When District 97 announced last week that Meryl Benjamin, a principal at a suburban Oak Lawn elementary school, was the next Holmes Elementary School principal, it may have seemed like just another ordinary personnel announcement.
That is, until information surfaced that Benjamin, principal of Columbus Manor Elementary School, had filed a lawsuit against her current school district, whose board had voted in February not to extend her contract.
So much for an ordinary personnel announcement.
The District 97 Board of Education was set to hire Benjamin at its May 10 board meeting, effective July 1, and at a starting salary of $94,562. Benjamin’s name had already been announced as the next Holmes principal on the school’s PTO listserv on Monday, May 8. The next day, however a short and cryptic e-mail went out from district headquarters, this one telling parents that the board had received “additional information about Ms. Benjamin, the principal candidate for Holmes School,” that the district was “looking into.” The board met in closed session last Wednesday night concerning Benjamin.
Wednesday Journal first reported the Benjamin matter on WednesdayJournalOnline.com on Friday, May 12.
Holmes School is located at 508 N. Kenilworth Ave.
The status of Benjamin’s hiring remains uncertain with District 97 Superintendent Constance Collins saying Monday that the school board will make the final decision on the position.
On Feb. 9, in a narrow 3-2 vote, the school board of Ridgeland District 122 in Oak Lawn, chose not to extend Benjamin’s two-year contract beyond the current school year. Benjamin has since filed a wrongful dismissal suit against the district in Cook County Circuit Court.
According to news accounts in the Daily Southtown and the Southwest News-Herald, Benjamin and her attorney contend that the special meeting at which her employment was discussed was held illegally because proper public notice was not given. Those same news articles say the board’s decision was based on low standardized test scores at Columbus Manor. The board’s action came despite a recommendation by the district’s superintendent, Ken Jandes, to extend Benjamin’s contract.
According to its state report card, Columbus Manor, with a student enrollment of 360, met Adequate Yearly Progress for 3-5 graders testing in both reading and math for 2005. Overall student performance on state testing at Columbus Manor improved from 75.7 percent in 2004 to 82.6 percent in 2005.
Parents in the school district signed petitions asking its board to retain Benjamin saying she had not had adequate time to further improve test scores. Benjamin has been principal since 2004.
Benjamin’s attorney has not returned calls to Wednesday Journal.
District 97’s Collins said that Benjamin applied for the Holmes position. The district, she added, did not contact Benjamin about the job.
Collins said she was not aware of the lawsuit, and first learned of it on Monday, May 8.
“Whenever I have information that I didn’t have before, we always want to know what this means and what impact it will have,” she said. “Right now, the board is still discussing the matter. No decision has been made and we don’t know where we’re going at this point.”
Benjamin was scheduled to appear at last Wednesday’s board meeting. She was notified that morning that she would be rescheduled, Collins said.
Collins said the District 97 Human Resources Department handles the screening of candidates. Collins said Benjamin was interviewed and that to her knowledge, Benjamin’s lawsuit did not come up during the process. Collins said she interviewed Benjamin about two weeks prior to the May 10 board meeting. The lawsuit did not come up during that interview either, Collins said.
Wednesday Journal learned through sources connected to the school that a parent used Google to search for Benjamin’s name. A simple name search by Wednesday Journal last Thursday turned up several articles about Benjamin, her dismissal and her pending lawsuit.
Collins said using Google or other Internet sources were not a part of the screening process.
“What we want to do is always look at how we want to improve the process,” she said. “We always want to look at how we can do some things better. That’s an ongoing process.”
Collins said the board will make the final decision concerning the Holmes principal hire.
Collins added that, to her knowledge, Benjamin does not have any personal contacts in District 97. If hired, Benjamin would succeed retiring principal Laurel Muhammad, who will officially step down after the current school year.
Collins would not comment specifically on Benjamin’s current situation, but noted that the district is concerned about the community’s reaction to changes in personnel.
“Whenever we are looking at any changes in our schools, we’re concerned about what out parents and our community and our staff thinks,” she said. “That is always a consideration.”