Argo Investigated Teacher Before Giving $266K

SUMMIT, IL – Argo Community High School officials investigated an English teacher last year, a few months before the school board agreed to give her $266,000 in a settlement.

Last month, Patch obtained the investigation report involving teacher Heather Siegel-Hickman, who also led the local teachers union.

Labeled "confidential," the April 11, 2024, report was written by Principal Brandon Cotter and Greg Dietz, the human resources director.

As part of the later settlement, Cotter submitted a glowing reference letter for Siegel-Hickman.

The report on the investigation made three main allegations against her:

• She abused and made unauthorized use of paid leave on Jan. 22, 2024, for a union meeting and Feb. 7, 2024, for a trip to Iowa.
• She was dishonest, evasive and deceptive in answering several questions during the investigation.
• She spent a disproportionate amount of time on personal and non-school matters during working hours when she was supposed to supervise students and prepare instruction plans.

The administrators searched Siegel-Hickman's browsing history and found she entered "How to speed up GCN training videos" into a search engine.

That, the officials said, "illustrates her unethical attempt to avoid completing her state-required compliance training."

During class time, she spent an "extensive amount" of class time on websites related to hotel bookings, airline flights, online shopping, union business, online banking, home internet setup and personal Gmail access, the report said.

With her actions, Siegel-Hickman violated an August 2023 "notice to remedy" from the school board. That directive required her to conduct herself professionally and not disrespect authority, among other things, the report said.

Cotter and Dietz recommended her firing.

Five weeks later, Siegel-Hickman settled with the school board. In return for the $266,000, she was required to resign and seek the withdrawal of six public records requests.

Those requests from anonymous email addresses were for information on Superintendent William Toulios' credit card spending. The requests were issued around the time of the report.

Toulios was placed on paid leave last month while the school investigates his credit card spending.

In January, Patch reported on Toulios' credit card spending, some of which appeared to be unrelated to school business. It included a mysterious item called "Sextpanthe."

Toulios' attorney defended the superintendent in a recent interview with Patch.

Despite Cotter's criticism in the report, he took an entirely different tone in his reference letter, which was part of the settlement.

"She has successfully managed numerous responsibilities with efficiency and a keen attention to detail," Cotter wrote.

The principal also praised Siegel-Hickman's "educational prowess, leadership and advocacy, along with her organizational and communication skills."

Those attributes, he said, "make her an exceptional candidate for any role she aspires to."

On April 15, Patch left a message for comment on the investigation with Cotter, Dietz and Toulios. They did not respond. A day later, the school board announced that it had put Toulis on leave.

Siegel-Hickman also did not return a message for comment. She is now the director of professional development for the Will County Regional Office of Education.