Bedford City Board approves revised graduation list, multiple administrator hires and service contract

The Bedford City Board of Education on May 15 approved a revised graduation list, authorized a service contract for EMIS support and voted to confirm several administrator contracts and staff hires.

Interim Superintendent Tom Evans told the board, “There was a student that was inadvertently left off of the previous list, so I would ask the board to approve the revised graduation list exhibit s 1.” The board approved that request on a roll-call vote recorded as 4–0.

Evans asked the board to approve a service contract with the Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio for EMIS (education data) support during the 2026–27 school year (exhibit AA1). The motion to approve the contract passed 4–0.

The board then considered a series of certified employment contracts. Individual votes recorded in the meeting minutes or roll-call announcements show the board approved hiring or contract renewals for several administrators, including Joseph Commander (director-level contract; motion passed 3–1), Lanai Crawford (assistant principal), Antonio Gaines (primary school principal), Claire Downing (high school assistant principal; passed 3–1 with one dissent), Jamal Hamm (Dean of Academic Achievement), Amanda Price (Dean of Academic Achievement), Mary Catherine Rakowski (Title I coordinator), Angela Sewick (primary school principal; passed 3–1), and Brian Webster (Dean of Academic Achievement). Motions were regularly moved and seconded by board members Morton and Callender.

Superintendent Evans also asked that nonadministrative hires (including Gary Shuler, broadcast operator, and Shirley Stubbs, purchasing manager) be approved on the consent agenda; the board approved the consent item 4–0.

The board took a procedural vote to enter executive session earlier in the meeting to discuss personnel and potential litigation; minutes record that motion as passing 4–0. The board returned and completed the consent-agenda actions afterwards.

The meeting concluded with the board scheduling its next meeting for June 4, 2026, at 6 p.m. and a note about graduation logistics: board members were asked to arrive before 6:30 p.m. for the ceremony.

Votes at a glance: all consent-agenda items and the ESC service contract passed by recorded roll-call votes, primarily 4–0; several individual administrator contracts recorded 3–1 outcomes where noted in the meeting transcript.