School Trustee Apologizes for Teen Party, Won’t Resign

Angry parents are calling for the resignation of Oak Park’s school board president, who hosted a post-homecoming dance party where alcohol was served to about 50 teens.

Jeri Fox, a four-year member of the Oak Park Unified School District board, acknowledged Thursday that she showed poor judgment in chaperoning the Nov. 1 event, but said she does not plan to step down from her elected post.

“I made a mistake,” Fox said. “I can learn from it.”

Fox read a statement of apology at Tuesday’s school board meeting--surprising parent Wayne Sterling and prompting him, with other parents, to draft a letter suggesting that Fox resign.

“I walked out in disgust,” said Sterling, a member of the district’s substance-abuse task force and father of a teen who attends Oak Park High but was not at the party.

Fox told her colleagues on the board that she decided to host the party after learning a few hours earlier of plans for a gathering at another house where no adults would be present.

Concerned that teens would drive home drunk, Fox chose to monitor the party at her house, guarding car keys and making sure that designated drivers drove others home--a move she now regrets.

“In retrospect, this hasty decision was not a wise choice,” said Fox, whose son also attends Oak Park High. “But at the moment, it seemed like a logical compromise in the interest of kids’ safety. I honestly did not consider the implications for me as a board member. I was acting simply as a concerned parent and a private citizen.”

Sterling saw it differently, however, saying an apology alone is not enough. A teacher caught hosting such a party would be fired, he said.

“No. 1, it’s criminal to contribute to the delinquency of a minor,” he said. “And No. 2, you have to say no to kids. This district has a zero-tolerance policy. I think the president has a responsibility to believe in that.”

Marc Clebanoff, an Oak Park High student who represents his classmates before the board, read a letter Tuesday in support of Fox, defending her decision to oversee the party and noting that she did not purchase the alcoholic beverages.

“High school students wanting and having a party after an event such as homecoming is inevitable,” he told the board. “It will happen and it did happen at several locations that night. From a parent’s point of view, not a board member’s, Mrs. Fox felt it was right to ensure that nothing bad would happen and that everyone present was safe.”

Board Vice President Wayne H. Blasman said Fox has been an honorable public servant in her time on the board and has devoted more than a decade to Oak Park community groups. But she made a major mistake in hosting the party, he said.

“It’s really an unfortunate situation,” said Blasman, who has served on the board eight years. “I can’t condone what she did, that there would be a party at her house with students and alcohol. It’s not appropriate. It’s very tough for us to tell people right and wrong when we do things like this.”

Asked if he believed that Fox should step down, Blasman said he would leave that decision to Oak Park residents.

“She’s an elected official and it is the choice of her constituents on whether they want her to continue serving them,” Blasman said. “She’s worked in the community and the PTA for 12 years. She’s done a lot of good. I just think she made a poor choice, and elected leaders need to be held to a higher standard.”

*

Bustillo is a Times staff writer and Fernandez is a correspondent.