Gerald Pauling, chair of the Personnel Committee of the District 233, said insinuations of misconduct by school administrators at Homewood-Flossmoor High School dating back to 2014 are unfounded.
“The board is committed to moving forward. We are disappointed and disheartened by the unfounded and unwarranted personal attacks, rumors, violations of privacy and speculation that is circulating on social media,” Pauling said.
In a statement released in the early evening of Sunday, July 10, on behalf of the school board, Pauling said he was trying to address accusations raised through social media about an incident from March 2014. Comments were made on social media last week alleging that the incident stemmed from two H-F administrators having engaged in an illicit relationship.
Pauling said the board took the allegations seriously, and hired a former assistant United States attorney, whose specialty is workplace investigations, “to conduct an independent investigation.”
The conclusion, Pauling said “was determined — unequivocally — that there was no affair or inappropriate relationship between members of the high school administration.”
The social media allegations infer that this incident led to the firing of H-F principal Ryan Pitcock on June 21.
Pauling said Pitcock’s dismissal is not tied to any single incident or event. Rather, the board “investigated multiple incidents, including incidents that occurred both before and after the investigation related to the March 2014 incident.”
Pauling argued for privacy for all parties, especially one person involved who has a medical condition and deserves to have his medical records remain confidential.
“We will continue to correct misinformation to the extent we can. As we have repeatedly stated, however, we will not violate Dr. Pitcock’s confidentiality by discussing personnel matters in a public forum absent his consent,” Pauling added.