Beleaguered school board member Liz Biondi reiterated Tuesday night that she will not step down, more than two months after saying she did not want the district to hire a gay superintendent.
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Rather, Biondi asserted that the continued calls for her resignation were verging on harassment.
“I would like to make a statement,” she said early in Tuesday night’s Warren Township High School District 121 school board meeting in Gurnee after listening to comments from members of the public. “I just want to make everyone aware that I am not going to resign and if you keep this up, I will consider it harassment. And you know there are penalties for harassment, so that’s all I’m going to say.”
Her controversial previous remarks, made at a focus group discussion about the search for a new schools chief, prompted a firestorm of criticism from the public and from within the district. A community petition seeking her resignation was purportedly signed by thousands of people, and the rest of the board passed a resolution also calling for Biondi to leave the board.
The resolution, which says Biondi violated her oath of office and board policy, calls for her to make a public apology and to offer her resignation. School Board President John Anderson briefly addressed the subject Tuesday night.
“At this point they’ve turned us down, there’s not doubt about that,” he said in reference to the board’s request to the Lake County Regional Office of Education to have Biondi removed from her elected post.
Anderson said Biondi has been removed the board’s superintendent search committee, although she will be permitted to participate in the final vote.
Biondi, who has previously said she “never intended to offend” and “I have nothing against anyone,” was recorded at a Dec. 2 focus group meeting: “I’m going to be very blunt … I have very good friends who are gay or lesbian. I am concerned that if we hire someone who may have that background, that they may be fighting more personal fires than superintendent fires.”
She was elected by write-in vote in 2013. Her term on the board runs through 2017.
“I represent people, and it’s not the just the 31 who voted for me, as they keep saying,” Biondi said following the meeting. “And these people have a right to be heard and this board, well this board has made it difficult for people to speak who are trying to obtain information or disagrees with it.”
Biondi appeared unfazed Tuesday night by the angry calls for her resignation from a teachers’ union representative, a Warren Township teacher and two parents.
“It’s not easy, but everyone has a right to make their comments, to a point,” Biondi said, after the meeting. “And legal counsel has advised me that should it continue, there will be action taken.”
“Oh, not against the people, they have a right to speak,” Biondi said. “The board needs to put an end to it. They have done their dirty deeds. It went nowhere, because by state statute it is school board code it clearly states right here that they can’t get rid of me unless I have done something that is a felony or I have not come to the board meeting or I have acted improperly, which I have not failed to perform my duties.”
When asked if she planned to make a public apology, she said, “I made an apology. I said that I was sorry if I offended anyone but people have a right to make a statement and they asked me to ask the question.”
The school board president disagreed.
“She did say early on that she was sorry she offended anybody, but she never said she was sorry she said it,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the board the board has gone back to the Regional Office of Education to investigate its legal options.
“The law says she can only be removed for failure to do her job,” said Anderson. “Technically, what she did was not failure to do her job. Whether you like it or not is irrelevant, the code doesn’t allow for her to be removed for those reasons.”
“As president of the school board, I can’t do anything about it,” Anderson said. “I don’t have that power.”
The crowd at Tuesday’s meeting was markedly smaller than the one last month, but the ferocity of sentiment against Biondi was still vehement.
English teacher Jason Baker, who started a Change.org petition calling for Biondi’s resignation and has been vocal in his calls for her resignation, was one of the four people who addressed Biondi from the podium.
“It’s time for you to do the math and realize that resigning is only going to make your life and our lives better. If you truly care about this community, this is your only choice,” Baker said. “Your time on the board is achieving nothing positive,” he said.
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“My colleagues loathe you …,” he said to Biondi, who didn’t flinch.
“Worse, our students despise you,” Baker said. “You are known as ‘that homophobic board member’ and ‘that crazy woman.’ They ask us why in the world someone would be allowed to represent them and their families.”
“Over the past two board meetings, there were lines of speakers here calling for your resignation. No one showed up to support you,” Baker said.
“You’re embarrassing our students, our community and yourself. I’m an English teacher, but I can do the math you’ve added to our burdens while multiplying your own malfeasance. It is past time for you to subtract yourself from this board.”