Woman Who Falsified Records to Keep Children in Copley-Fairlawn Schools Will Go to Jail

An Akron woman is headed to jail for providing false information so her two children could attend Copley-Fairlawn Schools.

Kelly Williams-Bolar, 40, of Akron will serve 10 days in jail for providing false information, according to a news release from Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh.

Williams-Bolar enrolled two children in the Copley-Fairlawn Schools from August 2006 to the end of the 2008 school year. She claimed that the children were living with their grandparents in Copley Township.

The district does not have open enrollment.

An investigation by the school proved that the students at times lived with their mother at her Akron address and were dropped off at a bus stop in Copley Township. At a residency hearing with Copley-Fairlawn school officials, prosecutors said both Williams-Bolar and her father told school officials that the children and the mother lived in the district.

The Summit County Juvenile court subsequently found false information on an application for power of attorney filed by the grandparents.

During this time Williams-Bolar refused to withdraw her children from the district.

Williams-Bolar was charged with one count of grand theft, a fourth-degree felony and two counts of tampering with records, which are third-degree felonies. The jury was hung on the grand theft charge. It also was hung on two grand theft charges, one against Williams-Bolar and one against her father, Edward Williams, 64, of Copley.

In addition to the jail time, Judge Patricia Cosgrove suspended two five-year prison terms -- the maximum penalty for the charges -- and two years probation.

At 1 p.m. Jan. 24, prosecutors will ask Judge Cosgrove to address remaining counts in an indictment against the grandfather, unrelated allegations of theft associated with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. Prosecutors also will decide whether they will revisit the hung counts of grand theft against Williams-Bolar and her father.

Copley-Fairlawn Schools Superintendent Brian Poe said the district felt it had to present the case to the prosecutor. "It sends a message that we are serious about following state law, which says you can attend our school -- which does not have open enrollment -- if you live here, or if you pay tuition.

"We just passed a levy," Poe said. "We need to be good stewards of that tax money and make sure it stays in the community."