DOE flags new complaint involving former Hinsdale school employee

The nature of the complaint has not been made public.

A Hinsdale School District worker who faced a spring stalking allegation appears to have left his job after state education officials were alerted to another complaint over the summer, according to records from police and a Department of Education investigator.

The clearest sign of that development came in a Sept. 23 email in which Hinsdale Police Chief Melissa Evans said her department had received a complaint about the conduct of a former district employee. After reviewing the material it was given, police said there was not enough to support probable cause for a criminal case.

The nature of the complaint has not been made public. In an Aug. 24 message to Superintendent David Ryan, DOE investigator Richard Farrell said only that a new and credible complaint had been filed and that it related to alleged conduct during the summer. Farrell did not describe the allegations or say whether a student was involved. He said Evans would handle the inquiry.

Whether the complaint was confirmed, whether it led to the worker’s departure, and when he may have left remain unclear. District officials have not explained his employment status, although Evans’ email suggested he was already gone by late September.

The employee had worked in facilities and was subject earlier this year to a yearlong stalking order that barred him from being within 300 feet of Hinsdale Middle/High School. That order came after a student said he twice tried to give her his phone number at school.

On June 4, Judge Justin Hersh granted the protective order, noting that the student gave credible testimony that the defendant, a school employee, attempted on two occasions to pass along his telephone number. The finding supported the order but did not amount to a criminal determination.

To comply with the distance restriction, the district placed the employee at Hinsdale Elementary School, which sits across the street from the middle/high school, and assigned him to an evening shift, Ryan said in August. School leaders said at the time that a stalking order is not the same as a criminal conviction and did not automatically justify firing.

Still, Farrell’s Aug. 24 email showed that police concerns went beyond the original order. He wrote that Evans believed the employee would probably violate the 300-foot limit and warned that an arrest for breaking the order would create a bad appearance for the district. Farrell also suggested that a fresh credible report might warrant further action.

Evans later said her concern was rooted in the close proximity of the two schools and the possibility that the order could be broken either on purpose or by accident.

The worker was also tied to an earlier police inquiry this year involving the girl who sought the no-stalking order and two other students. Ryan said in May that none of those additional complaints led to charges. When asked in August whether that matter remained open, Evans said she was not pursuing new information.

Attention around the district intensified after August claims from three mothers whose daughters attended Hinsdale Middle/High School. The allegations included racial bullying, sexual harassment, sexual assault by other students and stalking by the same employee. District leaders said they had investigated the reports and disciplined students when appropriate.

One of the mothers told reporters that neither she nor her daughter was behind the later complaint involving the employee. Since raising their concerns, two of the mothers have removed their daughters from the school.

There is also inconsistency in the district’s statements about whether the employee remained on the payroll. In a Sept. 14 court filing connected to the protective order, he argued that a requested change to the order would affect his rights, his employment conditions and his access to places not covered by the original ruling, including the elementary school. A judge rejected that request two days later, saying the original order was already clear.

Yet on Sept. 23, just before Evans referred to him as a former employee, district attorney Abby Tucker told The Sentinel he was still employed. When asked again later that month, Tucker declined to discuss any individual’s status and said the district would not comment on personnel matters. Farrell also declined to elaborate, saying the case remained active and protected by confidentiality rules.

In a Sept. 18 statement, a Department of Education spokesperson said the agency was aware of the allegations and in communication with its partners, including the district, while emphasizing student safety. Ryan also declined to discuss the complaint itself or confirm the worker’s status, saying the matter was an ongoing personnel issue and that the district remained committed to student safety and state law.