DANVILLE — The District 118 Board of Education meeting on Wednesday was overflowing with some sitting on the floor. The audience applauded while speaker after speaker said Superintendent Alicia Geddis has abandoned her post.
Chelsesa Hulten is a social worker at Mark Denman Elementary School. She said other administrators have had to answer questions and make decisions instead of Geddis.
“We’ve shown our students that her safety is more important than theirs,” Hulten said. “We’ve shown them that it’s okay to walk away from away from your problems, your commitments and your community when things get hard.”
The school board voted unanimously to put Geddis on paid administrative leave, which would block Geddis’ access to her work laptop, phone and key fob, board member Kimberly Corley explained.
The board also voted unanimously to appoint Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education John Hart as the interim superintendent.
“I do commend the directors and principals in our district for stepping up to the plate when there wasn’t an official leader that you could go to you to do what needs to be done,” said Board Member Alice Payne. “I’m looking forward to moving on.”
The board had split votes on two related actions, but both moved forward. The first would settle a separation agreement with Geddis, pending approval from the Illinois Teacher Retirement System. The second would seek help from the Illinois Association of School Boards to do a search for a new superintendent.
Because the District 118 school board is already a member of IASB, this would cost $9,000 and be $20,000 cheaper than hiring an outside firm, according to Board President Randal Ashton.
What has Geddis done in her decade as superintendent?
One person, Mary Rothwell, asked the school board Wednesday what Geddis has done as superintendent.
“What has she really done? Is she worth all this agony and division in the community to keep her going?” Rothwell asked.
Geddis has been the District 118 superintendent for 10 years.
She began working remotely in the fall after receiving a threat from the Ku Klux Klan along with other threatening behavior. In November, the school board said they were working to get her back in person. She also said she would return if there was an adequate safety plan for her.
“We’ve lost someone who’s been a true champion for education in our district, and I think that, in all fairness, it’s going to be very difficult to achieve the things that she’s achieved moving forward,” said Lloyd Randle, a Danville resident and former alderman.
Randle told IPM News after the meeting that Geddis found innovative ways to feed students facing food insecurity, like offering nutrition-compliant, free meals at McDonald’s drive-throughs. She brought a clinic into Danville High School, with the goal of addressing substance use and mental health issues. Randle also said she brought millions of dollars into the district with these programs.
He said the groundswell of opposition to Geddis started before this year, when she stood her ground on confidential issues the public had little information about. For example, he said Geddis was right to investigate sexual harassment claims and seek accountability when the board president did not act on the complaints. The 2021 settlement to Geddis, the lawyers and the victim of the alleged harassment cost a total of $655,000.
Randle said the board should consider spending the money to do a national search and get the best next superintendent for Danville.