Director Of The House Tutoring Lounge 'Immediately Terminated'

GLENCOE, IL — The owner of a downtown Glencoe tutoring business said he is cooperating with law enforcement after the business's manager — the owner's brother — was accused of sexually assaulting a child.

Gil Gibori is the founder and chief executive officer of The House Tutoring Lounge. He is seeking a second term on the Avoca School District 37 board in next week's municipal elections.

Gibori said he was "devastated" to learn that his brother, director of his members-only, parent-free tutoring space since it opened nearly two years ago, had been arrested at an airport in Texas in connection with sexual assault charges.

"He was immediately terminated," Gibori said in a statement posted to his campaign's page. "According to Vernon Hills police, he met the alleged victim in Buffalo Grove in 2017, preceding his recent employment."

His brother, Ilan Gibori, faces three counts of criminal sexual assault of a person aged 13 to 17 under his supervision, according to the $2 million warrant for his arrest.

The charges stem from allegations of sexual misconduct that occurred between August 2018 and December 2020 involving a girl who was under his supervision.

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Police and prosecutors said Ilan Gibori sexually assaulted a former student at Cooper Middle School in Community Unit School District 21 in Buffalo Grove on "numerous occasions."

They asked parents of his former students to speak to their children about the investigation and allegations.

The House representatives issued a statement in response to the charges.

"The news that one of our employees, as a schoolteacher, inflicted harm on a child is deeply disturbing to all of us," it said, "and it violates our values and mission to lift-up students and help them reach their academic potential."

The House Spokesperson Randall Samborn told Patch Ilan Gibori started working part-time at the Glencoe business while still teaching in Buffalo Grove. He said personnel policies prohibit disclosing whether any former supervisors in District 21 had recommended the hire.

"Ilan Gibori assisted in launching The House on a part-time basis during the first half of 2019 while maintaining what the leadership team believed to be a successful teaching career," Samborn said in an email. "The leadership team encouraged him to accept a larger role at The House and a mutual decision was made to have him become a full-time employee that summer after the school year ended."

No one at The House ever received a complaint about misconduct of any kind by Ilan Gibori from students, parents or anyone else at work, Samborn told Patch, and none of the center director's responsibilities involved being alone with students.

The House CEO Gil Gibori said his business had hired an outside lawyer to make sure its policies to protect students were being followed.

"While I am deeply disappointed," he said, "I reaffirm my commitment to providing the high-quality educational services that we offer to our students, while their well-being remains our highest priority."

Avoca School District 37, a New Trier Township High School feeder school, includes students from parts of Glenview, Northfield, Wilmette and Winnetka.

Gil Gibori, who was first elected to the District 37 board in 2017, is one of two candidates on the ballot running for four open school seats on the board on the April 6 election.

Four candidates have filed paperwork to run as write-in candidates: Sarah Balassa, Cecilia Dunn, James Rohner and Dan Seals. Dunn was removed from the ballot after Gibori filed a challenge against her nominating petitions. A local caucus group, the Avoca Coalition, has endorsed Seals and Balassa as write-ins.