Bremen District 228 Board Ousts Another President

MIDLOTHIAN, IL — Debi Stearns, school board president for Bremen High School District 228, was removed from her post during a special meeting Monday night. The board voted 4-1 for the ouster, with Stearns and board member Leslie Jones abstaining.

Board Vice President Kristine Resler was voted in as president, 4-3. An attempt to vote in Jones as president was defeated by the same 4-3 total.

Stearns' ouster stemmed from accusations brought by Resler that Stearns was micromanaging district employees and creating an evironment upsetting to the board and district staffers. Resler, in a letter dated July 5, had asked Stearns to voluntarily give up her board president position by July 9.

Stearns objected to the hearing and called it illegal before it began. Board member Mark Johnson — the only one to vote against removing Stearns — also made his objections to the hearing known before his colleagues ousted Stearns.

"It is terrible that we're paying an attorney to come in here over a bunch of trumped up charges that amounts to nothing," he said before the vote. "Nobody was actually hurt."

RELATED: Bremen District 228 Removes Canning As President

After one commenter at the meeting voiced his concerns over the costs to the district stemming from this vote, Resler said removing Stearns was less expensive than having her continue to break board policies.

"It's our job to enforce the policy, to support the policy," Resler said. "And when the policy isn't followed and we have board members acting individually, we cut our commissioners off at the knees from doing their job properly. … It's gonna cost the district more if we start taking actions ourselves as board members and doing things not in line with our policies."

This isn't the first time the District 228 board had voted out a sitting president. In July 2015, Larry Canning, a current board member, was removed as president after Stearns leveled claims of misconduct against him.

Go to the YouTube page for Bremen High School District 228 to watch the full meeting.

Debi Stearns (Photo via Bremen High School District 228)