‘I am not perfect’: District 220 school board finds member violated board policies in her statehouse campaign

The Barrington Area Unit District 220 school board voted 6-1 this week to accept an outside investigator's findings that board member Erin Chan Ding violated district policies by using school resources, property and social media for prohibited political campaign activities.

Investigators described the violations as merely technical, but board members agreed that Chan Ding’s campaigning as a Democratic candidate for District 52 state representative were flagrant violations instead.

Chan Ding was the lone dissenting vote but agreed to undergo remedial board policy training as a result of the board decision.

The district received an anonymous complaint from a parent alleging Chan Ding campaigned on school grounds at school events, while also raising concerns about district content appearing on her campaign social media page.

The law firm Robbins Schwartz conducted the investigation, interviewing board members, including Chan Ding, and reviewing emails and text messages.

The investigator found sufficient evidence that Chan Ding violated the board's ethics and gift ban policy by engaging in prohibited political activity on district property at two events and using district resources on social media.

The investigator also determined her social media use created an appearance of impropriety, violating the board's code of conduct.

Chan Ding acknowledged attending a Barrington High School event Sept. 11 and a Station Middle School event Sept. 15 with nominating petitions and fundraising flyers.

She also mentioned a campaign fundraiser to fellow board member Barry Altshuler while walking to their cars in a school parking lot Sept. 12.

In addition, Chan Ding acknowledged converting her school board Facebook page to her campaign page without removing previous district posts.

At Tuesday's meeting, Chan Ding apologized and said she genuinely viewed herself as attending school events as a parent rather than in her capacity as a board member.

Her fellow board members complained about the optics of her campaigning for a partisan office while holding a nonpartisan school board post.

“I should have been more careful and more vigilant, and for that, I apologize to my fellow school board members and to the community,” Chan Ding said. “I am not perfect. I made mistakes, and I'll continue to make mistakes, but I will always be honest about making these mistakes, apologize for them and will always seek to learn from them.”

The board did not release the cost of the independent investigation.