Early 2027 hearing likely for Denman teachers
Published 8:07 pm Wednesday, October 28, 2026
QUINCY —Two tenured Denman Elementary teachers facing dismissal from Quincy Public Schools likely will have a hearing early in 2027.
The Quincy School Board in August adopted resolutions tied to the suspension without pay and dismissal of physical education teachers Jennifer Oitker and Kim Kirby, claiming their “irremediable” conduct “constitutes grounds for dismissal.”
The teachers requested a hearing from the Illinois State Board of Education.
Board President Shelley Arns said a hearing officer has been assigned to the case. The officer takes over moving the case forward according to School Code procedures.
Hearing officers must be accredited by a national arbitration organization, have had a minimum of five years of experience directly related to labor and employment relations matters between employers and employers or their exclusive bargaining representatives and have participated in training provided or approved by ISBE to be familiar with issues generally involved in evaluative and non-evaluative dismissals.
Three possible hearing dates have been proposed — in January, February and March 2027.
Under School Code, hearings are closed to the public unless one of the parties requests that it be opened and the hearing officer orders it to be opened.
The hearing officer must issue a decision on whether the teachers must be dismissed and give a copy of that decision to the teachers and the board within 30 days from the conclusion of the hearing or closure of the record, whichever is later.
Both teachers and then-Superintendent Todd Pettit were suspended with pay on Aug. 1, 2025, pending investigations of reports of “birthday spankings” being given to Denman students by the two teachers and the same teachers placing tape over the mouths of multiple students in physical education class.
In an agreement reached in June with ISBE, both teachers denied ISBE’s allegations but agreed to a suspension of their teaching licenses for 60 calendar days, beginning June 18, in order to resolve the matter without further administrative action.