Fox Quits School Trustee Post

A week after apologizing for hosting a post-homecoming dance party at her house where alcohol was served to underage teens, Oak Park’s school board president resigned Monday, saying she does not want to compromise the district’s stance against substance abuse.

Jeri Fox, a four-year member of the Oak Park Unified School District board, had acknowledged showing poor judgment in chaperoning the Nov. 1 party, attended by about 50 students. But Fox initially said she did not believe she needed to step down, arguing that she would learn from her mistake.

Angry parents, teachers and members of the district’s substance abuse task force felt differently, however, calling for the former PTA president to quit the elected post because her actions contradicted the district’s “zero-tolerance” drug and alcohol policy.

At an emergency board meeting Monday morning, Fox did just that, and district officials issued a statement stressing the school board “remains firmly committed to its zero-tolerance policy” and its anti-substance abuse programs. Board members are scheduled to convene again at 7 tonight at Oak Park High School to determine the process for selecting Fox’s replacement.

“I have used these last two weeks to take into consideration everything: my actions, my family, my friends, the school district and the community,” Fox said Monday in a prepared statement. “I am not resigning due to the comments of some of the teachers in the district because, thankfully, some teachers understand. I am not resigning because of a few ‘outraged’ parents, since I have heard from many supporters,” she wrote.

“I will resign from this elected, volunteer position because staying will compromise the good qualities of the school district,” Fox added. “That was the reason I ran for a board position, and that will be the reason I leave.”

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Parent Wayne Sterling, a member of the substance abuse task force, said Monday he was pleased with her decision. The group was drafting a letter calling for Fox’s ouster.

“I definitely feel that she did the right thing,” Sterling said. “I’ve never had a problem with her. I’ve never questioned that she was an asset to the community. I just thought the right thing for her to do at this point was to step down.”

A school volunteer for more more than a decade, Fox, whose son attends Oak Park High, said she decided to host the homecoming party hours after learning it was planned for a house where there would be no adult supervision. Concerned that students would drive home drunk, Fox--who did not buy the alcohol served to minors--said she decided to supervise the party at her home so she could guard car keys and make sure students were all right.

“In retrospect, this hasty decision was not a wise choice,” Fox said last week in a public apology before the school board. “But at that 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.”

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Not everyone agreed with Fox’s position. A group of about a dozen of Oak Park High’s 40 faculty members held a meeting Monday and issued a statement supporting Fox’s resignation, arguing that her actions made it difficult for them as educators to tell students not to drink.

“We are confronted every day by students boasting of their regular, illegal drinking habits,” the statement read. “How valid and substantial can our efforts in this direction be when a school board member . . . hosts such a party?”

Although many parents complained to school board members and administrators about Fox’s decision to host the party, other parents and some students defended the popular board member and her actions, according to Supt. Marilyn Lippiatt.

Fox “has worked as hard as anyone for the schools of Oak Park,” said Lippiatt, who took a position with the district four years ago. “Long before I came here, Jeri Fox was a volunteer at our schools, and she has been a strong supporter of the interests of students as well as parents.”

Asked Monday for names of teachers, parents or students who had supported her decision to chaperon the party, a tearful Fox said, “I don’t want to put people out on a limb.” She declined to further elaborate on her written statement.

Fellow Trustee Bob Kahn, who advised Fox to step down last week, acknowledged that Fox faced a decision many parents must make. “In the Conejo Valley, from everything I’ve been hearing, this is something that happens often. Parents do give these kinds of parties,” Kahn said. “They think it’s better to have them [drinking] there at home than somewhere else.

“The problem with that is, it sends the wrong message,” added Kahn, a nine-year school board veteran. “Kids are always trying to push the envelope, and when they see that the school board president hosts a party with alcohol, they think, ‘Gee, it’s all right.’ It’s not all right.”

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Because Fox’s term would have expired next November, Kahn believes the board should appoint a community leader to fill Fox’s seat rather than scheduling a special election.

Finding a replacement who can match Fox’s civic record--she has volunteered more than 100 hours to Oak Park schools every year for more than a decade--will be a tough task, Kahn said.

“There’s nothing bad that anybody could say about Jeri Fox before this happened,” Kahn said. “We’re all very fond of Jeri, and I think she knows that. Jeri Fox made a mistake, that’s all. This whole situation was unfortunate.”