By Michael S. Hoey
CORRESPONDENT
Delavan-Darien Administrator Jill Sorbie was placed on paid non-disciplinary leave by the school board on Feb. 13. Sorbie reached out to the Enterprise on March 27 to address her situation.
The board held a regular meeting and then a closed session on Feb. 13 with nothing on the agenda of either suggesting any action was going to be taken regarding Sorbie. Sorbie said it did not happen during the meeting. She said that after the meeting, Board President Dave Henriott came to her office to deliver the signed copy of her evaluation, which had been part of the closed session agenda.
Sorbie said she and the board had been working on the evaluation since Feb. 1. She said the board seemed happy on Feb. 1, agreed with her ratings of herself, liked the future goals she established for herself, and had no changes they wanted to make. She said she had a great conversation with the board on Feb. 1 that included the board wanting to push back her summative evaluation until July of 2024.
Sorbie said she got the sense something was wrong on Feb. 13 when she noticed the board’s attorney present for the last few minutes of the regular meeting. She said she called her husband and asked him to join her because she was not sure what was wrong. After Henriott gave her the signed copy of her evaluation and said no changes were necessary and the board agreed with everything in it, he then gave her the documents that put her on paid non-disciplinary leave.
Sorbie said she cannot comment on why she was put on leave or what the investigation the board is conducting regarding her is about because she does not know. Henriott, she said, gave her the documents, told her not to contact anyone, and left. Sorbie said she still has not been told why she was put on leave or what the investigation is about.
As previously reported, Police Chief Jim Hansen contacted Sorbie right before Feb. 13 to express concerns about some incidents that had been occurring and the reporting of those incidents to the Phoenix Middle School Resource Officer. Sorbie said there are some facts that need to be corrected about that situation eventually, but since she was not aware if that is what the board is investigating, she could not comment specifically about it now.
The Enterprise filed an open records request for any staff complaints filed in the last two years about Sorbie and the district was set to provide that information earlier this week, before press time. Sorbie said she was allowed to respond as part of that process and her comments will be included in the release, including a response to allegations made by former staff member Kirsten Andreoni in a separate Enterprise story.
Sorbie wanted to focus on her accomplishments and performance evaluations for the last four years, which she supplied copies of to the Enterprise. For every category in which she was rated, she received “Effective” or higher. None of the categories scored resulted in “Developing/Needs Improvement” or “Unacceptable”.
“I am confused as to how the district administrator can accomplish all of these things, these goals, have all these artifacts, and have distinguished and highly effective ratings for four years in a row and this is where I am at,” Sorbie said.
For the full story, see the print edition of the Delavan Enterprise.
