Six members of Freeburg 70’s Board of Education voted to censure its seventh member and recommend to the St. Clair County Regional Superintendent of Schools to have him removed from office.
The actions at Monday’s board meeting followed a closed session discussion and a public comment period during which several teachers read a statement on behalf of their union. They said board member Jayson Baker’s “behavior has harmed the educational environment and the working conditions” of District 70 and that the teachers union had “overwhelmingly voted” that Baker had lost the confidence of its members.
They also requested that the board adopt a policy requiring any contact Baker has with a teacher be done only in the presence of an administrator. The teachers did not specify what Baker has done to lose their confidence or harm the district’s environment.
Baker was not present at the meeting but did provide a comment to the Belleville News-Democrat Tuesday morning. He was elected in April 2021 for a four-year term.
Between 40 and 50 people attended the board meeting, many of whom are teachers in the elementary school district.
One after another, five teachers approached the podium and read a statement to the board on behalf of their union. The BND obtained a copy.
“The Freeburg Elementary Teachers’ Association believes that our school functions best when teachers, parents, administrators, support staff, and school board members work collectively and cooperatively for the benefit of our children and students,” the statement reads. “Unfortunately, that has not always been the case recently.”
Over the last several months, a member of the association made a complaint against Baker “for creating an unpleasant and confrontational work environment,” the statement continues.
The allegation was brought to the attention of the superintendent, finance officer and school board, and “it was decided that the best way to investigate this allegation was to hire a neutral, third party who would have no bias toward either side,” the statement continues.
That third party was an attorney with no ties to the school district, and the investigation “determined that one of the complaints against Mr. Baker was founded, and that Mr. Baker has created an uncomfortable work environment.
“Given that this complaint has been deemed justified, it is only natural that other employees of the district who have contact with Mr. Baker fear they will face the same uncomfortable treatment,” the statement reads.
According to the statement, the association sent a letter to Baker in early 2023 outlining their concerns with his behavior and “expectation that he improve his unprofessional and unproductive conduct as a board member.” Later in April 2023, it granted a meeting Baker requested, where he “acknowledged some mistakes he had made and promised to make some personal changes going forward.”
Problems have continued despite those efforts, the statement reads.
Last week, the association met to discuss the situation and “overwhelmingly voted to say that Mr. Baker has lost the confidence of the teachers of our district.
“Mr. Baker’s behavior has harmed the educational environment and the working conditions of our district, and he has continued to harm the district despite many, many attempts at intervention.
“At this time, we do not feel he can perform the duties expected of him as a member of our school board,” the statement continues.
The association then requested that the board adopt a policy that all interactions between Baker and any teacher — whether by email, in person or over the phone — be done in the presence of an administrator for the duration of Baker’s tenure on the school board.
“The Freeburg Elementary Teachers’ Association expects swift and decisive action by this board to resolve this issue,” the statement concludes.
After the public comment and some regular board proceedings, the board went into closed session to “Consider a Recommendation to be Sent to the Regional Office of Education Regarding a Board Member’s Removal from Office,” among two other items, the agenda says.
After returning to open session, board members Michelle Foppe, Ed Scheibel, Jamie Smith, Amber Trout, David Stein and Bill May voted to do so for Jayson Baker.
According to the Illinois Council of School Attorneys, state law authorizes a regional superintendent of schools to remove a school board member if the member has willfully failed to perform his or her duties.
The relevant policy in Freeburg District 70’s board policy manual says the school board can request the regional superintendent to remove a board member from office if the majority of the board determines that the member has willfully failed to perform his or her official duties.
In response to Monday evening’s board meeting, Baker sent the following statement to the BND Tuesday morning:
“I do not speak on behalf of the Freeburg District 70 School Board.
“School Boards and administrators have attorneys to protect them. Certified school staff members have their union to protect them. If I am the only person on this School Board brave enough to advocate for unprotected, victimized staff members and students, especially those who are marginalized and vulnerable, I am proud to stand alone, even if it comes at a great personal cost. All I ever expected was for the District to follow laws and their own policies. Since I first expressed concerns about policy and law violations, my family and I have been the target of retaliation, harassment, and stalking to the point that a judge issued a one year order of protection on my behalf. It has been my experience that the School Board and a portion of FETA are more concerned with me calling out illegal practices and violations of policy than they are with the actual illegal activity and policy violations taking place in our schools. There is something seriously wrong with that, especially since these are the people we entrust with our children.”
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the Belleville News-Democrat.
Kelly Smits is a reporter with the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
