District 150 School Board Votes to Demote Curtin, Cox
By: Eugene Daniel
Updated: May 1, 2012
PEORIA- Irving Primary principal Kevin Curtin and Manual High assistant principal Gloria Cox will no longer serve in those roles.
Public hearings for Cox and Curtin were held at Woodruff High School in Peoria Monday night.
The District 150 school board voted to reassign Curtin and Cox to different positions with lower pay. The board voted 5 to 2 to reassign Cox, and 6 to 1 in favor of Curtin's demotion. .
For both administrators, it was their final chance to fight for their jobs. And for the first time, details why the board wanted to demote them were made public.
The public hearings were part of the reclassification process for both administrators.
District 150 attorneys claimed Cox did to meet expectations required of an administrator. Specifically, they claimed Cox failed to properly assist and evaluate staff and submit documentation on time.
Cox's attorneys says there's no evidence to back those claims and no one complained to Cox until her evaluations.
"These difficiences are not small problems. They go to the very heart of her primary responsibilities as an instructional leader," said District 150 attorney Nina Gougis.
"Where is the beef here? If you look at the evidence, the removal of Gloria Cox is not in the best interest of this district. The best interest of the district is to put this woman back to work at what she's good at," said Cox's attorney, Jim Baker.
District attorney's claimed Curtis was deficient in all categories on his last two administrator evaluations. They say Curtin also submitted falsified evaluation forms after confronted about his performance.
Curtin admitted to those accusations. But says he was pressured to meet new evaluation standards.
He says the hearing is an attack on his character.
"Mr.. Curtin submitted falsified teacher observation logs from his previous school assignments to his direct supervisor in efforts to support his baseless claims that he was in essence doing his job," said District 150 attorney Michelle Todd.
"This room is filled with people who know me. And who know the content of my character," said Curtin.
Public hearings for Cox and Curtin were held at Woodruff High School in Peoria Monday night.
The District 150 school board voted to reassign Curtin and Cox to different positions with lower pay. The board voted 5 to 2 to reassign Cox, and 6 to 1 in favor of Curtin's demotion. .
For both administrators, it was their final chance to fight for their jobs. And for the first time, details why the board wanted to demote them were made public.
The public hearings were part of the reclassification process for both administrators.
District 150 attorneys claimed Cox did to meet expectations required of an administrator. Specifically, they claimed Cox failed to properly assist and evaluate staff and submit documentation on time.
Cox's attorneys says there's no evidence to back those claims and no one complained to Cox until her evaluations.
"These difficiences are not small problems. They go to the very heart of her primary responsibilities as an instructional leader," said District 150 attorney Nina Gougis.
"Where is the beef here? If you look at the evidence, the removal of Gloria Cox is not in the best interest of this district. The best interest of the district is to put this woman back to work at what she's good at," said Cox's attorney, Jim Baker.
District attorney's claimed Curtis was deficient in all categories on his last two administrator evaluations. They say Curtin also submitted falsified evaluation forms after confronted about his performance.
Curtin admitted to those accusations. But says he was pressured to meet new evaluation standards.
He says the hearing is an attack on his character.
"Mr.. Curtin submitted falsified teacher observation logs from his previous school assignments to his direct supervisor in efforts to support his baseless claims that he was in essence doing his job," said District 150 attorney Michelle Todd.
"This room is filled with people who know me. And who know the content of my character," said Curtin.
