D159 finance director has job in Virginia
Unclear if official facing threat of termination still works inMatteson
AMatteson Elementary School District 159 administrator facing termination proceedings for the third time has taken a new job with a Virginia school district, officials confirmed Friday.
District 159 school board members in July approved disciplinary charges and a bill of particulars recommending the dismissal of finance director Demetria Brown. An administrative hearing was scheduled for Wednesday before the board could render a final decision.
The board met Wednesday for five hours, 40 minutes in a closed-door session but did not reconvene to open session for the online meeting due to “technical difficulties,” according to a statement on the district’swebsite. The statement does not mention Brown or any disciplinary proceeding against her.
Brown was still listed Fridayon the District 159 website as chief school business official/finance director. But Mark Johnston, division superintendent of the Shenandoah County, Virginia public schools, said Friday that Brown had been hired as his district’s finance director in June and startedworking there July 1.
District 159 officials Friday declined to answer questions about Brown’s currentemploymentstatus with the district or whether she was still receiving compensation. Board meeting minutes showthat Brown, who was earning a salary of $135,061 under the terms of her 2019 contract, received an unspecified salarybumpin early July fromDistrict 159.
Brown was terminated from District 159 in 2008 and 2016 before beingmost recently rehired in 2019. In both termination instances, district superintendents cited instances of insubordination and misconduct, according to personnel records obtained by the Daily Southtown through Freedom of Information requests.
Johnston declined to answer Friday if his district was aware of Brown’s past employment in
Matteson, but said that the Virginia district’s hiring practices “include a thorough screening process, interview process, vetting and background check.”
Attempts to reach District 159 school board members were unsuccessful.
Shortly after her dismissal in 2008, Brown ran for a seat on the District 159 school board and won. While serving, she sued the district for her termination. Her lawsuitwas eventually settled, though the terms of the settlement were not made available.
In 2013, she did not seek reelection, but was rehired by the district. In a 2015 memo, then-Superintendent BarbaraMason wrote that it had become apparent that Brown was “unable to take direction” from Mason and accused Brown of presenting items to the school board in an effort to undermine Mason’s authority. In a written response to Mason’s 11-point plan for corrective action, Brown called the measures “ambiguous” and requested further refinement, records show.
The board chose not to renew Brown’s contract the following spring and placed her on paid leave for the final three months of her existing contract, according to a letter from then-assistant superintendent Linda Johnson-McClinton.
Brown sued the district following her 2016 dismissal, charging shewas fired for voicing concerns about the district’s dealing with an energy services provider. The district was successful in having the lawsuit dismissed and court records show an appellate court upheld the ruling last year.
Brown was rehired in 2019, shortly after District 159 SuperintendentMable Alfredwas reinstated . In applying for the job of finance director a week after Alfred was reinstated, Brownwrote that she left her job in 2008 to take a “director level” role before returning in 2014 as the district’s finance director. She said her 2016 dismissal was due to the board’s disregard of the superintendent’s recommendation to renew her contract.
Bernice Brown, Demetria’s mother who serves on the District 159 school board, said her daughter wanted to return in 2019, despite past experiences, because she cared about getting the community’s finances in order and that she was hired because she was the most qualified candidate. Bernice Brown was one of two board members who opposed taking disciplinary action against her daughter.
She said only that the complaints her daughter faces have nothing to do with her job performance and credited her financial acumen with having saved the district a considerable sum of money.