District 150 responds to Royster suit

Kay RoysterThe Journal Star reports this morning that District 150 has filed their response to Kay Royster’s allegation that she was terminated as Superintendent due to racial discrimination. You can read the full reply by clicking here (PDF file).

Of most interest to me was that they denied the most damaging claim (in my opinion) — that a meeting took place among only the white board members where the black board members were specifically not invited. They didn’t give any details of their defense, just a flat denial. Of course, how does one prove a negative? It will be up to Royster to prove such a meeting took place.

Not metioned in the Journal Star article are the “Affirmative Defenses” at the end of the 25-page reply. Among the more interesting ones to me: the defendants claim that most of the allegations have been brought forward too late — that they’re past the statute of limitations time period, that the specific defendants (Aaron Schock, Sean Matheson, Vince Wieland, and Mary Spangler) have immunity from suit because they’re local legislators, and Royster “lacks standing to bring some or all of her claims as she was fully compensated under the terms and conditions of her expired contract.”