Audio recording by District 203 school board member prompts police investigation

A Naperville Unit District 203 school board member is the target of a complaint after she claimed to have recorded a citizen’s finance committee meeting.

Naperville police are investigating a claim that Melissa Kelley Black violated eavesdropping laws by recording a meeting of the advisory panel without approval. A police spokesman declined further comment. No criminal charges had been filed as of Wednesday.

“It looks very much like intimidation to have a police officer coming to my house,” Kelley Black said at this week’s school board meeting, noting officers showed up last month one day before a scheduled board self-evaluation session. “There’s something wrong when an elected official giving back to their community has to endure that.”

Kelley Black has denied any wrongdoing and noted board members often report back on what happens at citizen committee meetings. She has indicated she was seeking legal counsel on the matter.

According to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, attorneys for District 203 in June wrote to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office to request an investigation, following statements Kelley Black made indicating she had recorded a citizen’s finance committee meeting.

In the letter, attorneys note that the advisory committee reports to the superintendent, not the school board, and as such is not a public body that falls under the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

At a school board meeting on June 2, Kelley Black raised questions about statements made in the May 14 citizen’s finance committee in which she claimed officials suggested the district could be facing layoffs or a referendum.

“I have the meeting recorded so …,” Kelley Black said when the accuracy of her statement was questioned.

Superintendent Dan Bridges asked Kelley Black if she had announced that she was recording the committee meeting or asked permission from participants to record. Kelley Black noted she had her phone right in front of her.

“While Kelley Black referenced having the recording device ‘right in front of us,’ no other member of the committee was aware of the device or that it was recording their private conversations,” Joseph J. Perkoski, an attorney for the district, wrote to the state’s attorney’s office. “Moreover, Kelly Black did not acknowledge the recording device or ask for consent of all other present members to record the meeting prior to doing so.”

At a school board meeting this week, Kelley Black questioned if the superintendent or board president had the authority to engage legal counsel without a vote of the school board.

Board President Charles Cush said Bridges told board members during the June 2 meeting that he would be looking into Kelley Black’s statement that she recorded the citizen’s finance committee meeting.

“If I believe a law has been broken, it is my responsibility to report it to authorities,” board member Kristine Gericke told Kelley Black at Monday’s school board meeting. “That, to me, was common sense to report that we felt a law had been broken.”