District 142 Board Member's Actions Draw Residents' Ire

She did what?! Forest Ridge District 142 parents are aghast at the behavior of Board of Education member Roxana Agler, culminating last week in the board's removal of her from the role of vice president.

Parents and residents have decried Agler's behavior — for example, sticking a hand over an audience member's camera lens during the April 19 meeting — as unprofessional and immature for a board member. But parents say acting out in board meetings is just the latest in a web of worrisome moves.

Emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that for more than a year, Agler targeted school crossing guard and fellow board member Nancy Hullinger, accusing Hullinger of spying, neglecting her crossing guard duties, and badmouthing Agler to a dog.

After Agler obtained the role of board president in May 2015, she began emailing and pressuring local authorities, including Mayor Hank Kuspa, to have Hullinger removed from her crossing guard job or relocated from Agler's block. The request violates state statutes, which states that "a person in an elected position cannot use their power to harm or retaliate against another person."

"I do not want Nancy Hullinger anywhere near my family," she wrote in the emails. "I do not trust her, and I do not think she should be allowed to be around young children."

Hullinger has served as crossing guard at 149th and Laramie for almost 30 years, and recently returned to the role as her grandchildren are now attending school in the district. Hullinger served on the district's board for 12 years, then four years at Bremen High School District 228, followed by eight years as an alderwoman for the City of Oak Forest before returning to the District 142 Board of Education.

"Never in my lifetime have I ever seen anything like this, ever," Hullinger told Megan Fox, an activist and self-styled reporter who has been attending board meetings with her video camera. "I am a lifetime member of the PTA, and there were many times where people didn't care for each other, but we worked side-by-side for the best thing for the kids."

And the dog? Agler alleges Hullinger, in those moments in between doing what crossing guards do, talked about Agler to a dog seated in Hullinger's car, according to a police report Agler filed.

Whether the dog understood any of this absurdity is not clear.

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PTA President Melissa Crim said Agler then turned her attention to the association, and "systematically tried to destroy the district by taking it down bit-by-bit. She "began digging into PTA members' pasts, looking for information that would embarrass them," and spoke openly of closed-session board business.

"Mrs. Agler abuses these privileges a school board member is given," Crim said during the April 19 meeting. Crim went on to call Agler's behavior "extreme, vengeful, and frightening."

As Crim listed her concerns during the meeting, Agler smirked, often leaning back in her chair and twisting the seat. She can be seen winking at the camera and smacking gum in her mouth.

Agler's emails, sent from her official District 142 account, also contain shocking vulgarity, including references to “circle jerks” in reference to the way the board does its business.

Despite repeated complaints and losing her seat as VP, Agler says she intends to stay on the board, even as parents call for her resignation.

Crim says it's a shame that she will remain on the board.

"Her behavior is constantly inappropriate, and an embarrassment to the board of education and the entire district as a whole."

Agler shooed away reporters during the April 19 meeting, and declined a chance to comment.