Schools
Firing of Former Maine South, West Teacher Upheld
The District 207 school board reaffirmed its decision to fire a former teacher, who they say caused the district much damage.
Maine Township High School District 207 reaffirmed its decision to fire a former tenured teacher and coach at Maine South, after getting backing from the Illinois State Board of Education, the Park Ridge Sun-Times reports. School board members had dismissed Jannon Kirley on August 5 for behavior that they said caused the district a significant amount of damage. Kirley was a PE and health teacher, and coached swimming and water polo at the high school for the past 10 years. She also worked at Maine West for a short time.
However, she has not worked for the district since 2011, when she was initially fired. At that time, she asked for a dismissal hearing with a state-appointed official. Overall, 10 hearings were held, and last month, a hearing officer upheld the district's decision to fire her because she could not follow orders. Kirley filed a complaint back saying she was fired because of her age and gender, and because she exercised her freedom of speech.
