St Charles Board action cools discussion in Erwin matter

For the past week or so, the Erwin contract dispute was the "most discussed" story at the Kane County Chronicle, only getting knocked off its perch today. Board action seems to have thrown a bucket of water on public comment...for now. Of course, that will probabbly change once Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti announces his findings in the on-going investigation. Barsanti is looking at whether there was a willful violation of the Open Meetings Act associated with Erwin's contract. So...stay tuned.

In the meantime, the Chronicle reports:

Erwin contract draws little fire

ST. CHARLES – St. Charles parent Mary Kennedy on Monday criticized school board members for ratifying an amendment to departing Superintendent Barbara Erwin’s contract.“Vote for the taxpayers, not the relationship you might have with Erwin,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy was the only resident who spoke at the meeting.

...Vice President James Gaffney, who acted as president during Monday’s meeting, declined to respond to Kennedy’s comments.

The first day of the contract year, when the pension credits come, is July 1. Erwin’s last day with the district will be July 13.

“I don’t understand why they want to give her more of our money,” Kennedy said.

The state’s attorney’s office continues to investigate whether the board on April 11, 2005, approved the amendment behind closed doors.If true, that could be a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.Katherine Moran, the state’s attorney’s office civil division chief, would not say how long an investigation could take.

Erwin will leave to take the Kentucky Department of Education’s top position. Donald Schlomann, currently the superintendent at Belvidere Community Unit School District 100, will replace Erwin.School board members in March approved a three-year contract with Schlomann.
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AreYouKiddingMe wrote:
" Thank you Mary Kennedy for speaking up for the taxpayers of this school district. Again, we have allowed people outside of the legal system (the school board) to make decisions that they clearly are not qualified to do, at the expense of the students of this district. This is wrong and anyone involved who approves of this "good old boys mentality" needs to step down and bring back integrity and ethics back to a district that clearly runs on closed door secret agreements. "

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Also there were a couple of letters to the editor recently published in the Chronicle:

Complete embarassment

To the Editor:Re: The June 7 Kane County Chronicle editorial “D-303 needs to end issue now.

”I had written your paper earlier this week stating my disagreement with ratifying Barbara Erwin’s contract. I cannot believe the board would go ahead and do such a thing, knowing well that the contract was approved improperly and with ongoing questions of legality, etc.

When the new members of the board were voted in, I had trust that things would turn around and that our new board would do the right thing, but obviously the right thing to them was to sign the contract in an attempt to make the questions and embarrassing publicity go away.

Barbara Erwin talks about integrity, the right thing to do and a matter of principle. OK, let’s talk about those things.

Integrity: First, Barbara Erwin “retires,” then comes out of “retirement” for another job, then we hear extra sick days were improperly tacked on to her contact, then she is set to leave Aug. 3. No, now it’s July 13, and then it was the ongoing sick day controversy over and over.

If the contract wasn’t signed under the proper circumstances, it should be invalid.

Who can justify more than six months of sick pay for two years of work? That is absolutely appalling. And it was only a means to extend to her length of service.

Sure, they signed that contract in closed doors. They feared a public outlash if it was brought up. Barbara Erwin and the board members who approved that contract were well aware of what they were doing. Their position doesn’t allow for them to claim ignorance. The right thing for our new board would have been to not approve this contract.

What kind of example and message is this sending to the taxpayers and, most importantly, the students, especially the high school students who are expected to do the right thing and show integrity?

To some, Barbara Erwin may have been great for our school district, but she left under the guise of retirement, and since that time questions and controversy have followed. This entire situation was a complete embarrassment on our school board, and what do they do?

It’s a very sad statement of things to come.

Cheryl Bast,

South Elgin

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AND...

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Contract issue is clear

To the Editor:

Why has the St. Charles School Board had such a hard time deciding what to do with the 2005 amendment to Superintendent Barb Erwin’s contract?You know, the one that might have violated the Open Meetings Act when Erwin, her secretary and school board president Mary Jo Knipp apparently signed it without public board approval?

Is it the outrageous terms – 85 sick days a year for four years?Those 340 sick days (two years retirement credit) set Erwin up to only have to work in Illinois for three years to collect full retirement.Is it the timing?

Erwin was here just nine months before asking for those terms in April 2005.

Supporters Knipp and Ginny Waller had just been voted out of office and John Reichling was leaving because he was going to work for District 303. Knipp also now works for the district.

The legal loophole that allowed her to collect 85 sick days was closing in June, so Erwin had to act fast.Knowing the new board wouldn’t back those terms, Knipp signed the contract just two weeks before they were seated.Was not voting in public really an “oversight” as current school board president Kathy Hewell says?

Thanks to board member Carla Ray’s integrity, we know that, according to the tape of that closed session meeting, there was apparently a “willful violation” of the Open Meetings Act.

Would that board have defended those terms in public?

Hewell has said that she’s always felt funny about the fact that administrator’s exact salaries are public information.District 303 is hiding Erwin’s contract, but Erwin said she’s not.

Wrong. I asked her - no contract.

Would they have made those terms public?No way.Now what?Aren’t there stiff penalties now for giving more than 15 sick days?She can’t get them all, anyway and our new superintendent is coming July 1. Go to www.theprincipal.blogspot.com (search “Erwin”). Watchdog groups in Kentucky are studying us and asking their state to reconsider.

Finally, what about her staying until July 13? Her contract says that she gets $195,000 for 260 days - that’s $750 a day. There’s 4 to 5 weeks vacation payable “at the beginning of each school year” (July 1) and a $12,000 annuity. Over $3,000 a day plus the car and cell phone allowance, term life policy, annual physical, professional fees and travel allowance?

She needs to go, and we need to move on.

Jennifer Brooks

St. Charles

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Here's a late addition from the St Charles Republican.

..."The board received a letter from the state’s attorney asking for documents regarding board discussion on the amendment. Ray asked the board to make public all documents provided to the State’s Attorney.

Hewell said, to her knowledge, the only nonpublic document turned over to the State’s Attorney was the audio tape Ray said indicated the willful violation.

The board can vote to open confidential documents but Hewell said the board has not discussed that option and has no plans to do so.

State’s Attorney John Barsanti said last week that normally his office would simply send warning letters to violating bodies asking them to revote in open session. But, if his office finds a willful violation, the contract could be nullified, the consequences of which remain unclear.

“I don’t know that I would be satisfied with a ratification,” Barsanti said.