Chicago Tribune recaps, updates Erwin story

I missed connections with Tribune reporter Clifford Ward yesterday, so I didn't get to contribute to today's article in the big paper. But I was pleased to learn he had been a Kentucky School News and Commentary reader...to some degree.

The Tribune story is mostly a recap, but also contained some new information.

As KSN&C readers know, after weeks of questions about Barbara Erwin's résumé, the revelation of a secret 2005 contract vote, what appears to be evidence of an attempt to defraud the Illinois Teachers Retirement system, and a police investigation of her missing personnel file, Erwin resigned the Kentucky post last week.

As St Charles school board member Chris Hansen told the Tribune, "There are some bad feelings in the community, because some people think [Erwin] took advantage of the system."

The board voted in secret on April 11, 2005, to extend Erwin's contract and award her 85 sick days for each school year from 2006-08. This June, the board of education publicly apologized for taking the closed-door vote - a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

Then on July 10th, just before a meeting with the Kentucky Board of Education, St Charles Human Resources Director Tony Spahr responded to an Open Records Request from the Kane County Chronicle that produced an undated memo that Spahr says was given to him by Erwin in February. The memo, signed by "past president" of the board James Gaffney, directed Spahr to begin awarding Erwin the extra 85 sick days starting in 2004 - an apparent attempt to more quickly vest Erwin in the teacher pension system.

The Tribune story teaches us the potential value of this effort to Erwin. "Someone with an average annual salary of $195,000—the amount Erwin earned in St Charles—and five years of service could have qualified for a $21,450 annual pension at age 62, according to an analysis provided by the Illinois Teacher Retirement System." (I don't know the actual value of this benefit, but it is certainly well beyond the face value. Given an average life expectancy of 78 years, had she vested, Erwin could have expected to collect monthly benefits for 16 years.)

St Charles Board member Scott Nowling said, "She is not walking out with any cash, nor is she vested in the pension system."

But it was apparently not for a lack of trying.

Among the unresolved questions is the whereabouts of Erwin's personnel file, which has been reported missing. Paul McCurtain of the St. Charles police said Monday that the investigation is ongoing. Erwin told a Kentucky newspaper last week that she did not have the file.

Apparently the missing file was "the last straw" as far as the Kentucky board was concerned. I get it. That story had a great big word in it - police.

But what I don't understand, is why the Spahr memo is any less inflammatory. I'm not a lawyer, so maybe some attorney out there can straighten me on this - but why isn't state's attorney John Barsanti all over this?

Just for the sake of argument, let's assume somebody removes their own confidential file from school property. What's the damage? What's the violation? Theft of an item valued at...what? I don't mean to minimize the problem...

But if there was an attempt to vest illegally in the Illinois Teachers Retirement system and the Tribune's information is correct, that's a value of $21,450. Isn't that worse? And since Gaffney signed the memo Erwin gave to Spahr, does that qualify as conspiracy to defraud? For one so brash and outspoken, Gaffney's gotten awfully quiet lately. Was Mary Jo Knipp involved?

Is an investigation already going on, but the public just doesn't know it yet?

Does Bobby Raehl, or another board member, have to ask for a new investigation for Barsanti to act?

Does Barbara Erwin already know the answer to these questions? And if so, did those answers contribute to her surprising decision?

One thing seems certain: Donald Schlomann didn't come to play. He wants everything on the table and underscored his sincerity when he called the cops on Day 2 of his tenure.
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This editorial from the Daily Herald:

"...Erwin came into St. Charles from Arizona with solid credentials and a new approach for a district in turmoil in the aftermath of the St. Charles East mold crisis. She said the right things and vowed to fix what was broken. But she left a district in turmoil and added her own chapter of discontent by leaving before her contract was up..."

"...But while she was here, Erwin fell into a trap that other St. Charles superintendents found themselves in. That “trap” has to do with a superintendent either butting heads with a school board member or two or, just as troubling,showing favoritism or making “friends” of a chosen few. Either scenario tends to ruffle feathers among peers or risks alienating the public..."

If you look at Allen Tx and Scottsdale AZ plus St Charles, evidence strongly suggests scenario #2. If there is something inherently defective about the St Charles community, it's not readily apparent. Butting heads is inevitable in the school business. The trick is to disagree without becoming disagreeable. That's how it worked out in Scottsdale - after Erwin.
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