A unanimous decision by the Fenton High School District 100 School Board to terminate a staff member for alleged inappropriate conduct was made on Monday night.
“May I have a motion that the board of education approve the resolution...of the dismissal of Michael Berago,” said school board president Cary Lewis. “Motion passed.”
However, the decision announced in front of a packed school board meeting was not enough to satisfy angry parents and students.
“I honestly thought when I came to this school it’s a good school and then all this unraveled and it’s just going into shambles," said Fenton High School junior, Natalie Ramirez.
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“This is disgusting," said parent Ottavio Dattolo. "That superintendent should be fired. Everybody at the board should be fired!”
Students and parents were upset because until Monday night, the Fenton High School staff member was only on administrative leave while under investigation by Bensenville Police for criminal inappropriate conduct. Now, they want criminal charges filed against that staff member and for the superintendent, James Ontengco, to resign.
“They should all be dismissed instantaneously," added Dattolo.
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As quickly as the staff members termination was announced, the meeting ended. Superintendent Ontengco declined to comment on calls for him to step down while the crowd of angry parents and students booed as the board walked out.
“We have incoming freshmen every year. It’s never gonna stop we feel like," said junior Michelle Mejia.
With the meeting adjourned, the parents and students tell NBC Chicago that their fight is far from over. There’s another school board meeting scheduled for Wednesday at Fenton High School. They plan to be in attendance again.
