Speed District 802 v. Warning

SUPREME COURT CASES

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State: Illinois

Docket No: 108785 Rel

Case Date: 02/25/2011

Preview:Docket No. 108785.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
____________________ SPEED DISTRICT 802, a/k/a Governing Board of Special Education Joint Agreement District 802, Appellant, v. RACHEL WARNING et al., Appellees. Opinion filed February 25, 2011.

JUSTICE BURKE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justices Thomas, Garman, and Karmeier concurred in the judgment and opinion. Chief Justice Kilbride dissented, with opinion. Justice Freeman dissented, with opinion, joined by Justice Theis.

OPINION On January 8, 2008, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB or the Board) issued a decision, finding that SPEED District 802 (the District) violated section 14(a)(3) and, derivatively, section 14(a)(1), of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act (115 ILCS 5/14(a)(1), (a)(3) (West 2004)), when it failed to renew the teaching contract of Rachel Warning (Warning), a nontenured probationary teacher, at the end of the 2004-05 school year. The decision of the Board was affirmed in a divided opinion by the appellate court. See 392 Ill. App. 3d 628. We granted the District's petition for leave to appeal and now set aside the Board's decision and reverse the appellate court judgment.

BACKGROUND The following facts are taken from the record and transcripts of the hearing before the administrative law judge. Warning began working as a special education teacher for SPEED District 802 in the 2001-02 school year and was assigned to teach a class of severely physically handicapped teenage students. With regard to this first school year, Warning's personnel file contains only Warning's annual evaluation, which shows she received an overall rating of "Standard."1 During the following 2002-03 school year, however, a number of concerns surfaced regarding Warning's performance. Warning's personnel file contains a letter of reprimand, dated October 2, 2002, indicating that Warning was admonished for failing to notify the principal or other administrator before she sent a teaching assistant home due to his misconduct. Warning was advised that she did not have the authority to take this type of disciplinary action on her own and, in doing so, her actions denied the administration the opportunity to assess and document the situation firsthand. Although Warning again received an overall rating of "Standard" in her annual evaluation, dated January 31, 2003, she received a number of "unsatisfactory" ratings in individual performance objectives, as well as some "excellent" ratings and comments. The objectives in which she received poor ratings were: "Effectively manages the instructional team," "Interacts effectively with coworkers," and "Exhibits professionalism and is a role model for other teachers and students." In the recommendation section of the evaluation form, Principal Call wrote: "When it comes to the personnel working using a transdisciplinary approach, that is not evident through many different observations. We have discussed concerns with the support staff regarding a comfort level in the classroom. *** Your relationships with your classroom staff have been negative and strained this year. Earlier in the (school) year

The rating system used by the school district has only three classifications: "Excellent," "Standard," and "Unsatisfactory." A "Standard" rating means the teacher is performing satisfactorily.

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you made decisions about one of your assistants which were not within your role. When you were asked for follow up information on this situation, you did not follow up." In response, Warning wrote on the evaluation form: "I have requested from administrator and support staff for help in all matters but still this whole situation seems to be blamed on me." Attached to the 2002-03 evaluation was a memorandum, also dated January 31, 2003, and written by Principal Call. It stated, in part: "This afternoon we met to hold the post-conference meeting for your final evaluation. At this meeting the discussion centered on the concerns I have regarding your relationship and interactions with your support staff. I reviewed with you these areas and talked about how you need to be more effective in managing your classroom team. It is your responsibility to model and demonstrate for your assistants how they should be responding to support staff. You received your copy of the evaluation on the morning of January 30, 2003. That morning, after receiving the evaluation, you approached the Speech Pathologist (in front of other staff) and blamed her for your unsatisfactory ratings. Your actions caused this person to be found in tears in the hall by several other staff members. You also addressed another one of your support staff members that same morning in such a negative manner that she told you that she was not going to be able to assist you on a field trip. Your reaction to the evaluation and interactions with the staff following demonstrated unsatisfactory behavior. At this post conference I discussed with you the need for you to develop a plan of what you will do to address the concerns that have arisen related to teaming in your classroom. You told me that you didn't know what to do and wanted me to help you with this. I again explained that I wanted you to come up with a plan and then we can discuss it. You asked me what happens if you do not come up with a plan, will I fire you. I told you that I had not said anything about firing you." Warning submitted a written response to the memorandum, stating: -3-

"The areas I was evaluated in unsatisfactorily seem unfair. I was unaware of the support staff avoiding my classroom and not feeling comfortable until the administrator made me aware of the personalty conflict with an assistant in my classroom. (I was disappointed that the chain of communication was not followed. The support staff should have communicated their concerns to me first.) I was then directed to communicate this to my assistant and try to make the classroom atmosphere more comfortable for the support staff. I was directed to start documenting concerns. I had no concern in regards to my assistants other than in the beginning of the year. Since then everything has been excellent and I saw no need for further action. *** I feel my attempts to communicate and be a team member are belittled and or not considered. I feel the support staff does not respond to my attempts to communicate and then it seems as if I am rated poorly for the personality communication problems." Warning was given another memo from Principal Call several months later, on May 12, 2003. This memo provided Warning, once again, with written notice of concerns the administration had regarding Warnings dealings with her support staff. The document also served to memorialize a conference meeting that had been held earlier that day and was attended by Warning, Principal Call, an Occupational Therapist (OT) named Robin, and two other members of Warning's support staff. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Warning's interference in Robin's decisionmaking regarding scheduling of "make-up" therapy time with a student. Warning was advised that she did not have the authority or responsibility to assess another professional staff member's performance. Warning was advised that she was the only teacher who had any problems dealing with Robin and, in the future, if she had any concerns regarding a staff member's performance, she should direct her concerns to the administration rather than the staff member. Also, Warning was advised that she had acted improperly by discussing her staff concerns with a parent. The memo also reprimanded Warning for her behavior during the meeting. According to the memo, Warning and one of her assistants -4-

were rolling their eyes and nudging each other on the leg when certain comments were made by Robin or the principal. The memo advised Warning that she was expected to act more responsibly and professionally, and reminded her that she would be unable to meet the needs of her students if "the environment [in her classroom] is so tense that the support staff does not want to work in your room." In closing, Principal Call noted that, since the team meeting conducted earlier in the year, there had been "little or no improvement" in the situation in Warning's classroom and that Warnings interactions with her support staff was having a negative impact on her performance as a professional. Principal Call asked Warning to develop a plan on how she could improve the situation in her classroom. Principal Call commented that this was the second request for such a plan and she stated, "In developing this plan, you want to take time and look at what you need to do, not what others need to do." Warning was also advised that her classroom behavior would continue to be monitored for the remainder of that school year and the next. Warning responded to this memo largely by denying that her behavior with regard to Robin had been improper. Warning also denied rolling her eyes or nudging her assistant. In addition, Warning expressed her belief that, since the earlier team meeting, "everything had improved tremendously." Warning made no response to Principal Call's request that she develop a plan to improve the atmosphere in her classroom. Instead, she provided a list of "concerns" she had regarding Robin, mentioning three or four instances when, in Warning's view, Robin had not acted as a team player in her classroom. In another memo dated May 20, 2003, Principal Call documented the fact that Warning failed to show up for a scheduled meeting to discuss the plan she had been directed to develop on improving staff relationships in her classroom. The memo indicated that Principal Call contacted Warning to remind her of the meeting and when Warning finally arrived at Principal Call's office, she had not prepared a written plan. Moreover, Principal Call noted that when she asked Warning if she had any ideas on how she could improve her classroom atmosphere, Warning "with a smile on her face" responded, "I am going to continue to do an excellent job as I have done in the past." Principal Call also noted that Warning had acted unprofessionally -5-

after receiving the earlier memo and she advised Warning that she should take seriously the concerns that were being addressed with her, particularly in light of the fact that one of Warnings's assistants had filed a complaint with the State Board alleging that students in her classroom were not getting all the services they required. As a result of that complaint, Principal Call needed Warning to supply copies of her lesson plans for that school year in addition to supplying a plan on how she could improve her interactions with staff members. Warning's response to Principal Call's May 20, 2003, memo, dated May 22, 2003, purports to be Warning's plan for improving her relationships with her staff. The document indicates that it is the third plan submitted by Warning due to the fact that others had been "rejected." This plan, however, did not contain any ideas on how Warning might improve her relationships with her staff. Instead, it simply listed things Warning agreed to do or "continue" to do. For example, the first item provides: "1. Will continue to communicate with all SPEED Team members by: (a) By [sic] a plan developed and agreed upon by all members of the SPEED Team." The last two items on the list provide: "6. Per your request (Kathy Call), Teacher will not monitor support staff minutes. 7. Per your request (Kathy Call), I will decrease my jovial demeanor and be more serious." (Emphasis in original.) The next item in Warning's personnel file is her evaluation for the 2003-04 school year, Warning's third probationary year.2 The evaluation form, dated January 26, 2004, was completed by Principal Call and, once again, gave Warning an overall rating of "Standard." In her comments, Principal Call commended Warning for making "great

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