Hoffman police investigating teacher's relationship with student

A Hoffman Estates High School teacher who resigned over allegations a male student lived with her for a month told school officials she had no physical contact with him other than good-night hugs.

The teacher, who has been in the math department since 2003, said the student moved in with her about a week before school started with the approval of his mother, who moved out of the district but agreed to let her son stay behind.

Hoffman Estates police said Wednesday they're investigating whether an inappropriate relationship existed between the teacher and student. As well, Department of Child and Family Services workers have concluded there is reasonable cause to suspect that a sexual relationship existed.

The Daily Herald is aware of the 36-year-old teacher's name but in most cases does not identify a person who has not been charged with a crime.

The teacher has been out of the classroom since Sept. 14 and was formally suspended Nov. 7. She resigned Nov. 10, Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 Superintendent Nancy Robb said Wednesday, adding the district would have pursued termination if she had not.

According to District 211 documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the relationship began last spring after the student had an unsatisfactory score on his ACT test.

The teacher agreed to tutor him at school to help him catch up. But they continued the tutoring sessions over spring break and into summer, when the sessions were held at restaurants and in the teacher's Hoffman Estates apartment, the documents said.

The teacher told district officials the student became worried over the summer when he learned his mother planned to move out of the Hoffman Estates area. He was afraid he would fall behind again, and go “back to ... old ways,” the documents said.

Twice, the teacher and student discussed his moving in with her, but the idea was deemed “unrealistic” because it could jeopardize her job.

However, when the student's mother's move became imminent, the teacher agreed he could move in. The teacher told the district she talked with the teen's mother, who agreed her son could live with her for the 2011-12 school year.

The teacher did not tell school district officials of the arrangement, nor did they tell others at school, including his friends, because “others would assume that something improper was taking place,” a document says.

When asked, the student told people he was living with his godmother.

Robb said officials were notified Sept. 13 that a teacher and student were living together. Robb said they immediately contacted DCFS and Hoffman Estates police.

The next morning, Sept. 14, the teacher was interviewed by district officials before class, after which she was ordered not to have contact with any students.

A day later, a Hoffman Estates police officer and a District 211 social worker accompanied the teacher to her home to remove all of the student's belongings, Robb said.

“We took immediate and definitive action to protect the welfare and safety of students,” Robb said.

On Sept. 22, the school board put her on administrative leave without pay.

Attorney Kent Dean, who is representing the teacher, declined to comment Wednesday. The teacher could not be reached by phone or at her residence.

The teacher told the district that while the student was living with her, he had his own bedroom, bathroom and key. She also provided him with financial support, food, clothes and a car.

During several interviews with school officials the teacher insisted the physical relationship never went further than a good-night hug.

District officials would not elaborate on the student's age, family life or where he is living now.

In a letter sent to the teacher Sept. 23, Robb wrote: “It was apparent ... that you have an emotional attachment to (the student) that goes far beyond the teacher/student relationship. You have cultivated an inappropriate relationship with (the student) and breached the trust and professionalism you are expected to uphold with your students.”

Robb said the teacher had never before been disciplined and that “those who knew her were shocked.”

Jason Spoor, president of the District 211 teachers union, took part in the initial interviews with the teacher but said the union's role in this case is over now that the teacher no longer works for the district. He wouldn't comment on specific personnel issues.

District officials said they would have pursued firing the teacher whether or not she had a sexual relationship with the student.

“The (school) board is disappointed that a situation like this occurred at all, but we're pleased that it was reported, investigated and handled appropriately,” school board President Robert LeFevre said.

DCFS spokesman Kendall Marlowe confirmed the agency launched an investigation after being alerted by District 211, and that the Nov. 18 report “substantiated abuse and neglect against this individual.”

The teacher's name has been added to a state central database of individuals that DCFS deems to be perpetrators of abuse and neglect, Marlowe said.

The list, while not made public, is open to child welfare officials, law enforcement and certain employers, including day care centers. The teacher's name will remain on the list for a still-undetermined period of time whether or not she is charged with a crime, he said.

The State Board of Education has opened an investigation and will decide whether it should suspend or revoke the woman's teaching certificate, spokeswoman Mary Fergus said.

After details of the investigation became public Wednesday, many students were surprised by the story and talked about it during the school day.

“There was a certain buzz in the school as students came in this morning,” Principal Jim Britton said Wednesday, adding many were curious or concerned for the teacher and student involved. “But they were pretty easily redirected and respected that the teachers didn't have any information.”

Britton said he and Robb are still discussing if, and how, to communicate the situation to parents.

A long-term substitute took over for the teacher in September after she was removed from the classroom.

Britton said he is confident the faculty will pull together and help the students get past this distraction.

“They are a resilient bunch who care a lot about kids and each other,” he said. “They're pulling together and focusing on what we do here, which is educate kids to the best of our ability.”