Two of three appellate court judges who reviewed the case say Streator High School shouldn’t have fired a guidance counselor in 2015. Lissa Small didn’t report something she had heard from a student about another student being in an inappropriate relationship with a teacher. That teacher was fired because of sexual contact with a student. But Small had nothing to go on but a rumor, and she’d been told before by the Department of Children and Family Services that a rumor isn’t enough.
The Streator High School Board fired her. Judge Joe Hettel ruled that the school board was wrong. Appellate judges Mary McDade and Tom Lytton upheld his decision.
Appellate Judge John Hauptman dissented, saying the student Small heard the story from gave specific details that should have been investigated. Hauptman wrote that Small could have kept the other student and the teacher apart, and maybe that other student wouldn’t have dropped out.