‘Shocked:’ Columbus school board member shares why she leaked memo at center of scandal

A Columbus City Schools board member said Thursday that she was responsible for sharing the document with the Columbus Education Association, which is now the center of controversy as the board seeks to close district schools.

In a statement Thursday where she emphasized that she was speaking in a personal capacity, board member Sarah Ingles said she was the one who shared the document with the Columbus Education Association.

The document in question is an outline of a strategy for dealing with opposition to school closures and was first published Tuesday by the Columbus Education Association, the union that represents the district’s more than 4,500 education professionals. In its statement, the CEA said the document was racially divisive and called for a pause in the closure process and the resignation of board member Brandon Simmons.

More: Read the leak: What to know about the document at the center of a Columbus schools scandal

Neither Simmons nor other school board members returned calls seeking comment. On Tuesday, Simmons said at two hastily called press conferences that the document was the product of collaboration with other members and stakeholders.

Ingles said she was not present at any meeting where the document was shared and was unaware of its existence until it was shared with her. Ingles said that “after seriously considering what was best for the district and our students,” she decided to share the document.

“I was shocked and offended when I read it,” Ingles said in a statement. “Our work in the district is too important for these types of divisive and absurd tactics.”

CEA President John Coneglio told The Columbus Dispatch he praised Ingles for doing the right thing. He said he made it public because he didn’t want the matter to be swept under the rug.

“Politicians who do the right thing need support,” Coneglio said. “I’m sure the district would have loved to have handled this internally, but we would still have these bad actors doing this type of thing in the future because no one knows about it.”

Who is Sarah English?

Ingles is a first-term councilor elected in November, with a term expiring in 2027.

Ingles, a Near East Side resident, is currently a Democratic general counsel in the Ohio House of Representatives and previously worked as a union lawyer. Ingles campaigned to rebuild trust and relationships with the CEA, The Dispatch previously reported.

CEA: District promulgated elements of leaked strategy document

In a statement Thursday, the CEA said the union’s legal counsel sent a letter to Columbus City Schools detailing what it said was evidence that the Board of Education had already enacted parts of the controversial leaked plan.

The letter to the district primarily points to what it says are irregularities in seating and scheduling and a change in the location of Tuesday’s board meeting.

The release also points to the widely covered tour of Columbus Alternative High School and Downtown High School held on Tuesday, May 14. The leaked document details plans for a press conference on Tuesday, May 14, “in our oldest, worst, most crumbled (sic) building.”

Coneglio said he doesn’t believe Simmons acted alone.

“I never thought of anyone acting alone,” Coneglio said. “Brandon was definitely part of this process – but I don’t think Brandon was alone.”

More: Who is Brandon Simmons? What to know about the CCS board member at the center of the leak scandal

In her only statement since Tuesday’s release, board President Christina Vera during Tuesday’s board meeting stated that Simmons “was not asked to provide any recommendations and did so independently.”

She also said that the strategies outlined in the document “do not represent the perspectives of Columbus City Schools or the entire Board of Education” and that “no action has been or will be taken…to implement the board member’s suggestions.”

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Cbehrens@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus City Schools Board Member Sarah Ingles Speaks Out on Leaked Documents