AKRON — Akron Public Schools Superintendent Michael Robinson's emails are being called into question after school board members and others realized that the superintendent sets expiration dates so his emails disappear after a week.

What You Need To Know

  • The Akron teacher's union is considering legal action against school superintendent

  • The superintendent has sent emails to staff that disappear after a week

  • School districts are entitled to retain their own records and retention schedule

“I’m a public official. You can’t send me an email that dissolves. I have a responsibility and obligation to save records,” Gregory Harrison, Akron Public Schools board member.

Harrison addressed the Akron school board in November about emails he received from Robinson                                             

“You cannot send an email that you cannot download, you cannot print,” Harrison said.

Harrison and others said Robinson and his chief of staff are sending emails via Gmail’s confidential mode. The emails don’t have the option to forward, copy, print or download messages or attachments. Confidential mode allows the sender to set a message expiration date before the email is automatically deleted.

“I’d like to say we’re surprised, but I’d say that over the last 12 to 18 months, there’s been a concerning pattern of behaviors by this superintendent’s administration to do exactly the opposite of what they claim they want to do which is be transparent,” Shipe said.

Pat Shipe is president of the Akron Education Association. She said she was made aware of the disappearing emails before it was brought up at the school board meeting. She was notified by a recipient of one of the emails.

“His behaviors have been everything from unethical, we believe, to, in this case, potentially illegal,” Shipe said.

The school district put out a statement saying the existence and content of emails are retained within the district's email system, and:

“The decision to utilize Gmail's confidential mode in certain communications was made to address the sensitivity of some discussions, including personnel matters and preliminary budget considerations. 

The district will evaluate and update internal communication practices to ensure they align with both legal requirements and our commitment to open governance.”

The union and its legal counsel have met and have discussed potential legal action over their inability to save and print emails from the superintendent.

“We will make a decision on pursuing legal action in the very near future,” Shipe said.

A public record serves to document any public office.

 “It doesn’t matter what forms it comes in. If it serves to document the functions of a public office, it’s a public record,” said Daniel Jaffe, professor at the School of Law at Case Western Reserve University.

How long public records are kept vary based on the nature of record. Jaffe said each school district is entitled to retain its own records and retention schedule.

“Behaviors that we believe are union busting, anti-union, and that this only leads us to be more concerned about what we believe are his egregious behaviors to bury things and hide things from the public,” Shipe said.

Harrison spoke only briefly on the matter saying that he wanted to respect the board’s right to respond to his previous comments and how records are kept.

“I don’t have a comment. It’s public school board, public communication,” Harrison said.