Questions remain about 'public file' after misconduct report

Huron Schools didn't ask about complaint against principal

HURON — An attorney for the Huron school district has declined to clarify what happened to a public records file regarding a misconduct report involving the former principal of McCormick Middle School.

“The District has provided you all materials, contained in all of the files, in its possession related to your request,” Hannah Markel Klang of Weston Hurd LLP in Cleveland wrote in response to a request for records specifically identified in the employment file of former principal Chad Carter.

The Ohio Department of Education sent two letters to the district notifying local officials about the misconduct complaint. Just one of those letters — the second one dated June 13, 2022 — was provided in response to the records request.

That letter states:

“After a thorough review of the facts in this case, the State Board of Education determined that no disciplinary action will be pursued and the matter involving Mr. Chad Carter is closed. Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 3319.314, you are required to remove the reports of the board’s or chief administrator’s investigation from Mr. Carter’s personnel file to a separate, public file.”

The district did not provide a copy of the original ODE letter it received or the complaint. A June 10, 2022 email the district’s interim superintendent sent to the ODE asked that the letter be revised.