VERNON HILLS (IL)
Chicago Tribune/Pioneer Press
March 13, 2018
By Rick Kambic
Four former Vernon Hills High School students are now talking with police after an assistant soccer coach at the school was charged with sexual assault Friday, bringing the total number of students or former students involved to seven, according to police.
Monday night, the Community High School District 128 School Board voted unanimously to terminate the coach’s employement.
Cori Beard, 28, of the 300 block of Farmington Lane, Vernon Hills, was taken into custody for questioning Thursday evening shortly after a parent contacted a school employee, who then contacted police. She was charged Friday with 12 counts of criminal sexual assault and remanded to the Lake County jail on a $1 million bond.
Those charges stemmed from her actions involving two current students, police said.
The school board met privately behind closed doors to discuss Beard’s situation, among other personnel matters, and then voted swiftly upon returning to open session.
School Board President Pat Groody and Superintendent Prentiss Lea declined to take questions following the meeting. When asked if there was any indication other employees might have known of Beard’s activities, Groody and Lea provided a joint reply.
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