Dear Lovejoy Community:
As a leader there may be days which arise where difficult situations must be handled or addressed. They aren’t the type of days you promote, or even wish for, but they are a reality of leading. I want to always be as open as legally possible in our communications and proceedings, even in difficult moments.
I want you to be aware that after posting the 72-hour required notice, a Called Special Board Meeting was held this morning. The meeting date and time was the first available opportunity where six out of seven board members could thoughtfully consider a proposed termination/non-renewal of an employee’s contract. Due to confidentiality laws and to protect the rights of the employee the District is not permitted to share any detailed information that resulted from a three-week investigation of a high school employee. The investigation was not related to anything of a sexual or physical nature, but of inappropriate comments that were made on multiple occasions.
During the investigation, multiple witnesses were interviewed by multiple administrators, including the head coach of the program and the athletic director. Additionally, the employee was given multiple opportunities to respond to each of the multiple allegations.
As the community knows, there have been difficult decisions the board has made in the past regarding employees who had a long career with Lovejoy ISD. Based on all the evidence presented to the board, which the public does not have access to due to legal requirements of confidentiality, the board approved the proposed termination/non-renewal of the employee’s contract.
This morning was not a proud moment for us as a community. Any time a proposal is presented for an employee to leave, it pains many involved. We will need to use moments like these as strong reminders of accountability, at all times, for our words and actions. The peak strength of any organization is limited by the worst behavior it allows. We simply cannot ignore actions not aligned to the Lovejoy ISD Educator/Graduate Profile.
I love our entire community. As the Superintendent of Lovejoy ISD, I do not take your trust lightly. As that trust builds, know that even in moments like these when it may be challenged, I treat every circumstance and situation as if my own personal child was being impacted. In all of our endeavors we will support what is supportable in our mission for our kids and we will not support actions which are not supportable.
