Streamwood High teacher files discrimination charges against U-46

A group of Elgin Area School District U-46 administrators will participate in a December fact-finding conference at the Illinois Department of Human Rights on charges that they discriminated against a Streamwood High School teacher.

Antonio Solis, a bilingual special education teacher at the school from 2006 to 2009, filed charges with the department in April.

According to the 11-page complaint, Solis claims that beginning in October of 2008 and continuing through last spring, he was harassed by Principal Oscar Hawthorne, special education supervisors Shelly Rowland and Patricia Maynard, and special education dean Nathan McCoy.

The administrators, he said, repeatedly criticized his work performance; attempted to undermine his teaching abilities; attempted to have other colleagues draft up complaints about him; and made disparaging remarks about his Mexican heritage.

U-46 has declined to comment on the issue, citing it as a personnel matter.

Last March, Solis said, he received a poor performance evaluation from McCoy, and was told he was doing "unsatisfactory work."

Other employees evaluations with similar positions and comparable performances, Solis said, "whose national origin is not Mexico were not issued negative work performance evaluations."

On March 16, he said, he was told by the district that he would not be rehired for the next school year. No reason was cited, he said, and other employees who are not Mexican were renewed.

In an interview Tuesday, Solis said that he first filed a complaint with District U-46's human resources department last November.

He received no response until the last day of school in June, three months after he had been let go. In that time, he said, the harassment only got worse.

When the district did respond to his complaint in June, "they told me my allegations were unfounded and that was it," he said. "I waited more than seven months. They didn't give me any feedback."

In October, Solis was informed by the Department of Human Rights that a fact-finding conference had been scheduled.

Participating in the conference are Superintendent Jose Torres, along with McCoy, Rowland and Maynard. Hawthorne has left the district for Evanston Township High School.