Tom Martin Regional Editor Gannett Western Illinois Division Re: Response to FOIA Request Dear Mr. Martin: This letter is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request dated March 11, 2022, and received by email from: SLisec@gannett.com & tmartin@register-mail.com Request No. 1: Response: Request No. 2: Response: Request No 3: Response: A copy of letters of resignation from board members Jim Haynes and Missy Shepherd Your request is granted and resignations of s. attached to this email board members have been A copy of the letters of resignation from Chris Johnson and Traci Johnson. Your request is granted and resignations from both parties have been attached to this email. A copy of the letter of resignation for ROWVA Superintendent Joe Somberger, ‘Your request is granted and the resignation has been attached. Please be aware that our response to your request is pursuant to our understanding of your FOIA. Tequest. If we have misunderstood your request, please let us know as soon as possible so we may provide the correct information. Finally, you have a right to appeal any part of this decision denying your request to Scott Lake, Vice President of the Board of Education. Please forward any appeals in writing to the following address: ROWVA School District 335 North Joy Street, Oneida, 11 61467 Ifyou have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us, Sincerely, Joe Somberger SuperintendentTo: ROWVACUSD #208 From: Jim Haynes, Board member and acting President At the conclusion of our special board meeting March 10, 2022, | officially resign my position on the ROWVA CUSD #208 Board. | wish the best for our outstanding staff as they transition into a new era. Over the past several months we have been challenged with several unforeseen distractions to the process of education. While we have overcome most, we have left damage along the way. | would hope these experiences will uide the new leadership in a positive and prosperous direction. This transition and recovery will take special attention, and additional time commitments As | look at my priorities, | see Health, Family, Faith, Career, and Community as the key focus areas in my life. Undoubtably, our community needs strong leaders for success, especially our school district. At this point, we have division within our board and clouded perspectives. We need united members with € consistent/common approach to our future success. | have been absorbed with our school for several years. The time commitment has peaked and taken away from my other priorities. | do not share the same perspectives as the majority of this board nor possess the additional time required therefore, Isee the opportunity to refocus my life more towards Health, Family, Faith, and Career. ‘Thank you for the opportunity to serve, | have faith in our district's future success. Best regards, Jim HaynesR.O.W.V.A. CUSD# 208 346 E Rova Dr Oneida, IL 61467 Letter of Resignation Dear Fellow Members of the Board, ROWVA Administration and Staff, and Community ‘Members: Some of my proudest moments have been due to the success of this district. Including the education my two children have received from ROWVA. We brought this district out of debt and added programs and curriculum that some would say this litte district could not have achieved. We did it, and that is what I set out to do when I came on this board. ‘Over the past nine months, many decisions have been made by this board that greatly upset our students, staff, and community members. It seems we’ve come to a place where this board (at least four members) fee! they need to stand ground with some community members to the detriment of our staff and administration. With a divided board, we have not been able to smooth ‘these relationships. According to four board members, the community is looking to them to lead this district in this direction. I personally have not had the same communication from community members, instead Thave heard concerns with the future of our district and the damage being caused. Our community should be concemed and outraged. Those four votes have been used as threat to those who don’t see it their way. I've come to realize, that even with all my efforts to mend relationships with our administration, staff, and students, they are null and void by the majority vote of the board. In the eye of transparency, which has so greatly been emphasized of late, I will step out of the way. It breaks my heart the changes this district will face and the re-building that will need to happen, Sincerely, Melissa ShepherdResignation 1 message Johnson, Chris Tue, Mar 1, 2022 at 4:40 PM To: JHaynes@martintractorine.com, mshepherd8689@gmall.com, cowman610@hotmail.com, ryan.swansonelectric@gmail.com, johnkuelper47@gmail.com, "Mrs. Bridget Lake" Ce: Adam Seaney , Joe Somberger Good afternoon, || am sending this letter as my formal resignation from the ROWVA School District at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. have served the students of this district in some capacity for the past 20 years, and | feel for that time ! have given as much time and energy as possible to make this district an amazing place for our students. Going into this year, | saw ‘myself retiring from this district when the lime came many more years down the road. | saw my daughter walking across the ROWVA stage at graduation wearing ROWWVA colors and receiving a ROWVA diploma. As this year has gone on, | no longer see that future, ‘The decisions and actions, the conversations with both staff members and community members, the insincere and insulting statements made by some of you on this board have done irreperable harm, The ROWVA family has changed from one that supports and nurtures our students to @ broken one that seems to care and support a single demographic ‘without concer for the unique and changing needs of the student population. The compassionate community that was proud to be a part of is gone. This has become a place that discriminates against diversity and that bans messages and \deas instead of facilitating tolerance and open mindedness. This is not the ROWVA School District that | fel in love with and not one | want to be a part of any longer. ‘As always, | am committed to serving my students and I look forward to teaching and coaching them thorough the remainder of this schoo! year. | wish the best for our students; they are the reason we are all here, Christopher JohnsonBoard of Education, Superintendent Somberger, and Principal Seaney ‘After much consideration, | have decided that | would like to resign effective immediately. The Public comment at the board meeting that went beyond the 5 minute cutoff, the inconsistency of Tules on who can speak after public comment, and the subsequent discussion and votes in the last meeting led me to this decision. In the past thirteen years, | have worked tirelessly to better this district. When you look back at events, improvements, or extra time put into this district, you will see my presence in many of them. I chose to go above and beyond my job description because ROWVA was my home. If there was something that needed to be done, | didn't hesitate to volunteer to fill that need. | saw the need for us to promote our brand, so | created #rowvastrong and our social media presence (all with no extra pay). | volunteered to come in to prepare and deliver lunch to our students in the first months of the pandemic. | gave up my duty-free lunch so that seniors had a good place to eat last year. | made up three yearbooks without @ cent of reimbursement from the district because | thought our graduates deserved to have a yearbook. | teach several classes that would probably be considered an overload because | wanted our students to have the opportunity to take mass comm, tech intern, genius hour, and capstone. If someone wants something to get done here, they ask me to be a part of it. In fact, | won a national award called "Making It Happen” for my ability to get big things ‘accomplished for our school | decided to earn my doctorate so that | could give us the best curriculum guidance possible. In my application letter for my program, | said the following: "I want to earn my doctorate to prove that the grass is not always greener in a larger district. Rural schools deserve educators with a PhD, and | intend to prove that small schools can make a big impact on the worid, and that quality teachers don't need to move on to bigger schools to make a difference." | thought | would retire here 20+ years from now having put ROWVA on the map. In my mind, | have been the ideal type of teacher that you want to stay in your district long term, and in return, this was my dream job until this year. In the past, | felt that the board respected my opinion very much. With the masks, | sent an ‘email that some of the board members did not like, and it has been a battle since then. | do not regret fighting for the board to follow the mandate. | do not regret supporting our transgender Homecoming candidate. | do not regret educating our teachers on the definitions and laws related to transgender students. I do not regret helping to put together a policy that made our transgender students feel safe while also alleviating the concern that students would be allowed to barge into the bathroom of the opposite gender. | do not regret standing up against the board making a curriculum decision in closed session and then twisting it around to make it seem like the book had not been banned from the curriculum; use whatever term from the thesaurus you choose, the book was removed from the curriculum without even an investigation. Ihave spent countless nights lying awake wondering how itis that in such a short time, a few ‘members of the board of education have been able to rip away my dream job in my dream district. My heart is broken and will forever be for this personal loss. However, | do not wish the students and community to suffer at my expense. These issues have divided our community,and | thought my resignation would begin the healing process. | thought | could spend the last semester enjoying all the things that | love about this district and leave on a positive note. Since school has resumed, | have lost my father, and I sat through a board meeting where | was Personally attacked. | no longer think itis in the best interest of my health or the best interest of my students for me to teach for the remainder of the year. Despite my anger and sadness at this situation, | wish the district well. | see several avenues where the district can move forward and continue to be the best in the area, and one of the best rural districts in the state of Illinois. | wish you all luck as you lead through this difficult time, and thank you to those of you who have supported me when it may have been easier to attack me. Sincerely, Traci JohnsonNotice of Resignation { message Somberger, Joe Mon, Feb 28, 2022 at 7:17 PM Bcc: nsteward@rowva.k12.Hhus. Evening, tis with bittersweet emotions that I inform you of an opportunity that has been presented to me which will take me on to the next pathway in my edueational journey. Tonight, I was appointed to the position of Superintendent for Jasper County Unit School District #1 With heartfelt gratitude for the tremendous opportunity { received in leading this outstanding district for the past 8 years, Thave submitted my resignation as ROWVA Superintendent effective Tune 30, 2022. Yours in Education, Joe Somberger, Superintendent