Bourbonnais Dist. 53 resolves grievance over fired BUGC teacher

BOURBONNAIS — Bourbonnais Elementary School District 53 and its teachers union reached an agreement this week related to a teacher who was fired in March after assigning a controversial young adult novel in an elective eighth grade book club.

In a special meeting Monday, the Bourbonnais Elementary School Board approved an agreement resolving a pending legal matter on behalf of former Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center teacher Lori Krecioch.

The matter was set to go to arbitration a few days later on Friday.

Per the agreement, the Bourbonnais Education Association will withdraw a grievance filed against the district, and the district will remove a notice about the incident from Krecioch’s employment file.

The parties also agreed to amend their collective bargaining agreement to clarify that a notice of direction from a supervisor is not considered disciplinary action.

The agreement was unanimously approved by the four board members in attendance, including Jayne Raef, Erika Young, Brain Fritz and Stephan Moulton.

THE AGREEMENT

The district has agreed to permanently remove the notice of direction from Krecioch’s personnel file.

“There’s no value in providing that notice of direction into the employee’s file that is no longer here,” Superintendent Adam Ehrman said. “Because it was a notice of direction to not do these things anymore. Well, they’re not here anymore.”

At the same time, the BEA has agreed to withdraw its grievance with prejudice, meaning the action is final and the case cannot be filed again.

Ehrman said the important piece of the agreement, from the district’s standpoint, is the addition to the collective bargaining agreement stating that “written management directives without an explicit reprimand shall not be disciplinary nor subject to a grievance.”

“In essence, it doesn’t just solve this [case]. It resolves all future ones,” Ehrman said.

BEA President Dan Chamernik said the union does not wish to comment on the situation, as it involves a personnel matter.

“... But I can share the BEA was pleased to work with the administration to conclude this matter and ensure that our members are treated fairly,” Chamernik said. “We look forward to working with them on other issues which affect our students and BEA members.”

BACKGROUND

In May, the board voted to deny a grievance filed by the Illinois Education Association, representing the BEA, to appeal a notice of direction issued to Krecioch by BUGC Principal Jeremy Outsen.

The March 13 notice of direction was in response to a meeting held with Krecioch, Outsen, other administrators and the parents of a child in the book club, where the novel “Looking for Alaska” by John Green, which contains sexually explicit content, was assigned for five students.

The notice pertained to “conduct toward parents in meetings” and “use of parental consent forms,” as the title of the novel was not included on the club’s consent form, according to the district.

The board voted March 19 to dismiss Krecioch and not rehire her for the 2024-25 school year.

The IEA argued at the time that the notice of direction was a form of disciplinary action equivalent to a letter of reprimand, and that the district was using different language to avoid steps outlined in the collective bargaining agreement.

The union also argued that the district failed to provide documentation of when copies of the novel were purchased for the school and by whom.

The initial grievance was filed April 2.

After being denied by Outsen, Ehrman and then the school board, the BEA’s next step to pursue the grievance further would have been arbitration.

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