Controversy over Freeburg superintendent continues as board rejects severance package
The superintendent of Freeburg Community Consolidated School District 70 announced seven weeks ago that she was leaving for another job, but board members are still wavering on how to respond.
First, they accepted Melanie Brink’s resignation at a special meeting on Jan. 2, making it effective “immediately” instead of asking her to return from the holiday break and finish out the school year.
Then, three weeks later, board members discussed withdrawing their acceptance and terminating Brink “for cause.” After a closed session that lasted more than an hour, they tabled the decision. Board President Michelle Foppe said it was due to a request from Brink’s attorney.
Finally, the board held another special meeting on Monday night. The agenda included a vote on a severance package for Brink. The board rejected it 6-1. Member David Stein was the only “yes” vote.
“Dr. Brink deserves a proper pay package,” he said Tuesday. “The reason the other six voted ‘no’ is that they are retaliating against her. It goes along with the continual bungled handling of her employment and other issues in Freeburg.”
Brink was serving her fourth year at Freeburg, earning $119,033. Her contract runs through the end of the 2025-26 school year. It can be terminated by resignation with a 90-day notice.
Foppe, who voted with the majority to reject the severance package, declined to comment on Tuesday.
Brink is leaving for Belle Valley School District 119 in Belleville. Its board voted on Dec. 17 to hire her as superintendent, beginning next fall, with a starting salary of $138,500. She will replace R. Dane Gale, who’s retiring.
On Tuesday, Brink declined to comment on Monday night’s special meeting in Freeburg but gave the following statement:
“In December, I informed the board that I intended to resign on June 30, 2025, and that I would submit my formal letter of resignation at a later date. For unknown reasons, the board accepted my resignation as being effective immediately and told me not to come back to work. I did not receive a severance package.”
The BND filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the email that Brink sent on Dec. 18, notifying Freeburg officials that she had accepted another job. It didn’t specify a date of departure.
In an interview in January, Brink said she had been willing to stay in Freeburg until the end of the school year, but an early exit would allow more time to prepare for her new job. She didn’t characterize the board’s action as a “termination,” despite Stein referring to it as a “firing.”
The board’s special meeting on Monday night included a public-comment period. One parent, Eric Vasquez, spoke against the school district giving Brink a severance package.
Eric Vasquez said he was “furious” that all board members, with the exception of Jayson Baker, had stood by Brink during the “bullying and harassment” of his wife, Emily Vasquez, a paraprofessional with the district, and ignored complaints from other parents and staff.
Eric Vasquez said the board allowed Brink to “cross boundaries” with one of his daughters and failed to fulfill her duties as a “mandated reporter” when Stein allegedly took photos of his daughters outside the family’s home and sent them to her. On Tuesday, Stein declined to address that allegation.
Eric Vasquez also told board members that Interim Superintendent Mark Janssen, who formerly served as financial officer, had agreed with him and his wife that Brink’s superintendent license should be revoked.
“If the board truly cared about the safety of our children and staff, you would have done everything in your power to ensure she was fired and her license revoked,” Eric Vasquez said.
“Instead, you protected her while she could still cause harm. The fact that the board is considering a severance package is beyond me, and what she has done to my children is sickening and a slap in the face, not only to me as a parent, but also to all the kids’ parents in the entire district.”
The Vasquezes declined further comment on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Janssen said he had met with the couple, listened to their concerns and expressed empathy, but he never suggested that Brink’s license should be revoked.
The Freeburg district has contracted with the Illinois Association of School Boards to conduct a search for a new superintendent.
“I’m moving forward, and I wish Dr. Brink well and good luck,” Janssen said.
Freeburg School District 70 issues
District 70 consists of Freeburg Elementary School and Freeburg Primary Center. Issues in the past two years have included staff resignations, board infighting, lawsuits and other court filings, a police investigation and heated debates among local residents.
Brink tendered a resignation in August 2023, but the board voted not to accept it, and she agreed to stay.
Freeburg police conducted a four-month investigation into Brink during the 2023-24 school year after an unnamed parent accused her of “grooming” students by giving them candy and baked goods and allowing them to sit in her office and talk during recess.
The St. Clair County state’s attorney’s office determined that Brink didn’t break any laws. Assistant State’s Attorney Bernadette Schrempp sent a letter to police in April 2024, explaining why no charges were being filed.
“Brink basically had an open-door policy with students,” Schrempp wrote. “All students who spoke with police stated that Brink never said or did anything to make them feel uncomfortable.
“On the contrary, students report that Brink was approachable, kind, and supportive of students. No individuals who have first-hand knowledge of staff-student interaction indicate any criminal activity, let alone a sexual offense.”
The school board requested that St. Clair County Regional Superintendent of Schools Lori Costello remove Baker from office in August and remove Stein in November. In both cases, Costello declined, determining that their behavior didn’t meet state criteria for removal.
Also in November, district officials obtained an emergency workplace protection restraining order in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Stein, prohibiting him from entering the school building. While that case is under review, he attends meetings virtually.
The district’s request for the order alleged that Stein had screamed and used profanity at board meetings and, in a phone call with Janssen, threatened to run over officials with his vehicle. Stein denied the allegations.
This story was originally published February 6, 2025 at 5:45 AM.
