A tenured Cherokee School gym teacher who was fired after being charged with public indecency was scheduled to fight for his job in a closed hearing that began Thursday.
The Illinois State Board of Education and its hearing officer, Sara McLauren Green, refused to confirm whether a meeting was being held Thursday and refused media requests for admittance to the meeting.
Cherokee School terminated teacher James O`Neill in April, said Raymond Hendee, acting superintendent of District 67.
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The termination came 10 months after a misdemeanor complaint was filed against O`Neill for allegedly exposing himself in a west suburban Cook County Forest Preserve.
O`Neill initially pleaded guilty, but he later changed his plea to innocent. He was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea based on a technicality because he was not adequately represented by an attorney. He was given two years of court supervision by a Cook County judge, said O`Neill`s attorney, Wayne Giampietro.