Teachers urge board to resolve held salary adjustments; district says ODE guidance requires legal review
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Summary
Teachers told the Lorain City Schools board Dec. 8 that salary/credit adjustments for coursework were put on hold despite being submitted before the posted deadline; the district said Ohio Department of Education guidance changed and it has requested an opinion from law firm Weston Hurd to determine retroactivity and audit risk.
During the Dec. 8 Lorain City Schools Board meeting, multiple teachers urged the board and district staff to resolve withheld salary adjustments tied to university coursework.
Sonia Rodriguez, a district teacher, said she submitted credits before the district deadline and has not received an adjustment. "I just wanna be valued. I wanna be heard, and I wanna be supported as a teacher," Rodriguez said, describing emotional and personal hardship while completing coursework on deadline.
District staff and board members said the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) issued guidance that changed eligibility for credit acceptance after some coursework had been submitted. Dr. Jeff Graham, the superintendent, told Rodriguez and the audience that the district cannot simply pay amounts that might later be disallowed in an audit. "If we paid and got audited, we would lose," Graham said at the meeting.
Board staff said they have asked for an outside legal opinion to clarify how far back the district can grant credit and whether payments might need to be reclaimed. The district identified Eric Johnson at the law firm Weston Hurd as the external counsel asked to review the matter and determine whether any retroactive payments would create audit exposure.
Board and staff repeatedly framed the issue as a conflict between teacher expectations and state-level regulatory changes. Administrators said they are working to gather documentation and promised to act as soon as the legal guidance is received; they said any approved payments would be retroactive to the start of the school year if permissible.
Multiple teachers and public commenters also asked for clearer communications about the hold, and some suggested the district could have provided more detailed guidance rather than the terse notice that certain approvals were on hold.
Next steps: the district will review the legal opinion, then report back to staff and the board. Teachers were advised to contact their union and the state association if they believe the problem is systemic beyond the district.