Long-absent teacher suspended without pay
Adami awaiting dismissal hearing
ROCK FALLS – A longtime Montmorency School teacher who has been on workers’ compensation or paid sick leave for 3 years is suspended without pay pending a dismissal hearing.
Lauri Adami of Rock Falls, a tenured fourth-grade teacher hired in 1981, was fired Oct. 22 at a special meeting of the Montmorency School Board.
Adami said Friday that she has been advised not to comment on the matter.
Superintendent John Rosenberry declined to explain the reason for the dismissal, but a school board resolution obtained by Sauk Valley Media under the Freedom of Information Act indicates the dismissal pertains to her “lack of fitness for duty as a teacher.”
The board received reports from school administration regarding Adami’s lack of fitness for duty. Members determined that the reasons for her dismissal “have had a detrimental effect on the district’s operations and educational goals” and are “irremediable,” the resolution says.
The school district sent Adami notice of her dismissal by certified mail, and Adami had 17 days after its receipt to request a hearing. She did so on Oct. 26, according to a letter she sent to Rosenberry that was obtained by SVM.
Neither the school board nor Adami has selected a hearing officer, and so have not yet scheduled a hearing.
Adami has been on sick leave since falling off a stepladder on the first day of school in 2009, Rosenberry has said. She received workers’ compensation for about a year, until she no longer was eligible. She had accrued 370 sick days, which will run out on Feb. 5, he said.
