Pyles resigns from academy board

By Dean Shipley

Staff Writer

 

As London Academy Board of Education member Doug Pyles read his statement during the BOE’s meeting of Monday afternoon, board president Donna Cooper interjected her commentary, “We’ve heard you say these things before.”

Pyles then said something Cooper and the board had not heard before.

“I, therefore, resign my position of board member immediately,” Pyles said, reading from a prepared statement.

Pyles’ resignation came as “a surprise and shock,” Cooper said. “He did not give any hint it was forthcoming.”

Pyles came to the London Academy BOE in December of 2010. In his statement he said: “I thought that with my many years of professional experience as an electrical engineer and facility manager, I would be able to use this experience to aid the academy in fulfilling its mission to provide quality education to a very special group of young people. I managed yearly operating budgets in excess of one million dollars and had direct report of 85 employees.”

What Cooper and other London Academy BOE members had heard before was Pyles’ perception of the apparent control of the majority of the BOE by London City Schools superintendent Steve Allen. In his statement to the board, Pyles said:

“(I)t became quite prevalent that the operations and decisions regarding the academy were being dictated by the superintendent of the London City School district, Mr. Steve Allen. His actions started with the termination of our principal, without our board’s knowledge or approval…

“Mr. Allen again without the knowledge or approval of the board, then proceeded to place a part-time principal into the position…

“Mr. Allen’s influence was even present when the board had agreed to hire an attorney…

Pyles also said it was Allen who made the decision,”without the knowledge of either the London City School Board members or the academy board members to move the academy operations.”

Pyles continued by saying the academy board chairman, Cooper, “then proceeded to exceed her authority not granted to her by the board by having meetings with the principal, the superintendent and the board-hired attorney. When asked for feedback of the outcome of these meetings, none was provided.”

Following the reading of his statement, Pyles left the building.

In other business, board member Bob Majka noticed the diplomas issued to the graduating academy students bore the signatures of people not associated with the academy: Shirley Baldwin, Britt Lewis and Steve Allen as president of the board.

“There’s no such thing as president of the board,” Majka said. “The signatures don’t represent people involved at the school.”

Principal Adelle Faulkner apologized and said the diplomas will be reissued.

The BOE also approved awarding diplomas to the following students: Dakota Lee Blackburn, Melissa Bussey, Sandra Brooke Ivy Henry, William Lloyd Smith.

Faulkner reported the graduation ceremony saw 31 of the 69 graduates participate in the ceremony. She called the music by the London High School band, under the direction of Craig Lewis “wonderful.”

She also said the academy is offering summer OGT sessions for any student who wants to participate.