Community Unit School District 200 Board of Education met March 20.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
A special meeting of the Board of Education of Community Unit School District 200, DuPage County, Illinois, was called to order at the School Service Center, 130 W Park Ave, Wheaton, IL by Board President Chris Crabtree, on Monday, March 20, 2023, at 4:00 PM.
ROLL CALL
Upon the roll being called, the following were present:
Board Members: Mrs. Chris Crabtree
Mr. Rob Hanlon
Mr. Dave Long
Mrs. Angela Blatner
Mrs. Susan Booton
Mrs. Julie Kulovits
Mr. Brad Paulsen
Also in Attendance: Dr. Jeff Schuler, Superintendent
Ms. Zaria Udeh, Robbins Schwartz
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Board Vice President Rob Hanlon led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC COMMENTS – Agenda Items & Non-Agenda Items
In accordance with Board Policy 2.230, members of the public wishing to offer public comment had the opportunity to do so. A public comment sign-up sheet was made available until 4:00 p.m. at the meeting site. The Board Meeting was available for viewing via live stream on the District’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/communityunitschooldistrict200.
Per Board Policy, the Board may shorten the time allocation for each person to less than three minutes to allow the maximum number of people the opportunity to speak. The Board did not shorten the time allocation for each person to speak due to the number of speakers.
Speaker Topic
Jennifer Castino D200 Board/Teachers; Email Use
Kelley Gillenwater District Board and Rules
Greg Higgins D200 Board Member Role
ACTION ITEMS
Board Action on Policy 2:105 Ethics Complaint Under UGP Policy 2022-2023-01 On March 8th, the Board of Education received a complaint from a community member about an alleged violation of Board Policy 2:105. As the complaint was filed against a Member of the Board of Education, the complaint was immediately forwarded to the Board’s Attorney to review and investigate. Consistent with Policy 2:105, the investigation is complete and will be shared with the Board of Education to review and take any necessary action.
President Crabtree provided the background regarding the complaint filed by community member Harold Lonks alleging that Board Secretary Dave Long engaged in prohibited political activity in violation of Board policy 2:105, Ethics and Gift Ban. Instead of waiting until the next regular board meeting, a special meeting was called.
There was additional information and or comments on the following:
∙ Summary of the timeline of events.
∙ Providing the complaint to the Board’s legal counsel, Robbins Schwartz, who conducted an investigation, including an interview with Mr. Long.
∙ Mr. Long was asked to recuse himself from the Board’s deliberations and decision, but he was allowed to remain and could speak on his behalf following the deliberations and decision.
∙ The Board was provided with copies of the investigation report for review and discussion on the matter. (It was noted that this was the first time the Board saw the report). Ms. Zaria Udeh from Robbins Schwartz made an opening statement regarding the process.
Following the review of the report by Board members, there were questions/comments/discussion on the following:
∙ Ms. Udeh provided a high-level summary and reviewed the deliberation process. ∙ During the interview with Robbins Schwartz, Mr. Long did not deny he had sent an email; this was inadvertently sent from his D200 email, was a mistake and there was no evidence to suggest this had occurred prior. Mr. Long did not realize his mistake until he was notified of the issue.
∙ Robbins Schwartz did not receive any additional supplemental information to contradict Mr. Long and there was no evidence of any pattern of violating the Board policy. It was found that the violation was inadvertent and that Mr. Long has not previously committed a similar one.
∙ Following the procedure for uniform grievance policy 2:260, however, there was no formal UG filed.
∙ All Board members were reminded to take a second before sending any emails to review, check and cross-check, making a conscious effort to see what email account is being used.
∙ District 200 staff and the use of their email accounts – will leave it up to the administration to reinforce expectations.
∙ For similar incidents, while all are on a case-by-case basis, this recommendation is consistent with how legal counsel would advise.
∙ Examining the language of policy 2:105 Ethics and Gift Ban and not certain the policy was broken or violated if there was no intentionality on Mr. Long’s part. If not intentional, was the policy violated?
∙ Noted an email was sent to Mr. Long’s Board email account and he responded to the email that was sent. He did not send out an email on his own.
∙ Board members discussed and agreed to amend the motion noting that an inadvertent transmission occurred that did not violate policy 2:105.
It was recommended that the Board of Education approve the revised motion to accept legal counsel's written report and find that an inadvertent transmission occurred that did not violate Board Policy 2:105 and to approve the findings of the investigation report submitted by Robbins Schwartz, legal counsel for the Board.
MOTION
Member Paulsen moved, Member Booton seconded to approve the amended motion as presented. Upon a roll call vote being taken, the vote was AYE 6 (Paulsen, Booton, Blatner, Hanlon, Kulovits, Crabtree), NAY 0, ABSTAIN 1 (Long).
The motion carried 6-0-1.
Mr. Long made a statement on the matter following the vote of the Board.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION
There being no further business to come before the Board in Open Session, Member Booton moved, Member Hanlon seconded to adjourn the meeting. Upon a voice call being taken, all were in favor The motion carried 7-0.
The meeting adjourned at 4:38 PM.
https://www.cusd200.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=22857&dataid=38159&FileName=Minutes%20Mar%2020%202023%20Special.pdf
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