Schools
District 304 Reveals Names of 3 Fired Employees
The Kane County Chronicle alleges that Geneva School District 304 has violated the Open Meetings Act.
After a Freedom of Information Act request by the Kane County Chronicle and interjection from the Illinois Attorney General's Office, Geneva School District 304 has released the names of three former employees who were among the 342 people fired by School District 304 since Jan. 1, 2010.
The action comes in response to a FOIA request filed by the Chronicle's Brenda Schory seeking information that's supposed to be revealed via action in open session, the Chronicle reports.
Typically, the School Board will discuss personnel matters in closed session, as is allowed under state law. But when action is taken—for example, to recommend dismissal of personnel—the Open Meetings Act requires that the board reconvene in open session and "inform the public of the business being conducted.”
The School Board hasn't been doing that, so Schory filed the FOIA request to see the names of employees fired since 2010, plus their length of employment and salary information.
As it turns out, the names of all but three of the 342 employees fired since 2010 were published in meeting minutes or agendas, so the School District chose to release information regarding the three individuals who were not previously named.
According to the Chronicle, the dismissed employees are:
- Terrie Harrington, a kindergarten instructional assistant at Heartland Elementary School. Time with the district: 17 years. Salary: $13,758 in the 2012-13 school year.
- Deborah Regelbrugge, a preschool special education assistant. Time with the district: more than 6 years. Salary: $12,518 in the 2012-13 school year.
- Daniel Benjamin, a maintenance worker at Geneva Middle School South. Time with the district: nine years. Salary: $47,419.
Harrington and Regelbrugge were identified in open session only as “Employee A” and Benjamin was referred to as “a specific employee” in open session, the Chronicle reports.
The Chronicle claims the Open Meetings Act was being violated by the district and filed a request for administrative review with the Attorney General’s Office. The review is ongoing.School District 304 FOIA Officer Kelley Munch told the Chronicle that it will "take the appropriate steps to remedy” the matter if the Attorney General's Office renders an opinion that the Open Meetings Act was violated.
