Schools

109 Acts To Dismiss Tenured Teacher

Stephanie Horwitz claims District would not make accommodations for medical condition.

Steps were taken to dismiss a tenured teacher by the Deerfield Public Schools District 109 Board of Education at its meeting Monday, according to a statement issued by the District.

Stephanie Horwitz was suspended without pay Monday pending a formal hearing, according to the statement.

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“On November 26, 2012, the District 109 Board of Education acted in open session to approve a Resolution to Dismiss a Tenured Teacher from Employment and to Suspend Said Teacher Without Pay Pending a Formal Dismissal Hearing for Stephanie Horwitz. This dismissal process is in accordance with Illinois School Code Section 24-12,” the statement read.

The District promised to release the full resolution once it was delivered to Horwitz.

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Horwitz, however, said she has not been paid since March because she has been on unpaid medical leave. The Board’s action Monday did not come as a surprise.

“I knew it would happen because I was not able to come back in August,” Horwitz said. “I have a disability and the School District was not willing to provide reasonable accommodations.”

School Board President Ellen London has no comment to Horwitz’s statement.

The dispute between Horwitz and the District has been brewing for more than two years, according to a story published in February in the Deerfield Review. Horwitz had been receiving “excellent” evaluations for 10 years and then got one that was “satisfactory.


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