Worried that they could be the ones who would face repercussions if they try to suspend a teacher’s license, McHenry County officials have asked for a special prosecutor and a special hearing officer to handle the case.
Glenn Gable, chief of the state’s attorney’s civil division, said the case has presented a number of thorny legal issues that warrant turning it over to a special prosecutor.
There are questions, he said, about whether his office has the legal authority to represent the regional school superintendent’s office, which is technically under the jurisdiction of a state rather than a county agency.
In addition, Gable said, he fears his office could be sued for malicious prosecution if it presents evidence against the teacher, who faces the loss of teaching privileges even though the teacher has never been charged criminally.
Regional Superintendent of Schools Don Englert said he believes it is the first time in the 12 years he has worked in the office that a teacher could lose teaching privileges without first being charged with a crime.
“It’s an unusual situation,” he said. “If there were criminal charges, it would actually be easier.”
Englert said he believed a hearing officer was necessary to avoid putting him in the position of being both judge and jury. The hearing officer would hear all evidence and legal motions, but Englert still must make the final decision on the teacher’s fate.
While the request is uncommon, what has made it even more unusual is the fact that county officials refuse to discuss anything about the specific case, including why they want to discipline the teacher.
At the request of Gable and Englert, the County Board’s Public Health and Human Services Committee has approved spending $5,000 to hire a special attorney to present the case against the teacher. The request now goes before the board’s Finance Committee.
The State Board of Education has promised to provide a hearing officer to conduct the hearing and rule on the admissibility of evidence the special attorney presents.
Gable said vague language in Illinois law raises the possibility that, absent criminal charges, the state’s attorney could be sued for malicious prosecution.
The state’s attorney’s office examined evidence against the teacher but decided there was not enough to go to trial, Gable said. But the standards to maintain a teaching certificate are different from those needed to bring criminal charges.
Englert said a teacher’s license could be suspended for “unprofessional conduct, immorality, a condition harmful to the welfare of children,” or criminal behavior.
If one or more such charges are brought against a teacher and shown to be credible, the regional superintendent must conduct a hearing to decide whether to suspend the teacher’s license. The state also could take action, including license revocation.
When a teacher faces criminal charges, the regional schools superintendent usually waits until the charges are played out before deciding whether to suspend or revoke the teacher’s license. If the teacher is convicted of a serious crime, loss of teaching privileges is virtually automatic.
“I would have an obligation to look into the matter, even if the teacher is acquitted,” he said.
