J. Sterling Morton High School District 201
Encyclopedia
J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 is a school district
headquartered in Cicero
, Illinois
, United States
. The district serves the city of Berwyn
, the town of Cicero, and the villages of Forest View
, Lyons
, McCook
, and Stickney
. The school is named after Julius Sterling Morton
, Grover Cleveland's
Secretary of Agriculture during his second term, who is best known for founding Arbor Day
.
The district competes in Illinois High School Association
athletics as a unified school under the name of "Berwyn-Cicero (Morton)". The district's home town of Cicero is best known for corruption and the influence of citizens such as Al Capone
. In a 1949 Chicago Daily Tribune
article on Cicero, it was stated: "The majority of (residents) were graduated from Sterling-Morton High school, which gave Cicero a reputation long before Capone ..."
In May 1932, the school district closed the school two weeks ahead of schedule because of financial troubles. The school also announced that the autumn opening of school would be pushed back two weeks to further save money. The closing also affected Morton Junior College, which was housed at the school.
The 1932—33 school year saw teachers and students join in an unusual revolt against the board of education. In October 1932, the school's football coach was fired without warning, prompting 800 citizens to attend a board meeting to retain him. The coach was reputedly fired for being critical of the board for discounting tax warrants with which teachers had been paid over the past months in lieu of money. About one month later, students began a boycott of the cafeteria, charging that not only had prices gone up, but that workers had been fired to be replaced by more workers with ties to the school board. The board then hired private individuals to patrol the school. Both students and teachers reported that these "house detectives" acted inappropriately toward students, and also claimed that the recent hirings were politically motivated. One circular distributed by students, and alleged to have been paid for by teachers, stated: "The next time a house dick snatches anything out of your hands ... or makes any insulting remarks to your girl friend get a gang of your pals and show the hoodlum that it is safer to be hustling beer for Capone."
The publicity surrounding these actions prompted the accrediting agency for the school, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
, to begin an inquiry as to whether the school should remain accredited. This was immediately followed by the North Central Association's assertion that, despite teachers receiving no cash salary for almost a year, and being forced to sell the tax warrants they had been receiving for substantial discounts, the board had hired unnecessary custodial staff, cafeteria workers, and largely under-qualified teachers without consulting the superintendent.
The situation reached a head when Harry V. Church, the school's superintendent, announced that he too was joining the student-faculty revolt, and would inform the state's attorney
of what he knew, including the hiring of teachers sponsored by the board over his objections, a US$3.5 million debt run up by the board, and the specific names of employees that had been hired who were relatives of board members. Despite a direct threat of removal from the school board president, the superintendent demoted the head of the physical welfare
department, who had been instrumental in firing the football coach who had drawn attention to the school problems.
A group of thirteen civic groups, headed by the local Rotary Club
, concluded their own investigation. The demands in regards for drawing up a budget were voted on by the board, but no action was taken. When the superintendent and an independent auditor asked to examine the financial information for the district, they were refused on the grounds that the financial officer "couldn't do much without two office employees, who are ill". One of the employees named was the daughter of the board president. On December 12, the secretary of the North Central Association read a letter at the public meeting of the board stating "The standards of the school are very shaky.". When a taxpayers' group asked for the board to request that the State's Attorney begin an inquiry, a board member responded that the "state's attorney hasn't time to bother about such small matters."
In January, the superintendent was dismissed after a taxpayers' group lobbied for his removal. This prompted the Berwyn Ministers' Association to call a meeting attended by 2,500 residents to demand an open hearing on the ousted superintendent. At that meeting, the secretary of the North Central Association spoke out in favor of the former superintendent, and stated that the board's inability to set a budget and to engage in politically motivated hiring practices would lower the accreditation rating of the school. Despite adopting a budget for the remainder of the school year, new charges against the board surfaced. The parent-teacher association began a petition to submit to the governor requesting the removal of the board, amongst allegations that similarly worded and appearing petitions were being circulated to gain praise for the board.
On the evening of February 2, a 20 feet (6.1 m) burning cross was found on the athletic field. At a board meeting in March, a citizen identified himself as a member of the Ku Klux Klan
, and informed the board that "As an organization we are watching developments ..."
The interim superintendent recommended immediate austerity measures, punctuated by a reduction in staffing, including the elimination of 20 of the 40 office clerks, several custodial personnel, and the elimination of all teacher-clerks (permanent substitute teachers). The board was also forced to deal with being voted out of the Suburban League
. As a result of the actions at Morton, the (pre-union) National Education Association
's department of secondary school principals censured the board, and called for new laws that would prevent similar abuses in the future.
Later in March, the board secretly selected a new superintendent and principal, despite a recommendation from the North Central Association that a list of educators form a search committee. By this time, results of inquiries into the finances of the district had been hampered by the disappearance of the district's financial officer. When it was determined that the controller had taken money from the school's petty cash, leaving an IOU
, the board requested, and received, a warrant for his arrest. His successor also found that US$9,500 in tax warrants were missing, one of which was traced to a local grocer who had received it from the missing controller to pay a debt. The controller surrendered himself, and paid bail, claiming he had been suffering from a nervous breakdown
brought on by the recent problems; he denied stealing from the school.
The April school board election saw two new members elected to the board, with one of them becoming the new president. In the wake of the election, the North Central Association delivered a formal warning to the school, stating that while it would remain accredited, the warning was a formality required as a prelude to losing accreditation, should it be deemed necessary in a year's time. The new board followed through on a recommendation from the North Central Association, and took the recommendation of a committee of 33 educators to hire a professor of education from South Dakota to become the new permanent superintendent, L. M. Hrudka.
By 1934, the district was back on a cash paying basis. By 1936, the school population had reached 6,000. The firing of three maintenance workers in December 1936 at the school prompted a strike of the 40 unionized members of the custodial staff. The picket line blocked the delivery of coal to the school, forcing it to remain closed as there was only a limited stockpile available for heating. The board retaliated by firing thirty more maintenance workers, with the caveat they could reapply for their jobs within three days. A local painter who had helped maintain the furnaces in the absence of maintenance staff was beaten near the school.
As the coal supplies dwindled, the state's attorney called for mediation, and the sides met on January 8. When talks were unsuccessful, school officials arranged for police to guard deliveries of coal to the school. Three of the drivers who had made the coal deliveries, a man and his two sons, were run off the road and beaten in retaliation.
Municipal officials began to ask for greater effort to end the strike. One board member resigned a key position in his church after the pastor spoke out against school officials. The Illinois Department of Labor issued subpoena
s for school officials to appear at a conference arranged to settle the strike. An agreement was ratified by both sides on January 24, with all but four strikers returning to work, and the original fired maintenance staff guaranteed a hearing with "good prospects of reinstatement".
In 1938, L. M. Hrudka was dismissed as superintendent, despite a year remaining on his contract, following concerns raised by the North Central Association that he was not cooperating properly with the faculty. However, the secretary of the board, publicly declaring the firing as a "colossal piece of trickery", refused to notify the administrator of his dismissal, and claimed the vote was illegal since it occurred after the board had adjourned. The board claimed that Hrudka had been a factor in the North Central Association downgrading the school's rating.
In March 1939, the Illinois state committee of the North Central Association, citing political interference and a lack of leadership, informed the school that it would be recommending that it lose accreditation, invalidating current and future student credits toward college admission. While preparing to defend itself against these charges, the board settled a lawsuit filed by fired superintendent Hrudka for the full amount of his remaining contract. An investigation by the North Central Association resulted in the school again being put on one year's notice to improve standards or risk losing accreditation.
In the autumn of 1969, a teacher's strike was called at the school for the first time in its history. One teacher was arrested for using his picket sign as a weapon against a school board member. In response, the West Suburban Teachers' Union, which represented eleven school districts, asked for all of its members to take an emergency personal day and join in protesting a back to work order issued by a judge, and what were termed as "union busting
" tactics by the Morton school board. The strike lasted 22 days. In November, the striking teachers were charged individually with contempt of court
. 64 teachers were found guilty and sentenced to ten days in prison and a $100 fine. In the end, the president of the union, a Morton East teacher, was fined $1,000 and sentenced to 20 days in jail for contempt.
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
headquartered in Cicero
Cicero, Illinois
Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The district serves the city of Berwyn
Berwyn, Illinois
Berwyn is a city in Cook County, Illinois, co-existent with Berwyn Township, which was formed in 1908 after breaking off from Cicero Township. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 54,016.-Demographics:...
, the town of Cicero, and the villages of Forest View
Forest View, Illinois
Forest View is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 778 at the 2000 census. It is close to Chicago and has a large Slavic population...
, Lyons
Lyons, Illinois
Lyons is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,255 at the 2000 census.-History:Incorporated in 1888, Lyons is steeped in earlier historical roots. In 1673 French Explorer Louis Joliet and Jesuit missionary Father Pierre Marquette left Green Bay, Wisconsin by canoe...
, McCook
McCook, Illinois
McCook is a suburb of Chicago in Cook County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 254, which is the lowest population of all municipalities in the county. It was named for John J. McCook, a late 19th century director of the Santa Fe Railroad and a former...
, and Stickney
Stickney, Illinois
Stickney is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,148 at the 2000 census. It was well known in the 1920s and early 1930s as the home for several bordellos linked to mobster Al Capone's empire....
. The school is named after Julius Sterling Morton
Julius Sterling Morton
Julius Sterling Morton was a Nebraska editor who served as President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture. He was a prominent Bourbon Democrat, taking the conservative position on political, economic and social issues, and opposing agrarianism...
, Grover Cleveland's
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
Secretary of Agriculture during his second term, who is best known for founding Arbor Day
Arbor Day
Arbor Day is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. It originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska, United States during 1872 by J. Sterling Morton. The first Arbor Day was held on April 10, 1872, and an estimated 1 million trees were planted that day.Many...
.
The district competes in Illinois High School Association
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...
athletics as a unified school under the name of "Berwyn-Cicero (Morton)". The district's home town of Cicero is best known for corruption and the influence of citizens such as Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
. In a 1949 Chicago Daily Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
article on Cicero, it was stated: "The majority of (residents) were graduated from Sterling-Morton High school, which gave Cicero a reputation long before Capone ..."
Schools
The district is composed of four campuses- J. Sterling Morton High School EastJ. Sterling Morton High School EastJ. Sterling Morton High School East is a public secondary school located in Cicero, Illinois. Morton East is one of three schools in J. Sterling Morton High School District 201. Morton East is a sophomore through senior building, with future students attending the J. Sterling Morton Freshman...
in Cicero - J. Sterling Morton High School WestJ. Sterling Morton High School WestJ. Sterling Morton West High School is a four-year public high school in Berwyn, Illinois. It is a part of J. Sterling Morton High School District 201. Opened in 1958, it is the newer of the two large high schools in the district, the other being J...
in Berwyn - J. Sterling Morton Freshman Center in Cicero
- J. Sterling Morton Alternative Center In Cicero
Feeder school districts
- Cicero Elementary School District 99
- Lyons School District 103
- Berwyn North School District 98Berwyn North School District 98Berwyn North School District 98 is a school district headquartered in Berwyn, Illinois, United States.The district serves the northern half of Berwyn....
- South Berwyn School District 100
History
In 1892, there were reports that the town of Cicero was beginning to work to consolidate a school district that would include the then current Morton Park and Hawthorne District with one consisting of the towns of Clyde and LaVergne, to create what was called a "High School Department".1930s
By 1931, Morton had reached its capacity of 3,000 students, and a bond issue was put before the electorate to raise funds for a new school to be built in neighboring Berwyn. The issue was defeated 7751—8035.In May 1932, the school district closed the school two weeks ahead of schedule because of financial troubles. The school also announced that the autumn opening of school would be pushed back two weeks to further save money. The closing also affected Morton Junior College, which was housed at the school.
The 1932—33 school year saw teachers and students join in an unusual revolt against the board of education. In October 1932, the school's football coach was fired without warning, prompting 800 citizens to attend a board meeting to retain him. The coach was reputedly fired for being critical of the board for discounting tax warrants with which teachers had been paid over the past months in lieu of money. About one month later, students began a boycott of the cafeteria, charging that not only had prices gone up, but that workers had been fired to be replaced by more workers with ties to the school board. The board then hired private individuals to patrol the school. Both students and teachers reported that these "house detectives" acted inappropriately toward students, and also claimed that the recent hirings were politically motivated. One circular distributed by students, and alleged to have been paid for by teachers, stated: "The next time a house dick snatches anything out of your hands ... or makes any insulting remarks to your girl friend get a gang of your pals and show the hoodlum that it is safer to be hustling beer for Capone."
The publicity surrounding these actions prompted the accrediting agency for the school, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools , also known as the North Central Association, is a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states, that is engaged in educational accreditation...
, to begin an inquiry as to whether the school should remain accredited. This was immediately followed by the North Central Association's assertion that, despite teachers receiving no cash salary for almost a year, and being forced to sell the tax warrants they had been receiving for substantial discounts, the board had hired unnecessary custodial staff, cafeteria workers, and largely under-qualified teachers without consulting the superintendent.
The situation reached a head when Harry V. Church, the school's superintendent, announced that he too was joining the student-faculty revolt, and would inform the state's attorney
State's Attorney
In the United States, the State's Attorney is, most commonly, an elected official who represents the State in criminal prosecutions and is often the chief law enforcement officer of their respective county, circuit...
of what he knew, including the hiring of teachers sponsored by the board over his objections, a US$3.5 million debt run up by the board, and the specific names of employees that had been hired who were relatives of board members. Despite a direct threat of removal from the school board president, the superintendent demoted the head of the physical welfare
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
department, who had been instrumental in firing the football coach who had drawn attention to the school problems.
A group of thirteen civic groups, headed by the local Rotary Club
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
, concluded their own investigation. The demands in regards for drawing up a budget were voted on by the board, but no action was taken. When the superintendent and an independent auditor asked to examine the financial information for the district, they were refused on the grounds that the financial officer "couldn't do much without two office employees, who are ill". One of the employees named was the daughter of the board president. On December 12, the secretary of the North Central Association read a letter at the public meeting of the board stating "The standards of the school are very shaky.". When a taxpayers' group asked for the board to request that the State's Attorney begin an inquiry, a board member responded that the "state's attorney hasn't time to bother about such small matters."
In January, the superintendent was dismissed after a taxpayers' group lobbied for his removal. This prompted the Berwyn Ministers' Association to call a meeting attended by 2,500 residents to demand an open hearing on the ousted superintendent. At that meeting, the secretary of the North Central Association spoke out in favor of the former superintendent, and stated that the board's inability to set a budget and to engage in politically motivated hiring practices would lower the accreditation rating of the school. Despite adopting a budget for the remainder of the school year, new charges against the board surfaced. The parent-teacher association began a petition to submit to the governor requesting the removal of the board, amongst allegations that similarly worded and appearing petitions were being circulated to gain praise for the board.
On the evening of February 2, a 20 feet (6.1 m) burning cross was found on the athletic field. At a board meeting in March, a citizen identified himself as a member of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, and informed the board that "As an organization we are watching developments ..."
The interim superintendent recommended immediate austerity measures, punctuated by a reduction in staffing, including the elimination of 20 of the 40 office clerks, several custodial personnel, and the elimination of all teacher-clerks (permanent substitute teachers). The board was also forced to deal with being voted out of the Suburban League
Suburban League (Chicago area)
The Suburban League, located in the Chicago metropolitan area, was formed in the fall of 1913 following the dissolution of the Cook County High School League the previous June. The original members were Evanston, LaGrange, Morgan Park, Morton, New Trier, Oak Park, Proviso, Thornton, and University...
. As a result of the actions at Morton, the (pre-union) National Education Association
National Education Association
The National Education Association is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become...
's department of secondary school principals censured the board, and called for new laws that would prevent similar abuses in the future.
Later in March, the board secretly selected a new superintendent and principal, despite a recommendation from the North Central Association that a list of educators form a search committee. By this time, results of inquiries into the finances of the district had been hampered by the disappearance of the district's financial officer. When it was determined that the controller had taken money from the school's petty cash, leaving an IOU
IOU (debt)
An IOU is usually an informal document acknowledging debt. An IOU differs from a promissory note in that an IOU is not a negotiable instrument and does not specify repayment terms such as the time of repayment. IOUs usually specify the debtor, the amount owed, and sometimes the creditor...
, the board requested, and received, a warrant for his arrest. His successor also found that US$9,500 in tax warrants were missing, one of which was traced to a local grocer who had received it from the missing controller to pay a debt. The controller surrendered himself, and paid bail, claiming he had been suffering from a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
brought on by the recent problems; he denied stealing from the school.
The April school board election saw two new members elected to the board, with one of them becoming the new president. In the wake of the election, the North Central Association delivered a formal warning to the school, stating that while it would remain accredited, the warning was a formality required as a prelude to losing accreditation, should it be deemed necessary in a year's time. The new board followed through on a recommendation from the North Central Association, and took the recommendation of a committee of 33 educators to hire a professor of education from South Dakota to become the new permanent superintendent, L. M. Hrudka.
By 1934, the district was back on a cash paying basis. By 1936, the school population had reached 6,000. The firing of three maintenance workers in December 1936 at the school prompted a strike of the 40 unionized members of the custodial staff. The picket line blocked the delivery of coal to the school, forcing it to remain closed as there was only a limited stockpile available for heating. The board retaliated by firing thirty more maintenance workers, with the caveat they could reapply for their jobs within three days. A local painter who had helped maintain the furnaces in the absence of maintenance staff was beaten near the school.
As the coal supplies dwindled, the state's attorney called for mediation, and the sides met on January 8. When talks were unsuccessful, school officials arranged for police to guard deliveries of coal to the school. Three of the drivers who had made the coal deliveries, a man and his two sons, were run off the road and beaten in retaliation.
Municipal officials began to ask for greater effort to end the strike. One board member resigned a key position in his church after the pastor spoke out against school officials. The Illinois Department of Labor issued subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
s for school officials to appear at a conference arranged to settle the strike. An agreement was ratified by both sides on January 24, with all but four strikers returning to work, and the original fired maintenance staff guaranteed a hearing with "good prospects of reinstatement".
In 1938, L. M. Hrudka was dismissed as superintendent, despite a year remaining on his contract, following concerns raised by the North Central Association that he was not cooperating properly with the faculty. However, the secretary of the board, publicly declaring the firing as a "colossal piece of trickery", refused to notify the administrator of his dismissal, and claimed the vote was illegal since it occurred after the board had adjourned. The board claimed that Hrudka had been a factor in the North Central Association downgrading the school's rating.
In March 1939, the Illinois state committee of the North Central Association, citing political interference and a lack of leadership, informed the school that it would be recommending that it lose accreditation, invalidating current and future student credits toward college admission. While preparing to defend itself against these charges, the board settled a lawsuit filed by fired superintendent Hrudka for the full amount of his remaining contract. An investigation by the North Central Association resulted in the school again being put on one year's notice to improve standards or risk losing accreditation.
1950s to 1960s
While the 1940s had been relatively quiet, 1952 saw the joint resignation of the superintendent and business manager over what was described as "personal quarreling". At the meeting where the resignations were accepted, a citizen denounced the board president, Edward Chodl. Chodl then "ran toward (him), but was restrained by other board members." The pair were guaranteed to be paid their combined $23,740 contracts for the next year, with the outgoing superintendent given an additional $8,000 to rent his educational film library for ten years.In the autumn of 1969, a teacher's strike was called at the school for the first time in its history. One teacher was arrested for using his picket sign as a weapon against a school board member. In response, the West Suburban Teachers' Union, which represented eleven school districts, asked for all of its members to take an emergency personal day and join in protesting a back to work order issued by a judge, and what were termed as "union busting
Union busting
Union busting is a wide range of activities undertaken by employers, their proxies, and governments, which attempt to prevent the formation or expansion of trade unions...
" tactics by the Morton school board. The strike lasted 22 days. In November, the striking teachers were charged individually with contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
. 64 teachers were found guilty and sentenced to ten days in prison and a $100 fine. In the end, the president of the union, a Morton East teacher, was fined $1,000 and sentenced to 20 days in jail for contempt.