ETHICS, Stan Fields stoops to new levels of dishonesty in dealing with Theresa Kelly [D209]

Proviso Township High Schools Superintendent Stanley Fields, PhD, has been completely unprofessional and disrespectful toward board member Theresa Kelly.

Kelly emailed Fields requesting issues connected to the Proviso East "Wall of Fame" be addressed at the upcoming meeting of the board of education.

The text of Kelly's February 2, 2007 email to Fields included:

I am requesting a statement be made at the February 2007 board of education meeting to clarify the financial state of the Proviso East Alumni Wall of Fame...

Since Fields didn't respond to Kelly she emailed him again on February 7. Then she emailed him again on February 12. Since Fields didn't respond Kelly emailed again on February 14. She emailed again, today, February 16. Finally Fields responded.

BOE agenda is finalized 12pm Wednesday preceding the mtg

Apparently Fields doesn't want to deal with the issues raised by Kelly and is trying to bully her off the agenda.

Fields neglected to respond to Kelly's clear and repeated request to put something on the agenda. Fields ignored Kelly until after the deadline to have agenda items proposed and then tries to make it sound like Kelly didn't request the item be placed on the agenda by the deadline.

Is there anyone who wouldn't consider Fields' conduct disrespectful from Kelly's perspective?

Is Fields disrespectful to Kelly because she's not part of the board president's majority?

Fields is not as disrespectful toward board members Charles Flowers, EdD, and Gary Marine.

Let's cut to the essence of it: does Fields treat Kelly disrespectfully because she's a Black senior citizen without an advanced degree?

Fields may not want to deal with the Proviso East "Wall of Fame". It's ancillary to the district's mission. But let's review why the "Wall of Fame" is a big deal. Remember Fields' first board meeting.

Next Fields started asking about the fund associated with the Proviso East “Wall of Fame”. It was an opportunity for board president Chris Welch to make allegations against Kelly. Welch alleged she was refusing to account for the funds. He alleged the money was improperly spent. He alleged the project inappropriately intruded on students’ schedules. And Welch got Fields to say that what she was doing was illegal. According to Welch and Fields the law requires the fund be administered by the board of education because the organization has “Proviso East” in its name. Kelly accused Welch of lying. Welch attacked Kelly by loudly and repeatedly saying, “Mrs. Kelly, show us the money!”

The "Wall of Fame" is an issue because Fields and Welch used it to attack Kelly and accuse of doing something inappropriate and illegal with the money.

These allegations didn't hold water, but Fields and Welch made them.

So, if Fields thinks the board of education has time to use the "Wall of Fame" as a club for criticizing Kelly then it seems reasonable that Kelly should be able to get it on the agenda too. Of course as a board member Kelly should be able to put anything reasonable on the agenda. And Fields should have the decency to respond to her emails and act on her requests in a timely manner.

[UPDATE: Proviso Insider presents Stan Fields side of the story. The entry includes a portion of the text of Kelly's email to Fields. So whoever Proviso Insider is, s/he is close enough to Fields that s/he gets copies of Fields' emails.

[Proviso Insider's final sentence sums up Fields attitude toward Kelly, Why does a woman with a high school diploma think she can tell a person with a Ph.D. how to run a school? Maybe Kelly got the idea from Illinois law? Is she not a legally elected member of the school board? Is Kelly somehow exceeding her authority by asking for something to be put on the agenda? And what difference does the disparity in education level between a board member and superintendent matter? Is Proviso Insider being petty?

[Proviso Insider is pretty fond of a certain politician who failed to graduate from high school. But Proviso Insider never makes an issue of the politicians education level. Why is Kelly's education level relevant? If she did have a doctorate would it make her important enough for Fields to respond to her emails?]