How Ohio’s Copley-Fairlawn School District Keeps Their Lily-White Reputation

by Karoli on January 26, 2011 · 120 comments

photo of kelley williams-bolar

This is a tale of two children, two school districts, four schools, a single African-American mom, and injustice. It is also a tale about how No Child Left Behind has failed. But more than all of that, it’s about how our educational system, our economy, and our society is failing the poor and disadvantaged, regardless of race. It’s about urban and suburban, about the fierce love and protectiveness of a single mom, about her efforts to better her own life as much as it is about her dream that her children would have a better life, and a cautionary tale about what will happen if school vouchers replace the public education system. It’s also about racism and exclusivity. About segregation and separate, but certainly not equal.

Meet Kelly Williams-Bolar

Kelly Williams-Bolar is a 40-year old single mother. She has two daughters, age 14 and 16. And Kelly Willliams-Bolar is now a convicted felon just released after serving her jail time. She was not convicted for drugs, or stealing, or violence. Before this year, she had no criminal record. She was convicted for sending her children to school in the neighboring school district where her 64-year old father lives.

Ms. Williams-Bolar was almost done completing her degree in education at Akron University. She worked as a special education teacher’s aide at Buchtel High School in the Akron School District. Her father had a stroke 3 or 4 years ago, and she was his sole caretaker. She lived in subsidized rented housing on Hartford Street in Akron when she wasn’t at her father’s house on Black Pond Road in adjacent Copley Township. There’s not much distance between the two locations — about 3 miles or so.


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I don’t know much more about her than I’ve written here, most of it gleaned from newspaper reports of her trial. I can’t tell you what her favorite thing to do with her daughters was, or how she felt about the pressure of raising two daughters in poverty while working as hard as she could to better herself. I can’t tell you any of that. But I can tell you that she was working for something better for herself and her children, and she was deeply concerned about their safety.

It’s safe to also infer this: If she was working during the day at Buchtel High School, she was attending Akron University at night. That meant it was entirely likely that her girls were either on their own in an unsafe neighborhood or they had to stay with their grandfather when she went to school.

Akron School District

Here are some statistics about the Akron School District and specifically, about the schools where Williams-Bolar’s daughters would have attended.

Perkins Middle School
The eldest daughter would have attended Perkins Middle School. The 2009-2010 report card issued for this school has designated it as a school on “Academic Watch”. It is a Title I school under NCLB. Out of 8 state indicators, it met 1. On the Performance Index it scored 75.4. It did not meet the benchmarks for “adequate yearly progress”. For that school year, 461 students were enrolled. Of those, 92.8% of them are classified as “economically disadvantaged”, 92.1% of them are black, and 5% are multi-racial.

Schumacher Academy Elementary School
The youngest daughter would have attended Schumacher Academy. The 2009-2010 report card issued for this school has designated it as a school making “Continuous Improvement”, which is one step up from “Academic Watch”. It is a Title I school under NCLB. Out of 8 state indicators, it met 2. On the Performance Index it scored 81.0. It did not meet the benchmarks for “adequate yearly progress”. For that school year, 202 students were enrolled. Of those, 100% of them are classified as “economically disadvantaged”. 93.4% of them are black, with the remaining percentages scattered across the other classes, none large enough to measure.

The state pays $6,601 per pupil in the Akron School District. The per-pupil expenditure for Akron is $13,200. The difference is paid for via local taxes and presumably, federal revenues.

Copley – Fairlawn School District

Here are some statistics about the Copley-Fairlawn School District, where Williams-Bolar enrolled her daughters.

Copley-Fairlawn Middle School
The eldest daughter attended Perkins Middle School. The 2009-2010 report card issued for this school has designated it as “Excellent with Distinction”. Out of 11 state indicators, it met 11. On the Performance Index it scored 103.1 out of 120. It met the benchmarks for “adequate yearly progress”. For that school year, 1,060 students were enrolled. Of those, 16.2% of them are classified as “economically disadvantaged”, 73.6% of them are white, 13.9% black, and 6.3% are Asian. Poverty status is ranked as “low poverty”.

Arrowhead Primary Elementary School
The youngest daughter attended Arrowhead Primary Elementary School. The 2009-2010 report card issued for this school has designated it as “Excellent”. Out of 5 state indicators, it met 5. On the Performance Index it scored 103.8 out of 120. It met the benchmarks for “adequate yearly progress”. For that school year, 361 students were enrolled. Of those, 15.9% of them are classified as “economically disadvantaged”, 82.7% of them are white, 9.9% black, and 4.5% are multi-racial. Poverty status is ranked as “low poverty”.

The state pays $2,071 per pupil in the Copley-Fairlawn School District. The per-pupil expenditure for Akron is $9,928. The difference is paid for via local property taxes and presumably, federal revenues. According to this columnist, 53 cents of every property tax dollar in Copley goes to the school system.

Poor children left behind?

The numbers speak for themselves. Any parent evaluating school options for their child would be crazy to choose Akron over Copley-Fairlawn, assuming they had a choice. Further, because both of the Akron schools were Title I schools, parents would have had the option to transfer their children to schools within that district which were performing, but unfortunately, the entire district is underperforming.

It’s impossible to ignore the correlation between poverty and school performance, too, and this is one of the biggest arguments surrounding the whole NCLB model. Underperforming schools end up losing federal funding due to student transfers, which causes them to underperform even more. The disparity between state allocations to the two districts is based upon a weird Ohio formula which is heavily reliant on property tax revenues. According to this report, it’s been found unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court on four separate occasions since 1997, and still seems to be quite disparate, simply based upon the split between Akron and Copley-Fairlawn. Akron receives poverty-based adjustments; Copley-Fairlawn does not.

How would vouchers have worked?

Under the voucher proposals floated over the years, each parent would be given a voucher toward their child’s education, which they could then use toward their child’s attendance at a public or private school of their choice. However, vouchers would not have helped this family because the Copley-Fairlawn school district is still a closed district, and doesn’t accept children who do not reside within their district borders.

Not participating in Ohio’s open enrollment program is an easy way of keeping a school system homogenous, wouldn’t you say?

Race is a huge elephant in the room

Let the words in this recent Ohio.com op-ed sink in:

Copley has been working for years to rid the district of every outside student who has not been accepted (they must meet certain academic and behavior standards) and is not paying tuition. I wrote about the crusade back in March of 2008, when I reported that the district was offering $100 rewards to anyone blowing the whistle on an illegal outsider.

I also reported the district’s frustration with a 2006 case in which a different local judge said she could find no case law that supports ”the conclusion that failure to pay tuition constitutes theft of ‘professional services.’ ”

Dyer’s 2008 article is behind an archive paywall, but I found this post referencing it:

Today’s Akron Beacon Journal reports that the school has also hired private detectives to root out the imposters. Even Wheadon is putting in extra hours, seven days a week, unpaid, to track down folks stealing from his till. And he’s not pleased by his discoveries. Many of the families in question rent cheap apartments in Copley, hoping to meet residency requirements. But the families never move, leaving the places in various states of disrepair. “The other day we were in a house (that somebody claimed to be living in),’” Wheadon told the Beacon. “And in one room there are nothing but empty liquor bottles all over the floor. And right in front of you is the living room, with no furniture whatsoever. Just a fireplace and a doughnut. That’s all that’s in the house.” Wheadon is now looking to the state legislature to dissuade parents from sneaking their kids into the district. And he’s found a supporter in Beacon columnist Bob Dyer. “Many of the outlaw parents say they’re financially strapped and only trying to do what’s best for their children,” writes Dyer, who lives in Copley. “But they could say the same thing about stealing new shoes. That excuse just doesn’t cut it. It’s time to adjust the theft laws. That would give legislators something to do while they sit around ignoring the Supreme Court’s order to fix school funding.”

That was 2008. The so-called “thefts of service” Williams-Bolar was accused of took place in 2006-2007. And you know what? They hired private detectives to follow her, videotape her, and ultimately, convict her. Do you think perhaps the color of her skin had something to do with it?

Lest we forget, Williams-Bolar’s father LIVES in Copley. Is he not part of the tax base? Even if he’s renting the home he’s living in, someone owns it and is paying property taxes. So how is it that this becomes “theft”?

Go look at that map again and see how close Copley Township is to Akron boundaries. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that when they’re talking about “families in question”, they’re talking about people of color. That bullshit about them not moving doesn’t make sense either, given that these are people living in POVERTY. They’re not exactly in a position to rent two homes, even if one is partly financed via public assistance.

I don’t have the answers to how to lift the children in the Akron school district out of their poverty, but I know this much. When someone is working toward a better life, has no criminal record, and is trying to be a good parent, the color of their skin should not invite them to be followed like a dog in order to toss them out of the white schools.

And that, my friends, is exactly what happened. It’s wrong, it’s ugly, and it’s happening all over this country.

Tagged as: Akron, Copley Township, courts, Legal, NCLB, Ohio, poverty, Williams-Bolar

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  • Anonymous

    Karoli.

    So, of what community is she a citizen? Just like our Mexican neighbors, she is a citizen of somewhere, but she is apparently not a citizen of the community where she is stealing education and benefits to her personal benefit and to the detriment of the proper citizens of the community. How can that be justified? I am hoping someone/anyone can provide illumination.

  • Allison_hchy

    Karoli, you can throw out an opinion when your taxes pay for kids who don’t legally belong in Copley schools. Until then, don’t speak for those of us who have been stolen from for years by this woman.

  • http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ Karoli

    The fact of her citizenship was never in question. She resides in Akron. Her father resides in Copley. The only question is where her daughters live.

  • http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ Karoli

    “those from poverty stricken backrounds acting uncivilized, wild, and insubordinate.” That says it all. Because living in poverty certainly causes one’s brain to melt into uncivilized, wild, insubordinate ways.

  • http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ Karoli

    My taxes *do* pay for kids who are citizens of this country and are entitled to receive an education that prepares them to enter the workforce and actually *educates* them. So yeah, I get to have an opinion.

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  • Facts-you-dont-know

    Our educational system does need reformed. But you should know all the facts.

    Obviously the Copley-Fairlawn school system suspected that some kids didn’t live in the school district. For example, some of the grade school age children would be left in front of abandoned homes in the school district so that the school bus would pick them up (regardless of the image that may be in your mind, we have plenty of abandoned houses and families facing tough times in Copley-Fairlawn). When the bus driver would pick the children up, they would notice there were no foot or vehicle tracks in the snow leading to or from the abandoned houses that the kids would say they lived at. In an effort to confirm if these kids belonged in the school district, repeated attempts were made to contact the parents of the children in question. The school system would use any and all contact information they had been provided. As a matter of safety, the school system needed to know how to contact someone in case of emergency. After exhausting other methods to contact the parents in question, the school system would ask the kids how to contact their parents. It was sometimes obvious that the children involved were instructed and “coached” to lie about where they lived and how to contact their parents. Teaching kids how to lie and conceal the truth – is that what your supporting?

    On occasion, some of the parent/guardians of the 48 families involved would actually drop their children off at school. When a teacher or principal would realize that the little person walking into school was the child of a parent that could never be contacted, they would attempt to speak to the driver of the vehicle. But often these parents were more concerned about concealing their lies and would speed away from the teacher or principal.

    Please don’t forget how Ms. Williams-Bolar lied and provided whatever conflicting information was needed at that moment in order to secure various forms of assistance? Its ironic that she wants to be a teacher. Hopefully she won’t be teaching anything that requires ethics. Her students will clearly need to learn those lessons elsewhere.

  • http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ Karoli

    Let me ask you a question. Actually, I’d like you to read this post first. http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/2011/02/02/separate-and-unequal/

    Then I’ll ask this: Given the constraints she was under, and given that her father did live in the district, what would you have done? ESPECIALLY working inside that district.

    We can argue all day long about this, but it comes down to inequality, poverty, and the amazing ability of the “haves” to turn their heads and point fingers rather than look at the real reasons for decisions like this.

  • Cody

    I find it hard to think that racism is not involved, I hope funds are raised and she gets a good attorney and appeals this injustice. I bet if she had sons that were great at Basketball they would gladly look the other way. I hope there is an investigation to assure all the basketball players on there team that are black truly live in the district and there are no white students enrolled that they look the other way on.

  • Anonymous

    Karoli, you can have an opinion, but you don’t get a vote unless you live in and pay taxes to the actual community that is being robbed by this education thief. Given your argument, your taxes are also apparently going to support the Akron schools as much as the Copley-Fairlawn schools. If so, you should be all over the Akron schools to raise their performance.

    For example, my mother lives in Sweden. Can I go there for a few months to get some free medical care I’ve been deferring and then spend a little financially supported R&R on top of that? I don’t think so. That’s because the folks in Sweden tax, pay for and provide these benefits to their citizens. Not to the citizens of somewhere else. Same in this situation. This woman felt entitled to do this because her father lived there. Give me a break.

    And, she was not working at a school “…inside…” that district unless you mean the Akron district. The two districts are not interchangeable ones any more than Mexico and Sweden are interchangeable with each other or the United States. . Her justification (and that of so many folks on this and other blogs) is that she’s just trying to provide a better life for her family. Well, that’s the same story line we hear from folks trying to rationalize why they jump the border illegally from Mexico. If this mother wanted her kids in Copley-Fairlawn schools so badly, she should have moved the +/- 2 miles to that community.

  • JamesD

    Karoli screams racism and shows that he/she is the racist.

    Quit ignoring the facts.

    This lady was not singled out because of her color. She was convicted because instead of resolving it when given the opportunity, she was defiant and continued to be fraudulent.

    Poverty is the root cause? Nope, not at all when you realize that Akron Public Schools spend $13,200.00 per pupil and Copley only spends $9,928.00 and Akron gets more money from the State of Ohio per pupil.

    I do believe poverty is a symptom of what is going on though. We have a whole lot of “have nots” that don’t care to better themselves and in turn, that thought process is how their children are raised. It’s a continuous cycle.

    Instead of falsely screaming racism, the black community should come together and condemn what this lady did and then more importantly, focus on why inner city children are not succeeding and fight to fix the parent’s apathy, the culture that is better to be a loser, not cool to learn, cool to speak Ebonics, etc.

    No amount of money is going to fix this broken culture but concerned parents can!

  • http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ Karoli

    How exactly was she supposed to come up with the money? I’ll wait.

  • http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ Karoli

    I pointed out the disparity in funding in my original post. I would be curious to know how much of that extra funding actually gets to classrooms, or whether it’s spent on other items and/or administrative costs.

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  • JamesD

    What does it matter since they still get over $3000 more per kid? You are blaming this situation on poverty and unequal resources and that is what I am disputing.

    If this was a white woman, she would have received the exact same penalty (assuming she was defiant, continued to try to commit fraud and turned down the opportunity to resolve like the actual lady was) and there would be very little uproar at all.

    Racists such as yourself make it about race and that is sad (your title proves this as it is ignorant considering the facts).

    Be honest with yourself, if the perp was a white lady, besides not getting near all the attention, would not the black community that is so offended right now have turned against her and called her a racist for trying to send her white kids to a different school, away from the Akron one that is 95% black?

    I know the answer.

    So, if you really want to help improve things, quit blaming everything on poverty and racism and eanestly try to help change the failing culture within the inner city schools – thats the only hope we all have as I do want the best for ALL kinds, black, white, pink, yellow, etc.

  • JamesD

    I am not sure I am following your question. You mean to pay back Copley? If she had tried to resolve it instead of continuing the fraud, they would have worked something out with her like they did with the other 40 plus families and they may have forgiven a portion but she was defiant.

    Worst that would have happened is she would have been sued in a civil court and that would suck for her credit rating, etc. but she did steal you know.

  • JamesD

    Suppossed to be “for ALL *kids*”

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  • Facts-you-dont-know

    What constrants! There are assisted living complexes in Copley! There are apartment complexes in Copley. There are abandoned homes in Copley. There are plenty of homes for sale in Copley -many for less than $20k. She simply could have moved into the district and thereby supported it by paying property taxes or helping to enable the property owner of the complex to pay their property taxes.

    We CAN argue all day about this. The “haves” are not turning their heads. The “haves” would love to have her in the district and she is free and able to move into the district. The real reason she got into this situation can be found in her own family. As evidenced by her father’s record of suing everybody from government officials to school systems to everyone he comes into contact with (check public records), she was mentored into believing that she can bend the rules and never be at fault. This isn’t “the man” keeping them down – this is the Williams-Bolar family falsely believing its OK to lie cheat and steal – and then blame it on race, poverty and inequality.

    When people such as yourself indicate that race, poverty and inequality are the cause for someone making stupid decisions, it only serves to dull these points for situations when they really apply and need to be said.

  • Dbookwormy

    What can we do? No, seriously. I’m down to campaign, write letters what? Kelly Williams-Bolar and her father, Edward L. Williams need to be pardoned by the Mayor, Govenor and President! Corporations rob and ruin the American economy and get a bail-out but this law-abiding single mom goes to jail. Additionally, she loses her opportunity (not to mention all the struggle and sacrifice of night school) to obtain her degree and work in education, receives three years probation, and has to regret giving her daughters a better educational opportunity than the laws said she had a right to. I am utterly disgusted and deeply saddened by this tragedy. Shame on America, AGAIN.

  • Dbookwormy

    I was educated in one of the most exclusive private schools in NYC from grade 1-12. I received the best education offered. I attended a top rated (“Little Ivy”) college and received two Masters degress from an Ivy. I have worked in education for 18 years. First as a teacher, then Guidance counselor, now Assistant Principal. I have worked in exclusive private schools, excellent public schools, a horrendous charter school, and now a fabulous zoned public school in an urban Brooklyn community. Without question, without doubt, this case is about race, poverty, lack of opportunity and access, and the American way. The institutionalized issues that lend to this case are numerous and deep rooted. They are the same issues that allow big corportions to receive bail-outs and you and I to live hand-to-mouth waiting for tax returns that will be delayed or threatened not to be released at all. I guarantee if someone took a poll we would find that families who lie about residency so their children can attend better schools is as common as “jay walking.” I could be wrong but I don’t think people are being locked up for that. Apathy is the reason she had to lie. If the schools available to her were good and safe this all would be a non-issue. She can’t change the “apathy” of the people in her community. She can go to work and night school and say they live with her dad (where they probably spent enough time to constitute residency anyway) She isn’t apathetic or teaching her daughters that school is uncool or that education shouldn’t be valued or that ebonics is the only way to communicate. She is more a victim of the system than she is a criminal of the court. If your skin is white you exist in this country with an entitlement you can’t possibly comprehend unless you actively work on understanding the many levels and dynamics of racism and/or you move into a ghetto project and try to maintain that you can swim better and faster than all the drowning people around you pulling at your straps.

  • Jamest297

    Fact is, a jury found that these kids were not entitled to the services of the community they did not live in and their mother repeatedly lied and covered up to continue the fraud. She knew what she was doing was illegal so she engaged in all sorts of shenanigans to keep up the appearances.

    Remebber Watergate? Nixon didn’t break in toDemocratic headquarters, but the lying and covering up got him impeached until he had to resign under extraordinary pressure.
    Same with Clinton. If any of you can remember his bad behavior while in office, it wasn’t the actual behavior that got him impeached, it was the lying and covering it up afterward. This nefarious lady did the same and the system pursued her because it had no choice – otherwise every other Education thief or anyone considering a similar charade would be incented to do the exact same thing.

    I have an idea for an encore: If we like the free Government run Education system so much, let’s roll out a free Government run health care system so everyone can get the health care they deserve and are entitled to.

  • JamesD

    Wow, how sad. All of your education leads you to blame America and poverty for this woman’s actions. Well, we all know that today’s college enviorment is fodder for the sick liberal mind.

    I would bet my life you are one of those idealistic and clueless liberals that voted Obummer into office.

    Maybe you really believe in the nonsensical words you spout and don’t realize that you are hurting the very people you claim to be attempting to help.

    Until you and the people you want to help decide to quit making excuses about skin color and poverty, we are doomed as a country long term and much worse will happen when the far left gets your attention to commit atrocities.

    The only hope we have is for people like you wake up and realize your have been played like a pawn and the only salvation is self determination to improve your situation instead of playing the victimhood and race card.

    Your post is absolutely 100% pathetic.

  • JamesD

    She should lose any opportunity to educate kids – do you really want a black female that thinks everything is owed to her and that lying, cheating and stealing are the correct answers to their problems?

    Get a grip on some principles and reality if you truly want to help those that need help.

  • Sherma

    The issue is that there was an injustice done to this mother…to make her a felon for having her kids go to a school outside her district is ridiculous and makes me ashamed to live in this country and appalled at our judicial and educational system !

  • Sherma

    What is pathetic is this judicial system…the fact that this mother is being treated and charged as harden criminal for having her kids attend a school out of her district. Whether one considers this racist or not..there is definitely an injustice that has been done to this woman.

  • Sherma

    If you face reality….that’s what America (and politics) is based upon..liars, cheaters and theives….Please!

  • Sherma

    I don’t condemn this mother…I commend her for trying to get her children a good education. If all schools were “equally good” then she would not have to go outside her district. If you have children, try sending them to a school in this mothers district and you’ll see the disparity.

  • Jamest297

    I sense a lot of time and energy trying to capture Tinkerbell that could be better spent reading the daily news.

  • confused

    On 2/3/11, in the Akron Beacon Journal, Ms Williams-Bolar stated that she enrolled her daughters in Copley-Fairlawn schools so that they would not be alone after school at her home in Akron. Her concern was not the quality of Akron schools, but rather the safety of her children after school. Her thinking apparently was if they went to Copley-Fairlawn schools, then they could be bused to their Grandfather’s home after the school day was over.

    On 12/10/08, after investigating the claim made by Ms Williams-Bolar that she was being discriminated against by Copley-Fairlawn schools in their efforts to have her children removed, the US Department of Education found that their was no discrimination involved.

    So if 1) she was not concerned about the quality of Akron schools and 2) their was no discrimination involved on the part of Copley-Fairlawn schools, then how does this story have anything to do with access to good education or racism?

  • http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ Karoli

    In my original post on this story over at Crooks and Liars, I raised that possibility as well, that her daughters would either have to stay home alone or with their grandfather while she attended classes. Nevertheless, there are many elements at play. Safety at school is also a concern. And yes, quality is a concern. Given that she works for the Akron school district, she may not have been interested in trashing her employer publicly, after all. It’s impolitic.

    And the bottom line here is that one school district succeeds while another fails, with less spent per student and by excluding students that might hamper that success in their eyes. It’s all in play.

  • http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ Karoli

    As to what you can do…the topmost thing in my opinion is to get and stay involved in the ongoing “education reform” debate, which is being framed along “union vs. everyone else” lines (and vice versa) right now. We need to stand up and DEMAND that this debate be about how our children are educated, rather than how those who educate are paid. What makes a school great? What makes one terrible? Where are the differences? How can we port the parts that make a great school to those that aren’t great? And what measurements should we use to decide they’re great. I am unconvinced that standardized tests are the right measurement.

  • Conniejks

    Most honest mexicans pay taxes in our country then don’t get their money back come tax season. Just saying because im married to one. I can understand wanting to better your children, I think the charges were a bit retarted, but that’s why it pays just to be an honest person. I read another blog on this and they sort of made me feel less bad abot her when they said where’s the reperation for the black people. Sorry race card is old. Im white and I get the racism cause my daughter is latina. We live down south in a all white town. Just saying….

  • Randallhank

    15% is above the national average/percentage. So it’s hard to claim that it’s lily white.

  • Randallhank

    Yes, the school funding issue needs to be addressed, but this woman made her own bed. The school system gave her lots of chances to get off without indictment. And she was convicted unanimously by a jury of her peers.

  • Cpcmnt

    So the FACT that she lied to the State and took the money for saying her kids lived with her in Akron, discounted housing, and the FACT that she works for Akron Schools, and the FACT that she was offered a $1600 settlement that she declined doesnt matter? I suppose if it truly was about her kids, she could have moved them into her Dads house, and then not broken the law. This has NOTHING to do with race as this article wants to claim, It has to do with a liar, a defrauder, and a mother who’s corruption has exceeded doing for her kids, and has gone on to putting money in her pockets. Those are the FACTS. She stole from the State in discounted housing, she lied to both school districts, and she stole from the Copley Failawn school district. And when she was offerred a cheap get out of jail card,$1600 settlement, she flaunted her arrogance and got jammed. FACTS. By all means share which of those facts are not correct.

  • Cpcmnt

    By the way, do you have a clue to the ethnic make up of Copley Fairlawn schools? Lily white republicans they arent. Get your FACTS straight before spewing hatefull racist comments. It is fools like yourself that continue racism, while waiving the banner of equality. Your article isnt worth the cyber space it takes up.

  • confused

    I don’t think you can say safety and quality of the school was a concern for Ms. Williams-Bolar when she stated that it was not. The question of safety pertains exclusively to the daughters status after school.

    Yes, one school district fails while another succeeds. Akron does spend more money per student, so clearly money won’t solve the district’s problems. The district has some successful schools, why? Regardless, we don’t know if Ms. Williams-Bolar’s daughters were good students or not. To say this was an effort to remove poor performing students is speculative; There is no proof.

    The fact simply is that these children didn’t belong in school because they didn’t live in the district. To make it anything else is to ignore the facts, and the truth, in favor of a misguided agenda.

  • Randallhank

    Just to clarify the b.s. “lily white” moniker further: Copley has a lower percentages of “white” students (75%) than the national average (79%), and a higher percentage of African American students (16%) than the national average (12.9%). As high performing suburban school districts go, I would bet that makes Copley-Fairlawn far more diverse than most. Ironically, it is likely that this is precisely the reason Williams-Bolar thought she could get away with the fraud.

  • Kab70

    How are the people who live in the Copley-Fairlawn school district to blame for her choice to break the law? My husband and I work very hard and sacrifice everyday to live in Copley and legally send our kids to Copley Schools. My parents have lived in Copley for 40 plus years. It never crossed my mind to use their address to get my kids in Copley schools. We bit the bullet and moved into a small house in Copley. If Kelley Williams-Bolar had not been trying to work the system by receiving public assistance while lying about her residence, she would not have gone to jail. If she her neighborhood was so unsafe, why not just move in with her father like she said she did? If she had settled with the school district like all of the other people lying about residency when she was first found out, she would not have gone to jail. This is not about race. What it boils down to is obeying the laws in place instead of thinking you are above the law and entitled to what you haven’t earned. I agree that the educational system across the nation is not working. Why do you think that Copley-Fairlawn has the excellent performance record it currently has? We parents in the district work hard to keep our kids in line, we volunteer at the schools, and we support the teachers and administration. Parental involvement is a key to good schools. That doesn’t entitle us to break the law and steal to get what we think we are owed. My son will be driving soon. I want him in a safer car than our 12 year old pick up truck. Would it be ok if I went out and stole a car for him? Why not? I only want what is best for my kids. I am so over this business. She gambled and lost. It is the chance you take when you openly break the law.

  • Cpcmnt

    Oh this is sweet. Oh Karoli, where are you now that the taped phone conversations are released? Seems that its not about her kids, or schools, or being a victim, but rather about a movie deal, and getting paid for interviews. Yessir you certainly hitched your wagon to a very righteous, honest upstanding citizen. Bravo!

  • http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ Karoli

    Did you hear the NPR interview with her? If not, stay tuned. NPR, btw, doesn’t pay anything for exclusives. So yeah, tell me more about those convos. And doesn’t it creep you out even a little that her phone convos were taped?

  • Cfbsk12

    Great analysis, great writing, “keepingit real.” Bull Connor and George Wallace would be proud of the Copley Township school district – “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, and segregation for ever!” (I wonder how many votes Wallace got form Copley in his presidential bid in the Ohio primary?)

  • Cfbsk12

    Did she “get the money,” or did the money go to the school district as part of its per pupil ADM enrollment count? Where were her lawyers on this. Yea, a bad school district could not “count” this child on thier rolls, but another Ohio school district (Copely-Fairlawn did). That the child was not wan in clor would not matter to John Duly who famously nworte “What the best wisest parent desires for his child, that must we desire for all children. Any other ideal is unlovely; if acted upon (as it was here) it will destroy democracy.”

  • Roberito

    wow, this was another one-sided argument by another black disadvantaged person. so sorry that i started reading about all of this. She was singled out because she was the only person that thought she could get away with breaking the law (because of her skin color). This whole thing is making everyone take sides and is killing anything that anyone has ever worked for in regards to race relations. I can’t stand black people again. I wish there was a city that they stayed in where they ruined their schools, instead of sneaking into a racially diverse school like Copley. Most of the races get along here, but not anymore. Blacks are crying that they are disadvantaged. Well, they are. They are stupid lazy and worthless. That’s why whites are forced to give jobs to blacks in order to meet a quota, forced to give them welfare money, and forced to give them college admission over any other race. Thank you black people for ruining this country.

  • Cpcmnt

    Idiotic comment. Do you have a clue to the diversity in the Copley school system? Get a clue and dont mindlessly swallow the garbage people try to feed you.

  • Cpcmnt

    ALL Jail house calls are taped…….do you have any actual knowledge of anything? Whats the weather like in your parents basement? Do you have any real life experience that somehow makes you think you are capable of commenting on situations or people with whom you have nothing in common?

  • Cpcmnt

    I did not listen to the drivel on NPR. But all I had to hear was that Al Sharpton is going to ride in to save her……..theres credibility and honesty, and integrity. There goes the credibility train…………………..

  • WAMMAM3667

    She simply needs to move to Copley Fairlawn. The children are her children not her Fathers’s children. How about her taking advantage of the Housing Authority? I guess that is OK to do since she is Black.

    It must be nice to through the “Race Card” when things don’t go our way in life.

  • Anonymous

    Dingbat – why does she need to go outside her district when her district spends thousnands more dollars per pupil to educate?

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