Six members of the Naperville School District 203 Board of Education have censured a seventh member of the elected body, alleging multiple instances of breaching fiduciary duties and failing to uphold board policies and agreements.
Melissa Kelley Black, who was elected to the board in April of 2023, is the subject of the censure. A resolution outlining the various reasons behind the censure was approved on a 6-1 vote at a board of education meeting Tuesday, Jan. 7, with Kelley Black being the dissenter.
Censure is a reprimand and statement of disapproval. It is not a step toward removing an elected official from office.
Reasons behind the censure
The 10-page resolution outlines what supporters are describing as “unprofessional conduct” that has been “detrimental to District 203.”
Prior to the censure, the six board members consulted with representatives outside the district, including the Illinois Association of School Boards, and engaged in a self-evaluation process on six separate occasions to address concerns with Kelley Black.
Two private remedial directive letters also were reportedly sent to Kelley Black to address what board members say have been breaches in adhering to board policies and agreements.
The resolution outlines several specific incidents that the six board members said led to the censure. On June 15, 2023, for instance, the board alleges Kelley Black made “false and disparaging comments about the board on public and private forums and channels.”
The resolution makes multiple references to “violative conduct,” such as a Nov. 1, 2023 incident, where Kelley Black allegedly engaged in “the disclosure of student information on social media, which was discussed during closed session.”
Other violations, according to the resolution, included public comments raised during collective bargaining negotiations and “failing to strive for a positive working relationship with the superintendent and respect the superintendent’s authority to advise the board.”
‘A personal defamation of my character’
Kelley Black addressed the allegations at the recent board meeting before the censure vote was cast. As was the case throughout much of the board’s discussion, Kelley Black initially read from a prepared statement.
“I, wholeheartedly, disagree with the allegations and the opinions expressed,” Kelley Black said.
Because most of the specific information linked to the allegations is based on closed-door meetings, Kelley Black said it was challenging to directly address each of the specific points raised in a public open meeting setting.
“There is no way for me to defend myself or even share the exhibits that were used to make these decisions or even share the input of the representatives that worked with us during those self-evaluations because, if I do, I will be exposing privileged information that I took an oath to preserve,” Kelley Black said. “Revealing the information necessary to defend myself would also place my board position in jeopardy.”
Kelley Black had asked the board to delay a vote on the censure until she was in a position to “fairly defend myself and provide all of the facts pertaining to these allegations” in a manner that was in keeping with the state’s open and closed session meetings laws.
“If I am not given the opportunity to adequately defend myself and the vote goes forward, I will view this as a personal defamation of my character,” Kelley Black said. “I will, unfortunately, be forced to seek my own legal recourse to protect my reputation and integrity that I have worked hard to develop in this community.”
Later during deliberations, Kelley Black spoke off the cuff and gave a further take on the censure.
“This is, to me, a very unfair practice,” she said. “I would love nothing more than to work with my colleagues. If I’m guilty of anything, it’s just having a different perspective and different opinions than them. If I’m guilty of something else, please show the evidence.”
Other board members have their say
Each of the six board members in support of Kelley Black’s censure spoke at the meeting. Several expressed sadness for the vote, indicating exhaustive efforts to reach a compromise, while others shared concerns about a deterioration in the district’s quality if the violations continued.
“No one wanted it to come to this point,” board member Charles Cush said. “I’ve seen the effort and energy that our leadership and, all of my board colleagues actually, have expended to remedy this situation by other means with the significant hours spent and multiple board evaluations conducted that were primarily geared toward resolving this issue at a personal cost of time to each member up here.”
During his remarks, Cush implored community members to go to the District 203 board of education’s public portal on Board Docs to read the resolution in its entirety.
“Do not — I repeat, do not; one more time, do not — rely on my summary or anyone else’s account of what the document says,” Cush said. “It is there for public consumption, and I would encourage everyone to read it because it does impact our community.”
Board member Kristin Fitzgerald said she was in support of the censure because she is hopeful it will direct the full elected body toward a focus on the core mission of serving students of all abilities across the district.
Fitzgerald said the censure is designed to “address behavior that if allowed to continue, will negatively impact the achievement of our students.”
“Our district is an outstanding district,” Fitzgerald added. “The fact that our student achievement results are in the 99th percentile for unit districts is exceptional and something that merits our trust in district efforts.”
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