CAT Tracks The Southern Illinoisan

[Sun Nov 24 2002]

CAIRO -- A 34-year employee of the Cairo school district, and the wife of the teachers union president, was dismissed as secretary-bookkeeper at the most recent regular meeting of the school board.

Julie Newell, wife of Cairo Association of Teachers President Ron Newell, worked for 25 years as secretary and bookkeeper at the high school and eight years with the elementary school before transferring to the central office last year.

Newell, who suffers from lupus and has other health problems, was hospitalized last December. Ron Newell said his wife was accused of not calling in sick at work the day she was hospitalized.

"She was told that she had abandoned her job," Newell said. "That wasn't true. They knew where she was."

Newell said his wife had never had any problems when she served the district until she began working at the central office.

"She always had excellent evaluations. Her dismissal is just par for the course around here these days," he said.

Superintendent Robert Isom said Newell was fired for a list of reasons revealed in a hearing.

"To put it quite bluntly, the duties of her job were not performed adequately," Isom said. "I really can't comment much beyond that for litigation reasons."

-- John D. Homan