Teacher sues school district over retaliation for charges against student

A McHenry County schoolteacher is suing his former school district and two of its administrators in federal court, alleging they punished him with a pair of bad performance reviews because he went against their wishes and brought a criminal charge against one of his students.

Sean Gschwind, a former mathematics instructor at Harvard Junior High School, is seeking undisclosed compensatory and punitive damages through the civil rights lawsuit, filed last week at U.S. District Court in Rockford.

The suit lists Harvard Community Unit School District 50, junior high Principal Linda Heiden and assistant Principal Frank Shields as defendants in the case.

Citing district policy on pending litigation, Bill Clow, director of community outreach for District 50, declined comment.

According to the lawsuit, Gschwind, of Wonder Lake, taught at Harvard Junior High from the 2003-04 school year to the 2005-06 school year. During his first two years at the school, the suit states, he received four evaluations, all of them grading his work as "satisfactory."

That changed, the suit states, following an incident in December 2005 in which one of Gschwind's students wrote a song about stabbing his teacher and sang it out loud in class. Gschwind, according to court documents, met with police the next day and decided to pursue criminal charges against the student.

But before he signed a complaint, the suit alleges, Gschwind was called into a meeting with Heiden and Shields at which they tried to talk him out of pursuing the case.

Despite his boss' efforts, the suit states, Gschwind signed the complaint Jan. 10, 2006. One day later, according to the suit, Shields met with the teacher and gave him an "unsatisfactory" performance review.

About two months later, the suit alleges, Gschwind met with Heiden and received another "unsatisfactory" performance review. About eight days after that second negative evaluation, Gschwind tendered his resignation effective at the end of the 2005-06 school year.

The lawsuit claims that the unsatisfactory reviews came not as a result of Gschwind's teaching performance, but instead as retaliation for him going against his boss' wishes and pursuing the criminal case against a student.

The district's actions, according to the lawsuit, caused Gschwind a loss of earnings, mental anguish and embarrassment, and damaged his reputation.

"The defendant's actions toward (Gschwind) constituted a reckless and callous indifference for the plaintiff's rights," the suit states.

Detectives promoted: The McHenry County Sheriff's Investigations Division's loss was its patrol unit's gain last week as a pair of highly regarded detectives were promoted to higher ranks and moved into positions of leadership among the department's patrol deputies.

Sheriff Keith Nygren promoted former detective sergeant Andy Zinke to the rank of lieutenant and assigned the 18-year department veteran to patrol, where he will oversee a daily shift of deputies and sergeants.

At the same time, Nygren promoted former detective Porfirio Campos-Cruz to the rank of sergeant and also moved him into the patrol division.

"If you look at their previous work and their records, they've both showed a great deal of leadership," Nygren said. "They both have great people skills, and these promotions have really been well-received by the rank and file."

Zinke begins his new assignment today. Campos-Cruz, also a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, won't start until April or May because he is serving a deployment, Nygren said.