Documents shed light on Dist. 158 special ed. chief's exit
On July 1, 2009, Cheryl Kalkirtz started her new job as Huntley Unit District 158's director of special services, a position chiefly responsible for overseeing the district's special education department.
Seven months later, Kalkirtz was gone.
In the weeks since Kalkirtz's Feb. 1 resignation, neither Kalkirtz nor Superintendent John Burkey have fully explained Kalkirtz's abrupt departure - although documents and interviews suggest it had something to do with the fact that Kalkirtz lacked a state-issued certification.
According to documents provided by the district, Kalkirtz overstated her credentials on her employment application. But according to documents provided by Kalkirtz, she stated when she applied for her job that she did not yet have the certification in question.
New documents obtained by the Daily Herald - and authenticated by Kalkirtz on Thursday - offer the most complete account yet of what transpired during Kalkirtz's brief tenure in District 158.
According to the new documents, Kalkirtz wrote to Burkey and the school board in early January that she planned to resign at the end of the school year because of concerns with how her department was being managed. District 158 administrators did not accept Kalkirtz's resignation and pledged to address her concerns and then three weeks later forced her to resign immediately - five months before the end of her contract, the documents allege.
The records show that on Jan. 11, 2010, Kalkirtz wrote a two-page resignation letter addressed to Burkey and the school board - three weeks before the one-sentence letter the district released last month under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Jan. 11 letter, which Kalkirtz authenticated Thursday, announced she was leaving her post at the end of the 2009-10 school year and that she was seeking employment elsewhere. It also outlined a number of grievances.
The gist of the letter was that district administration did not allow Kalkirtz input in decisions that affected her department, including curriculum and assessments for special-needs children.
On Feb. 2, 2010, Naperville attorney Mary Cahill wrote a letter to Burkey on behalf of Kalkirtz, her client. The letter, which Kalkirtz also authenticated, claims District 158 administration forced Kalkirtz to sign a second resignation letter on Feb. 1.
That version reads: "I, Cheryl Kalkirtz, resign from CSD158 effective immediately."
The Feb. 2 letter from Kalkirtz's attorney claims Burkey had Associate Superintendent Terry Awrey shred Kalkirtz's original, Jan. 11 letter and assured Kalkirtz her concerns would be addressed.
Finally, the Feb. 2 letter states that sometime between Jan. 11 and Feb. 1, Burkey had Kalkirtz removed from her office and had maintenance staff pack up her belongings.
On Feb. 18, the school board formally accepted Kalkirtz's resignation and directed the district's attorneys to draft a separation agreement.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, District 158 stated on Feb. 19 that "no correspondence exists between Consolidated School District 158 and Cheryl Kalkirtz's legal counsel."
Burkey later clarified that Kalkirtz's lawyers and the district's attorneys have talked but that there was no paper trail between the district itself and Kalkirtz's lawyers - despite Cahill's Feb. 2 letter addressed directly to Burkey.
The superintendent reiterated his stance on Thursday, saying, "I don't believe there has been any correspondence between the district and her lawyer."
Burkey also said earlier this month that the brief Feb. 1 letter was the only resignation letter Kalkirtz submitted to the district.
On Thursday, Burkey declined to comment on the authenticity or contents of the Jan. 11 and Feb. 2 letters.