Wednesday, October 06, 1999
Ex-official asks for schools probe
Sycamore made errors, he claims
BY CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MONTGOMERY — A Sycamore school district resident has asked state officials to investigate his complaints of wrongdoing by the school board, superintendent and other district officials.
The complaints include al leged violations of Ohio's open meetings law, questions about how tax levy and bond issue campaigns were run, and the purchase of property to build a school.
Rick Friedman, 43, of Montgomery, a district resident since 1984 and a former member of the school board's Planning Commission, said he spent 19 months collecting the information in his complaint.
“The central office of Sycamore schools has some issues they have to work out. ... There is internal distrust and public distrust,” Mr. Friedman said. “This is a campaign to clean up the situation. This is one of the saddest things I've ever had to do, but I have to look my kids in the eye.”
The complaint is being reviewed by the education section of Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery's office and the legal division of the Ohio Department of Education, spokesmen said.
Sycamore officials said the allegations have been handled by the board and, in some cases, investigated by the state auditor's office, with no further action deemed necessary.
“We have addressed all the questions, and he (Mr. Friedman) simply didn't like the answers,” Superintendent Bruce Armstrong said.
The board's attorney, John Podgurski of Cleveland, said the board has satisfactorily re sponded to the issues raised by Mr. Friedman.
“I'm curious what his justification is for not accepting the board's answers,” Mr. Podgurski said.
Mr. Friedman resigned from the Planning Commission in March, 18 months after his appointment.
Mr. Friedman's complaint includes demands that:
• Dr. Armstrong repay the district $27,000 in legal fees spent in settling a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed against him by a former em ployee.
• The district repay residents $8.7 million in taxes Mr. Friedman said were “overcollected” in 1999 because, he said, school board members misled voters about when levy money would be available.
• The district be reprimanded for costing taxpayers an extra $1.025 million by not buying the Hopewell Road property for a new Montgomery Elementary School.
• The board be sanctioned for starting meetings earlier than the posted time.
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