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News > In the Headlines
Recent death threats, disagreements deter board member from seeking re-election With more than a year left on her term, Orland Park School District 135 board member Kathleen Svabek said this week she already knows she will not run for re-election. Citing differences with board members and recent death threats, Svabek said the responsibility of being a member has become too much for her and she will seek another way of "making a difference." Svabek told The Star on Friday she has not been able to reach a goal she set for herself when she was elected in 2003. She wanted to help put the attention on students, not the board itself. "The reason I ran was to make sure the focus stayed on the kids. I felt as though I haven't accomplished that. When you haven't accomplished something you set out to do, it's time to step aside and let somebody else do it," Svabek said. But in recent months, she says the board has become the focus. Her board experience was marred further after she received two death threats since December. The first letter was sent anonymously to the district office and was placed unopened in her board packet of information. She said placing such correspondence in her packet is not unusual. The letter was composed with letters cut out of a newspaper and read "die" and "go to hell." The second was sent in February to Orland Junior High School, where Svabek is the president of the parent-teacher group. The second letter said "dead people don't talk" and was apparently composed using a stencil. It arrived after Svabek openly questioned whether the board violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act by discussing the district's search for a new superintendent in executive session. The former elementary school teacher said serving on the board was more than she ever thought she would be and she thinks she can make more of a difference in the classroom. Svabek currently teaches art appreciation classes as a volunteer and said she would consider going back to teaching full time once her children get older. Despite her frustrations and the criticism she's received, Svabek said she had no regrets about her actions over the past few months, including questioning the board's interpretation of the open meetings act and bringing up in public the Cook County state's attorney's request to see a copy of the district superintendent Linda Anast-May's contract. Resident Connie Trokey lambasted the board at its meeting last week saying she was "astounded" by the board's violation its ethics policy by divulging privileged information during open session. Though she didn't name individual members, some interpreted the statement as being directed at Svabek and Suzanne Cachey. Board secretary Nancy Sutherland smiled after Trokey's statement and said afterward she didn't believe the statement was directed at her because she didn't violate any of the board's ethics. Sutherland said Trokey's statement referred to the board's March 9 meeting, when Svabek and Cachey revealed the Cook County state's attorney had requested a copy of the superintendent's contract. The Illinois Open Meetings Act does not forbid board members to discuss closed session matters in open session. Svabek said she brought the matter up because it is not privileged information and that the board is held responsible for the superintendent's contract, should there be anything wrong with it. She said she believes there is nothing wrong but didn't understand why the board kept it from the public. Svabek's sentiments were echoed by Cachey. "No I don't have any regrets bringing that up. If she (Trokey) were privy to the information we have she would realize that was not the intention we had when going public with it. The district has spent a lot of money in legal fees guarding this when in reality anyone can get this information. It's public information. They're (other board members) creating this web of secrecy over items that don't need to be made secret." Svabek said she will continue to be outspoken about board issues until her term is up. She said the last few months has been hard on her and her family. While she will not seek another term, Svabek said she will not resign. She said she will not back down from whoever threatened her. "My son asked me if I was going to quit the Board and I told him, 'No. This is what bullies do when they want to manipulate you. They intimidate and try to defeat you.' I will continue to defend what I think is right." |
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