CANTON: The five-year superintendent of the Canton City Schools resigned Monday, less than a week after the teachers’ union asked the school board for a closed-door session to discuss its grievances with her.Michele Evans’ departure also follows by approximately a month the board’s controversial 3-2 decision to override her recommendation to retain McKinley High School football coach Ronald Johnson.“In the view of the Board, Dr. Evans’ departure is the result of her own errors of judgment,” said board President Richard Milligan in a prepared statement.In an agreement approved by the board at a special meeting Monday, the board and Evans, who holds a doctoral degree, agreed not to sue each other over her employment or resignation.“Neither Dr. Evans, nor the members of the Board of Education, its Treasurer, and its Interim or Successor Superintendent will disparage each other,” the agreement said.The agreement calls for Evans to use her accumulated paid time, including vacation and sick leave, to continue to be paid through July 31. Her compensation could be reduced by any amount she may earn elsewhere.After accepting Evans’ resignation, the board voted to appoint Christopher Smith, director of curriculum and instruction, as interim superintendent.Prior to being hired by the city schools in 2010, Smith served four years as superintendent of the neighboring Plain Local Schools.The process for finding Evans’ replacement will start within two weeks, according to Milligan. He said the board hopes to have a new superintendent in six months.In her letter of resignation, Evans cited increases in student achievement and graduation rates dating to her 2005 hiring as director of testing, evaluation and research.“The District has received national recognition for its dramatic increase in high school graduation rates,” she wrote. “McKinley’s graduation rate reached 92.1 percent, increasing by more than 12 percent. Timken’s graduation rate rose to 87.7 percent, increasing by 18 percent.”She noted the district was named among Ohio’s most efficient by EdWorks, having reduced spending by $11 million over three years to achieve a balanced budget.District voters approved a $7.9 million operating levy in November, when only 21 percent of levies were approved statewide, she said.Monday’s board meeting had been called to consider whether it would hear the complaint of the Canton Professional Educators’ Association. The union withdrew its request for a hearing in the wake of Evans’ resignation.The union had reportedly planned to issue a public statement that it had no confidence in the superintendent.