A former staff member's alleged sexual misconduct involving a former student has led to massive scrutiny on Fenton Community High School District 100, and at a village board meeting in Bensenville, students and parents demanded answers.
“This issue will not be swept under the rug, I will not stand for that,” said Frank DeSimone, Bensenville's Village President.
DeSimone spoke openly about the criminal inappropriate conduct allegations against a now-terminated Fenton High School staff member at Tuesday night’s board meeting. He doubled down on calls for District Superintendent James Ongtengco to step down.
“I issued a letter to the Fenton Board members calling for the superintendent, and any other adult who knew about these allegations and chose to do nothing, to step down. I have not received a response to that letter yet,” DeSimone added.
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Over the weekend Ongtengco issued a timeline of when the district knew about the inappropriate conduct allegations and when they contacted authorities and DCFS. A DCFS spokesperson refuted part of the timeline in a statement to NBC 5 saying "DCFS has not identified any record of reports to our hotline regarding the Fenton employee in question prior to March 9, 2023."
"A predator should have not been allowed to walk amongst students and teachers after the first allegations," said Fenton High School Sophomore Billy Camp.
Meanwhile, students and parents wore at shirts at the meeting calling for the superintendent to resign while teal ribbons hang on trees surrounding the school, a show of support for sex assault survivors.
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Tuesday police responded to a second bomb threat at the school and superintendent’s home but determined the threats to have come from outside the United States.
The DuPage County States Attorney has not approved criminal charges against that terminated staff member. DeSimone is asking for anyone with information about the allegations to come forward.
