Forest Hills school board parts with district treasurer but won't say why
The board members who voted to part ways with Treasurer Alana Cropper wouldn't go into details as to why. The board approved her resignation along with a "release and separation agreement" and a "consulting contract," both documents The Enquirer has since sought through an Ohio Open Records Act request.
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Cropper came to Forest Hills in 2018 after serving as treasurer of the West Clermont Local School District and Winton Woods City Schools. Her most recent contract with Forest Hills goes through July 2025 and states she makes an annual salary of more than $140,000. In her most recent evaluation, the board gave her a total average rating of 5.9 out of 9, landing her score in the "satisfactory/adequate" category.
But on Thursday, three school board members voted in favor of not renewing her contract. In a 3-2 vote, Bob Bibb, Katie Stewart and Sara Jonas voted to approve her separation from the district. Jason Simmons and Wendy Strickler voted no, and prompted their colleagues to explain why Cropper was being kicked out.
Neither Cropper nor Bibb, who is school board president, could be immediately reached for comment Friday morning.
"You were offered a choice to resign or be nonrenewed, is that correct?" Simmons asked Cropper during the board meeting.
"That's correct," Cropper said. "It was communicated to me that the three (school board) members were not in favor of me continuing."
More: Who will replace longtime Cincinnati Schools treasurer Jennifer Wagner? See who applied
Simmons then asked Bibb, Stewart and Jonas, "what is the rationale for deciding not to renew Alana and going down this route?"
They did not answer. Bibb said he would "not publicly talk about HR matters."
"I agree," Jonas said.
Simmons said that those three school board members decided to not renew Cropper's contract months ago. Before he joined the board, Simmons said, people told him that Bibb, Stewart and Jonas were "going to try to get rid of Alana."
There have been "some serious allegations" made about Cropper that Simmons said he hasn't found to be true, including mismanagement of funds.
The Ohio Auditor of State confirmed to The Enquirer that there is no active investigation into Cropper or the district.
"Alana, thank you for your service to this district and I think we are going to struggle to find anybody nearly as qualified as you are," Simmons said during the meeting.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Forest Hills treasurer forced out at Thursday school board meeting
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