Food and drinks during Kentucky trip violated District 214 gift ban policy, ethics panel says
A Northwest Suburban High School District 214 ethics panel Monday ruled two employees violated the Arlington Heights-based district's ethics and gift ban policy after going on an HVAC contractor's all-expense-paid trip to Kentucky.
The three-member ethics commission - composed of District 214 parents appointed by Superintendent Scott Rowe - made its determination after an internal investigation by district legal counsel Kevin Gordon of the Oakbrook Terrace-based law firm Kriha Boucek.
The probe found maintenance employee Linas Paul exceeded a $100-per-year vendor gift limit, as outlined in the District 214 school board policy, by $216.34. Former Director of Operations Jerry Cook was over the limit by $147.40.
Those figures take into account a $75-per-day meal exemption from vendors to employees, under the policy.
During the April 6-7 trip paid for by Willowbrook-based Trane, Cook and Paul attended a dinner at Bulleit Distillery, received gift whiskey bottles, got after-dinner drinks, and had additional meals and drinks the next day at their hotel and Keeneland racetrack. That followed their tour at a factory manufacturing school HVAC equipment.
"I did not find any evidence that employees were intentionally violating the gift ban," Gordon told the ethics panel Monday night. "It was more of an unintentional mistake as the drinks were being provided throughout the evening, they're not keeping track of how much was being bought for them or how much any particular food item cost. But at the end of the day, they ended up over their limits."
As a result, the ethics commission endorsed Rowe's recommendations for corrective action, which will include sending a memo to all district employees and current and future vendors about the ethics and gift ban policy "and the expectation that it be adhered to," Rowe said.
The superintendent said he would also establish an administrative procedure for approval of all professional development trips paid for by vendors so that it "benefits the overall needs and/or vision of the district," he said.
"The actions that occurred are regrettable, and this is not reflective of who the district is or who we are going to be going forward," said Rowe, who became superintendent in July.
The HVAC contractor did more than $1 million in work for the district between 2018 and 2022, and Cook signed a $2.8 million contract with the company for additional work just two days before departing for Louisville.
Gordon's investigation determined Cook didn't violate the gift ban policy by soliciting two other vendors for $1,500 each to stage an end-of-year staff lunch. The event never happened after an administrator stopped it from occurring, but even if it did, the contributions would have been within allowable limits, Gordon said.
Gordon interviewed Paul, representatives of Trane, and other District 214 operations department officials after his appointment by the ethics panel Oct. 3.
Gordon said Cook initially accepted the request to sit for an interview, but then declined after meeting with counsel. Cook was hired as East Aurora High School principal just days after he returned from Kentucky.
The ethics complaint was brought to the district by Wheeling parent Amy Osterman, who uncovered details about the Kentucky trip in some 3,700 pages of district emails received in a Freedom of Information Act request response.