Details
7:00 at Chiddix Junior High
Unless you demand answers, you won’t get any.
30 Minutes for Public Comment will not be enough time. I think a lot of people plan to attend and many will want to speak.
The School Board can not interrupt speakers. During Public Comment citizens have the floor, stopping free speech not only violates the Open Meetings Act it violates the right of citizens to address their government.
The minutes and audio of the Secret meeting (Executive Session) the Board held on December 13th (might have been November 8th) must be released. Something happened at this meeting that caused Coach Hess to resign. Parents and the students he coached need answers.
If the Board caved to a few parents unhappy with their kids playing time, you deserve to know. If the coach was accused of illegally paying assistants after that issue was resolved in 2015, you deserve to know that. If some other issue was raised, you deserve to know that.
In case the Board pretends they have the right to hide information, attendees should demand their resignations. Coach Hess, from all the comments I’ve read, was a great coach and more than a mentor to the kids. He was converted from hero to nothing because of this secret meeting.
The Board must release what happened and who attended. That won’t happen unless you force them to do it.
Some of us can remember when Unit 5 was a quality school district. Sigh……
Here’s a chance to make it that way again. Hold them accountable and put an end to the petty nonsense they seem to have a hard time handling.
Coach Hess knows why he resigned and told the local news outlets what he wanted. If you don’t believe him then you should ask him. Unit 5 has nothing to answer for when one of there employees resign personal matters are confidential and they could not say anything more than what Coach Hess said publicly. If there was alleged wrong doing then it would be addressed by police, or IHSA or others and if that is the case it will come out in good time.
If they have nothing to hide then release the minutes and audio of their SECRET meetings.
I think people want to know why this escalated to a forced resignation and why the 3 parents involved suddenly had a problem with the coaches. This is the board’s chance to dispell the stories running rampant, if they can. If it truly comes out that this involved childish bullying then that’s a problem that needs to be rectified somehow. If that stands as what has occurred then all sports and coaches are in for some rough sailing ahead!. People just want the truth.
New story in a few minutes!