Two Denman School PE teachers remain on paid leave
Quincy Todd Pettit, the first graduate of Quincy High School to hold the position of superintendent for the district, has struck a separation agreement with the Quincy School Board.
Following several state investigations into the actions of two physical education teachers at Denman Elementary School, the entire board unanimously approved the agreement during a special meeting on Wednesday night.
Pettit is officially on administrative leave through November in accordance with the separation agreement. He will receive $40,923.08 in pay under a shorter and modified deal. Benefits will be available till the end of November. Much less than the $362,589.75 that the district would have been required to pay under his initial contract.
A joint statement from the board and Pettit, which stated that the termination of his term was a mutual choice, was then read by Board President Shelley Arns.
According to Arns, there was no wrongdoing or disagreement that led to this decision. Instead, there is a consensus that a leadership transition that takes into account the changing requirements of the community and district is appropriate. Dr. Pettit’s commitment, leadership, and services to Quincy Public Schools are acknowledged by the Board of Education.
Along with the two teachers, Kimberly Kirby and Jennifer Oitker, who are the focus of renewed state investigations into the practice of taping students’ mouths shut to keep them quiet and giving each other birthday spankings, sometimes with the hand, shoes, or pool noodles, Pettit had been on administrative leave since the beginning of August.
Cal Lee, the previous superintendent of the Moline School District, will begin working on an interim basis on Friday, August 15, according to Arns. He will receive $1,000 each day for the first 70 days and has a superintendent’s license. The price is the typical pay for current interim superintendents, and school district counsel David Penn says Lee’s position as a retiree restricts how long he may serve in this capacity. Lee might not even complete the entire 70 days if the board selects a permanent replacement sooner.
In 2023, he also worked at Rock Island as an interim superintendent, earning $650 a day.
In 2012 and 2015, Lee held two interim superintendent positions at Quincy. His first employment after graduating from Quincy College was working in the Quincy Catholic schools.
Until the Illinois State Board of Investigation’s investigation is finished, the physical education teachers under investigation are still on paid leave.
According to Arns, ISBE is still investigating a complaint it received in June, despite the fact that both teachers were found to be properly certified. The nature of that complaint is unknown to the board.
If something came back from ISBE that would yank those licenses, we decided back in August that it wasn’t in the best interest to keep them teaching, she added.
According to the findings of a previous DCFS inquiry conducted in November, the teachers’ actions were improper but not illegal. According to the study, both educators acknowledged that this has been occurring at Denman Elementary School for years.
Arns stated earlier this month that board members were only made aware of the charges’ nature after parents complained to MRN that they felt insufficient action had been taken against the teachers, and Muddy River News received a copy of the complete report and publicized it.
MRN was informed by the parents of one of the affected children that DCFS returned in July to do additional interviews with her family and potentially two others.
Arns is still adamant that there should have been better information about what was happening. A Denman Action Plan includes steps to streamline the complaint process and improve communication. According to Arns, the school already has one extra camera in use, and they are talking to others about any potential future changes to the monitoring system.
before to a vote by the board, a parent confirmed that the issues at Denman, as detailed in the DCFS report, had existed before to Pettit’s arrival, under the tenure of Chrissy Cox as Denman’s principal and Roy Webb as the school’s superintendent.
But it’s Pettit who’s going out.
When MRN inquired as to whether Pettit was falling on his sword, Arns said that, as the district commander, that is ultimately the duty of his position. It’s very regrettable. We all consider him a buddy. It was a really tough choice.
Although the statement released after the board meeting stated that this decision is not the result of any wrongdoing or dispute, but rather a common judgment that the moment is ripe for a leadership transition, Arns had also referred to Pettit’s actions on August 1 as a failure of leadership.
