have spent has been going over things, that over the course of a lot of years, we weren’t made aware of and as we became aware of those things, looking at them through the lens of the trend report that Paul (Johnson) provided, we found that we were going in the wrong direction and we had lost sight of what was actually important.”
Continuing on, Stone said, “It was a situation where we had to either move…we didn’t fire anyone — didn’t ask anybody to leave, we asked them to do a job that literally aligned with what their job description is. Some of them decided to move on to much better situations and we wish them nothing but the best, and some decided to leave with a little less class and that was their choice. Ultimately, they decided to move because they didn’t want to be a part of the change that we want for this district. Over the course of several months, if not years, we have really pushed for student achievement, and as we saw those numbers declining, we had to make decisions that weren’t popular.
“If you are not here, then a lot of those decisions aren’t going to make sense. And while a lot of folks have spoken badly and poorly about our decisions, I commend those sitting at this table, Mr. Cook, and Mr. Chrispin—on the fact that we have taken the high road. We are not going to get down in the mud. You can all be here—these are open meetings. This is where we make the decisions and if you don’t like it, then we have the opportunity to address those decisions just like you’re doing tonight. But addressing us after the fact, when our agenda is published and things are happening, I’m sorry but I don’t have much time for that. Right now, I am looking down at a man who literally stepped in, and we are paying someone to do a job as he was leaving, who spent more time at his other job, putting him in the position to actually help us in this district. I understand that there is a lot of trepidation in this district about that and that’s fine, but no one else was here. This room was empty at that time.”
Finishing up, Stone added, “I am confident in the two sitting at the end of the table, that regardless of who ends up sitting in these chairs after we leave, they are not going to be fed what they want to hear, but rather what they need to hear and that’s very important. I’ve voted against some of Ryan’s recommendations over the years that I didn’t agree with and we’ve butted heads, likewise with superintendents. But at the end of the day, he has always given it to us straight. I’ve never had the situation where I turn around and find out something was hidden. Whereas in other situations that we hire directly (superintendent) we are still dealing with the aftermath and the potential liabilities that follow.”
In terms of the specifics of Cook’s contract, he will reportedly not be given a pay raise. An amendment to Cook’s salary was approved in July for the next two years. The approved salary was $110,000 for the 2019-20 school year and $113,000 for 2020-21.
Johnson responded to other administrators seeming to receive 1-3-year contracts, why Cook is receiving a 5-year contract.
“Ryan has been here for 6 years, and Mr. Chrispin has a contract for 4 years, and we want to make sure that there is some continuity so that they’re here for 4-5 years together,” Johnson said. “It’s real important for the superintendent and treasurer to work well together. We wanted to make sure that they both knew that we were making a commitment to them.”
“As Superintendent Chrispin noted, we had kind of moved in that direction when (Chrispin) came on board to kind of alleviate those things from his plate with him being new here and so we thought that now is the time to continue that and make it formal going forward,” Johnson said regarding why the contract was being made now, so far into to school year.
Cook was asked if he felt confident with his additional title and responsibilities, that he will be able to split his time appropriately, should he win his election for the Ridgedale Board of Education.
“I am running as a write-in candidate—I don’t see any problem with it,” Cook said. “I have been a board member before, and I think it will be fine.”