Union president and teachers tell Ball Chatham board due process wasn’t followed in disciplinary case

Julie McAllister, who identified herself as president of the Ball Chatham Education Association, told the Ball Chatham CUSD 5 board that a recent disciplinary case raised “serious concerns about the process and consistency of discipline.” McAllister said a veteran teacher with 13 years of service was issued a notice to remedy — one of the most serious short of termination — without being afforded meaningful opportunity to present their side or timely access to investigative documentation. "This is not a fair or a balanced process," McAllister said, urging the board to ensure due process and transparency to prevent losing experienced educators.

Following that statement, Nikki Roback, who said she had taught mathematics in the district for nearly 13 years, described the circumstances that she said led to an investigatory meeting and a notice to remedy. Roback told the board she had misread a student email about office hours, attempted to follow classroom protocols and then was called into a fact-finding meeting the next morning where she said she was “interrogated and even yelled at” and confronted with a range of complaints, some she said she had not previously been told about. Roback said the notice to remedy included vague, unrealistic steps and that she resigned because she was not given adequate due process.

Both speakers framed the concern as systemic: McAllister said the issue is not a single case but whether disciplinary systems are applied consistently and afford employees a fair opportunity to respond. McAllister said the resignation created additional staffing strain in an already burdened high-school department. Nikki Roback asked for the board’s attention to change procedures so future cases include timely access to documentation and a balanced opportunity to present responses.

Board response and next steps: The chair told the speakers the board would be willing to continue the conversation after the meeting. No administrative response disputing the allegations was recorded on the public transcript. The board later moved to return to closed session under statutory citations given verbally in the record to discuss personnel matters.

Context: McAllister said she was speaking for 299 educators in the bargaining unit; she asked the board to ensure equitable process and transparency to retain experienced staff and protect students’ educational continuity.