THE FOLLOWING STORY IS BY STEVE BRANDY
ABOVE: Board Vice-President Shannon Schroeder (left) and Board President Randal Ashton (right) help newly named District 118 Interim Superintendent John Hart into his new seat.
Yes, the Danville District 118 School Board has named Assistant Superintendent John Hart as Interim Superintendent. And yes, longtime absent Superintendent Dr. Alicia Geddis has been placed on paid leave, with a pending separation settlement. But no, not everyone in the way overflow crowd at last (Tues Feb 19th) night’s board meeting left happy. Instead, it was a night of frustration all around, beginning with the 11 speakers who spoke during the Public Comment period.
One of the most animated of those speakers was District 118 resident and parent Chris Hightower. He accused the board of moving way too slowly for the students of District 118, under dire circumstances where there was no one physically present in the leader’s chair. Hightower expanded on that afterwards.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: And you have to have somebody at the top that’s leading. And, if you don’t have that, you can’t have a successful organization. And, you can feel the frustration in this room. And, you can see the frustration in everyone’s faces. I can’t say if we’ve answered anything today. I feel like we’ve started down the path to fixing things…..
(1st Picture) Kim Corley makes her point about starting an investigation. (2nd Picture) Overflow crowd rises for Pledge. (3rd Picture) Chris Hightower adamantly tells the board they need to show leadership.
The absolutely most unifying moment of the night was the standing ovation John Hart received when he was unanimously voted interim superintendent. Hart stated after the meeting that yes, there’s plenty of clean up work to be done, especially with new board members coming in after the April 1st election. But from his own perspective, this is a new starting point.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: All the teachers and the staff members in the audience, those are the people that push us daily. And they are the people that will make the changes. You will see big changes in this district; and I’m very fortunate to lead a strong group of people.
District 118 attorney Stephanie Jones from Kriha Boucek explained the proposed settlement for Dr. Alicia Geddis to step down from her post. For one thing, it is taking place within her retirement window, which affects the terms and amount. And also, it is still pending official approval from the Teachers Retirement System (TRS). The pending agreement passed 5-2, with Darlene Halloran and Kim Corley voting NO. Corley was adamant that a complete investigation should be done before throwing settlement money into this.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: As a board member, we need to do our due diligence. Whenever an employee is put on a paid leave, historically speaking, we do an investigation; to cover them and us.
Both Board President Randal Ashton and Attorney Jones explained that while the settlement fund would come from taxpayer money, it would not come from the Education Fund, but the Tort Fund which handles district liability. But that wasn’t enough of an explanation to avoid some catcalls from the audience, including one person who disgustedly walked out.
The entire board was unanimous that putting Geddis on leave WITH pay was the way it HAD to be done, though some expressed regret. The vote to bring in a search firm for a new superintendent was a 4-3 split; with Corley, Halloran, and Alice Payne voting NO. But both Ashton and Shannon Schroeder explained that going through the Illinois Association of School Boards, for $9,000; is nowhere near the $29,000 spent the last time around.
Other issues in District 118 continue as well. DEA union president Alan Rivers stated that talks are happening in trying to get the sick leave sharing program going that DHS Science teacher Anna Kelly has been asking for; and he hopes talks about improving health insurance premiums for district employees will soon be picking up as well. The next regular District 118 Board meeting will be next Wednesday, February 26th.
