School District 166 School Board Chair Jeanne Anderson introduced a Monday, January 12 agenda item by stating, “This is something we never want to have to do.” The school board had to decide whether or not to expel a student.
Leading to the decision was a physical altercation between two students on Thursday, December 11, 2014. Cook County Law Enforcement had been called by a school staffer who said “two girls got in a fight.”
Because both of the parties involved in the incident are minors, details of the incident as well as the names and ages of the students have not been released. However, at that time, School District 166 Superintendent Beth Schwarz confirmed that an assault had taken place in a classroom in the secondary school area (6-12th grades). One student had a bloody nose.
The student facing disciplinary action requested a hearing, which was conducted January 8, 2015 by H. Jeffrey Peterson of Cope & Peterson, LTD, an independently contracted hearing officer.
After reviewing the hearing officer’s report, the board passed a resolution drafted by the school’s attorney to adopt the findings and conclusions and to expel the student for the remainder of the 2014-2015 school year.
School Board Member Deb White noted that the school board accepted the responsibility for providing alternative educational services to the student, but asked, “Will there be any assistance—such as anger management help—for this student?”
Superintendent Schwarz said that is out of the hands of the school district, but added that the family has been informed of entities that offer that sort of assistance.
Reached by email on January 13, Superintendent Schwarz clarified what sort of educational services the school is responsible for. Schwarz said, “Educational services provided to a student who is expelled includes a minimum of five hours a week of 1:1 tutoring at the student’s home. The teacher who is assigned to this duty transports homework and other learning materials to the student. The student is expected to work on the activities and the homebound instructor is there to help with questions, administer tests, etc.”
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