Warren official accused of 'muddying waters'

Two Warren Township High School board members say a colleague was out of bounds for contacting an attorney and state education officials in an effort to obtain information related to a student testing dispute.

Board member Jeanette Thommes said she's had problems getting information from proper channels at Gurnee-based Warren District 121, which is why she made inquiries on her own and presented some of the feedback at a meeting Tuesday night.

But board members Charles Crowley Jr. and David Grum objected to Thommes' calls to Warren attorney Robert Swain and Illinois State Board of Education officials. Crowley said Thommes was "muddying the waters" while paid professionals were supposed to handle the situation.

What prompted Thommes' inquiries was a claim District 121 treated students differently for testing purposes because only juniors who had a minimum 11 credit hours - up from eight - were allowed to take the Prairie State Achievement Exam last spring. Warren received a directive from the state to end the practice.

District 121 now has a plan detailing higher standards students must meet to become a sophomore, junior and senior that it will submit as part of a response to the state. Warren denies it did anything wrong by prohibiting 150 of 1,000 juniors from taking the Prairie State exam in April because they didn't earn 11 credit hours.

Warren board members, by a 4-2 vote, this week approved higher academic standards for inclusion in the 2009-10 student-parent handbook that would be broader than only determining eligibility for the achievement test given to juniors. School officials said they expect state approval for the plan.

Thommes raised questions about whether the board majority was moving too fast and said she didn't have enough information about the plan she wound up voting against. She said she discussed Warren's situation with Swain and state education officials before Tuesday's meeting.

Crowley disagreed with Thommes' moves, saying an elected board member's primary role is to act on information presented by District 121's education professionals.

"One board member going off on her own is inappropriate," he said.

Grum also registered his frustration with Thommes.

"She's making private phone calls," Grum said. "I'm left here in the dark. I don't know what the heck is going on."