With a 6-1 vote in favor, East Peoria Community High School’s two deans have been demoted from their administrative positions and will resume teaching jobs with the district.
After about an hour of deliberation March 3 at a special District 309 board meeting, Robin Goff and Laurie Grant were “reclassified,” said board president Michael Joseph. The decision will take effect July 1.
“It was matters of personnel,” Joseph said on Friday. “It’s not something I can discuss.”
Both Goff and Grant were involved in a police incident still under investigation by the East Peoria Police Department. It could not be confirmed if their involvement was connected to the board’s decision.
Detective Sgt. Shannon Swearingen said they were listed as “complaintiffs” in a case from January involving a drug transaction between a teacher and a student.
“They did have involvement,” Swearingen said. “But, they were not directly involved in a transaction.”
He declined to release any additional details about the case because it is still being investigated by the state’s attorney’s office, he said.
At District 309’s regular school board meeting Feb. 22, the board remained in executive session for more than two hours deliberating the matter.
However, no decision was made because board member Dan Densberger was on vacation, said Joseph.
Densberger was the lone vote in opposition.
“We were not a full board,” said Joseph about why the decision was not made at the regular board meeting. “It was a pretty big decision we were going to be making.”
Board member Garth Knobeloch said the decision was not an easy one to make. He declined to discuss details about the deans’ reclassification.
“It was a tough decision, and that’s all there is,” he said. “That’s why it took two months to work out.”
Superintendent Cliff Cobert also declined to comment, only saying, “That would be a personnel matter.”
Goff served as a dean for the last four out of five years, and served as the curriculum coordinator during the 2007-08 school year. Grant has served as a dean for the last three years.
Cobert said the district has posted the job positions to replace the deans. They will accept applications until the first week in April.
