Fired District 207 teacher won't see retirement benefits
Maine East High School teacher and former soccer coach Jennifer Espinosa has been fired by District 207, charged with having sex with a 16-year-old former student known to be a gang member.
After discussion in closed session, the Maine Township High School District 207 school board voted 7-0 on June 1 to terminate Espinosa's contract. Board members did not give any reasons or offer any public statements at the time.
Espinosa, 38, of Park Ridge was a tenured teacher in her 15th year at District 207. She won't receive any retirement benefits, District 207 spokesman Dave Beery said.
"Whatever has been contributed to the retirement fund, she does not lose (it)," Beery said. "But she does not qualify for retirement benefits from District 207 because she doesn't meet the age and service minimums. She would have to be 55 years of age with 30 years of service or age 60 in order to access her retirement funds."
Espinosa is charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse after admitting she had an eight-month sexual relationship with the 16-year-old student who was expelled from the Park Ridge school in September, authorities said.
The student has been enrolled in an alternative program in the Chicago area since last fall, Beery said.
Beery would not confirm how many District 207 students are enrolled in the alternative program or divulge what the program entails.
Espinosa could not be reached for comment Monday.
Espinosa was arrested May 23 after Cook County Sheriff's police investigators patrolling Golf Terrace Apartments in unincorporated Cook County happened upon her and the boy sitting in a parking lot inside Espinosa's 2009 Honda Pilot, police said.
Police were patrolling the area due to an increase in gang and narcotics activity at the apartment complex on the 9600 block of North Golf Terrace, a couple of miles north of Maine East.
Police said investigators detected a strong odor of marijuana from Espinosa's Pilot, whose windows were rolled down. She and two other occupants were ordered out of the vehicle. Authorities recognized the 16-year-old boy and a 22-year-old passenger as known gang members.
Sheriff's police found a bag of suspected marijuana in the vehicle that lead to a misdemeanor drug possession charge against Alejandro Landi, 22, of Niles.
Espinosa later told investigators she "loves" the 16-year-old boy whom she was mentoring and that the relationship developed after his expulsion, police said.
Soon after the arrest, District 207 Superintendent Joel Morris said Espinosa had been reassigned to another job outside the classroom pending an investigation into her activities.
Espinosa is a married mother of two children. She most recently was teaching science and special education at Maine East. She will be arraigned in Skokie on July 2.
• Staff Writer Barbara Vitello contributed to this report.