District 57 fires Westbrook principal
After a four-hour closed session hearing on Westbrook Elementary School Principal Jan Ewing’s future, the verdict was in: The Mount Prospect District 57 school board voted 6-1 to terminate the embattled principal’s employment effective immediately.
Dozens of parents who stuck around until 11 p.m. for the decision booed school board members and called for Superintendent Elaine Aumiller’s dismissal at Tuesday night’s special board meeting at Fairview School.
Ewing was not in the audience that late. She and her attorney got a chance to present her defense against allegations about her behavior toward a student and others during the closed-session hearing.
Upon returning into open session, school board President Joseph Leane said the board took the time to be thorough before taking the vote to dismiss Ewing.
The audience yelled out, “Shame on you! in response.
Ewing won’t be receiving any severance pay or settlement from the district.
“This is not an easy decision to be made by anybody sitting at this table, school board member Michael Withey said.
Withey said Westbrook is part of a larger organization and the board had to make the decision taking the entire district into consideration and not just the feelings of one school community.
Withey responded to parents who had called for conflict resolution to bridge the differences between the administration and Ewing saying it takes two willing parties for that to happen.
“That’s something only the board knows. You were not privy to that, he said.
School board member Sann Knipple said she no longer had confidence in Ewing before casting her vote to approve her dismissal.
“It was never a foregone conclusion, Knipple said.
School board member Marty Malone cast the lone no vote against Ewing’s dismissal, saying mistakes were made on both sides, which unleashed claps from the disappointed crowd.
Earlier that evening roughly 130 parents, students and staff members showed up to support Ewing.
During the 20-minute public comment session, parents rallied around Ewing asking the school board to resolve the issue between her and District 57 Superintendent Elaine Aumiller through mediation rather than termination of their beloved principal.
Not one parent spoke Tuesday night against Ewing. Ewing has been on paid leave since Sept. 7. At issue is an Aug. 27 incident involving a 6-year-old Westbrook student who was put on the wrong bus to go home, among the reasons Aumiller gave for pushing for Ewing’s firing. Earlier that day, Ewing also had yelled at the district’s interim transportation coordinator and a police officer about where to load the buses, according to Aumiller.
Parents Tuesday night blamed the district’s decision to outsource its transportation as being at the heart of the problem.
“This is a principal that we all have faith in, and the community is sitting here behind her tonight, said parent Joe Moran. “We as parents stand by Jan Ewing. We were there every day ... . By and large people in this room do not think this warrants her firing.
Parent Jan Bradley asked the school board to consider the cost of prematurely terminating Ewing’s recently renewed two-year contract, the legal fees involved with such a decision, the cost of hiring a head hunter to find a replacement principal, the cost of buying out Ewing’s contract estimated at $272,000 and paying her replacement’s salary on top of it all.
Bradley said the school board should be held accountable for how it spends taxpayers’ money and believes firing Ewing is not the best use of it.
“It is going to cost our district megabucks, Bradley said. “If we fire Jan Ewing we will still have to pay out attorney’s fees, hire a head hunter, pay a new principal and probably face a lawsuit. They should really rein in their own employees. I suggest they send them to conflict resolution.
Ewing’s supporters felt the situation was nothing more than a conflict of personalities.
An emotional Bill Ewing, Ewing’s husband, appealed to the school board to listen to what the community is saying about his wife. He also thanked parents and staff members for their support through cards, e-mails and phone calls.