Weeks rescinds legal threat in District 203

Dave Weeks still isn’t happy about his censure at the hands of fellow Naperville Unit District 203 school board members, but says he’s no longer considering taking them to court.

Weeks was formally reprimanded by the board in January for allegedly leaking sensitive personnel information to a school principal.

He originally accepted that censure but then decided he wanted a public explanation of what he did wrong — and threatened legal action against the district if he didn’t get it.

He also raised several questions about the way the board handled the original censure and whether the reprimand was too far-reaching.

Weeks got his very public explanation during a March 20 board meeting, when his six fellow board members first rescinded the original censure and then took a new vote to approve the same reprimand.

Weeks on Wednesday said he still disagrees with the censure but no longer plans to pursue legal action against the district. He had said from the outset that any lawsuit would be aimed at forcing the board to either withdraw the censure or address the charges in public.

“Am I satisfied? Yes and no. I did get what I was seeking in an explanation but I’m not satisfied with the explanation I got,” Weeks said. “But I have not met with my attorney since the meeting and I would be very surprised if we decide to pursue anything further.”

Board President Mike Jaensch, who led the charge for the censure, was happy the board will not have to deal with legal issues.

“I’m very happy to hear that,” said Jaensch, who said he believes his professional relationship with Weeks can be salvaged. “Putting this behind us would allow us that much more time to focus on the business of the district.”

The board voted 6-0 on Jan. 24, with Weeks abstaining, to issue the formal reprimand alleging Weeks leaked information.

At that time Weeks said he was willing to accept the censure and had no plans to contest it. But he later said he was caught off guard that night by the scope of the censure and reconsidered.

Weeks, who long has been at odds with fellow board members, has admitted several times that he discussed a personnel matter with a principal during a breakfast meeting over winter break. But Weeks said the district assigns board members to act as liaisons with certain schools and he assumed the principal of one of the schools to which he is assigned already knew about the matter.

Jaensch said he feared Weeks’ behavior could have put the district in legal hot water.

“There is no penalty here, it’s just an expression of the sense of the board, as we felt a board member had violated our policies, and we felt the public had a right to know,” he said at the March meeting.