Marysville Exempted Village School District has reached a settlement with former principal Melissa Hackett.
As part of a settlement reached with the former Northwood Elementary School principal, Marysville Schools paid Hackett $110,000.
“At this point, the board and administration made a business decision to protect taxpayer dollars,” Marysville Superintendent Diane Allen said.
The superintendent refused further comment on the matter because of a non-disclosure agreement included in the settlement.
Hackett was removed as principal at Northwood Elementary School in 2015. She had been a principal in the district for 15 years.
In October 2018, Hackett filed lawsuits in state and federal court, alleging she was terminated wrongly and incorrectly. Hackett asked the courts to compel the school district to reinstate her and to pay more than $500,000 in back wages and benefits as well as for emotional distress.
In the agreement, approved at a special meeting last month, district officials say they are entering it, “for the sole purpose of making an advised business decision and that the defendant does not admit or concede any liability…”
Additionally, the district rescinded its termination of Hackett and accepted her resignation.
Attorney Stacy V. Pollock, hired by district insurance company Trident Public Risk Solutions to represent the district, said district officials “worked diligently…to defend this” but added that “neither side is happy” about the agreement.
The district said $47,000 of the settlement was paid by the insurance company.
Pollock said that even though legal fees are covered by the insurance company, there is “still significant amount of time involved and expense involved in defense of litigation.”
“It was important for the board to continue to evaluate the pending matters and to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and recognizes the importance, not only of defending this board, but also the importance of recognizing the need to put the resources and the money where they need to go,” Pollock said.
Board member Sue Devine said that anyone who has ever researched or been involved with litigation, “certainly understands that sometimes these agreements are solely a financial, business decision.”
Devine said she wants to be a good steward of taxpayer money and felt like the agreement was “the right thing to do.”
Pollock explained the purpose of the non-disclosure agreement is, “to make sure that there is a focus on the board moving forward in a prospective manner,” noting that how the two parties got there is “for the lawyers to worry about.”
“The board, as you understand, it is important for them to focus on continuing to serve the community, to serve the students, to serve the staff of this district and this agreement will certainly allow you to do that,” Pollock said.
Hackett was removed as principal at Northwood Elementary School on April 24, 2015.
At the time, Allen called it a termination and said the decision to remove the principal was hers and not the result of board action.
The superintendent said allegations of “unprofessional behavior” against Hackett were brought to the board office about a week before Hackett was removed.
“At that point, we went into investigation mode,” Allen said at the time.
In a letter included with Hackett’s personnel file, Allen listed seven allegations against the former principal that were used for her termination.
Allen accused Hackett of using school employees, during their school scheduled hours, to work at her home; using school-owned property at her home for personal use; “repeated instances” of profanity; failing to follow the district’s teacher evaluation process; misrepresenting information to staff including information about blizzard bag make-up days and the district’s redistricting plan; and falsification of information provided to staff about building and district matters.
After Hackett was terminated, the district filed a report with the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) as required. In February 2018, ODE filed a letter officially admonishing Hackett for her actions.
According to information in the Ohio Department of Education database, Hackett currently holds a five-year elementary school principal license and a five-year superintendent license, both of which were approved in November 2018. She also holds a permanent license to teach kindergarten through eighth grade, issued in 1997.