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MISHAWAKA, Ind. — Candidate for the Penn Harris Madison School Board and former Penn High School Principal, Doug Chaffee, took to social media to give a conspiratorial and paranoid excuse for skipping a candidate town hall event on Monday. Chaffee, who was constructively fired from his Penn High School Principal job for sleeping with his secretary and has recently been accused of stalking and harassing young women, falsely claimed the event was “created by the School Board President and Superintendent to control the narrative,” and that there “are three candidates that specifically appear to be supported by the school corporation, and I am not one of them.” The truth is the event was held by an independent forum group which gathered questions from the public and had rules in place to ensure all questions focused solely on education policy and not situations involving personal lives. The questions included things such as professional development for teachers and curriculum. And, there do not appear to be any endorsements of candidates by either the Superintendent or President of the Board.
Doug Chaffee also falsely claimed a candidate forum had not been held in prior years. However, a town hall forum was also held in 2022, in which Doug Chaffee’s son Matt Chaffee (who is a current school board member) also refused to participate. Matt Chaffee is currently facing massive scrutiny for his alleged history of purchasing prostitutes, illegal gambling and stalking and harassing multiple women.
“Over the past Decade, this event has not taken place on a regular basis. Why is it taking place in 2024, but it did not during the election cycle of 2022?” Chaffee wrote in his Facebook post on Monday morning.
Doug Chaffee’s post faced major criticism from voters. It’s important to note, out of a total of six candidates running for the school board position, Doug Chaffee was the only candidate to skip Monday night’s event.
“As someone who has the privilege to vote, I was looking forward to hearing from all of the different perspectives of the candidates. It’s a shame that you are asking the public to vote for you into a public position without being willing to share your perspectives publicly while your opponents are.” One commenter wrote on Facebook.
“Our students need leaders capable of engaging with the students and parents on complex educational issues. This means planning and COMMUNICATING with the community. Refusing to do so is the act of a petulant child. We don’t put children on the school board.” Another commenter added.
DOUG CHAFFEE FIRED FOR HAVING SEX WITH HIS SECRETARY
In August, RNM published an investigative story with documents showing Doug Chaffee was constructively fired from Penn High School for having an affair with his secretary at the time. Documents in Chaffee’s personnel file obtained by RNM through a public records request show he was the Associate Principal at Penn High School when the affair occurred and was forced to resign/retire in 2010 due to the scandal involving his subordinate.
Details of the affair are laid out in an EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) complaint Chaffee filed against PHM in 2010, in which he attempted to claim he was discriminated against, demoted and forced to resign/retire because of his age and sex. The EEOC determined the claim was unsubstantiated and it is now part of Chaffee’s publicly available personnel file.
According to the documents, Chaffee was married to his first wife at the time of the affair, however, he claims he and his wife were separated. Chaffee also claims the affair occurred prior to the secretary being moved into a subordinate position underneath him and that she never filed any complaints against him herself. According to Chaffee’s complaint, he was initially “demoted” from his Associate Principal position at Penn to an administration position at the school district’s alternative school program known as Penn Way prior to being asked to submit his resignation.
“I was threatened that if I fought the demotion I would face a public investigation, School Board action, and would certainly never hold an administrative position anywhere again. I was told that if I did not want to face all of that, they would ‘let me resign’ at the end of the school year.'” Chaffee wrote in his complaint.
Chaffee submitted a letter to the administration in November of 2009, notifying Superintendent Jerry Thacker that he intended to retire at the end of the 2009-2010 school year.
Ironically, the information regarding the affair would have never come to light if Doug Chaffee would not have filed an EEOC complaint. Under Indiana Statute, only certain discipline records are publicly available. Those records are only available if they resulted in someone’s demotion, suspension or termination. The district’s initial move to put Chaffee in the Penn Way position was technically not a demotion and, allowing him to resign instead of firing him was a way to keep the investigation and disciplinary action a secret from the public. That being said, EEOC action is always considered public record.
Chaffee has been mired in controversy since announcing his bid to run for school board. An RNM investigation earlier this year shows Chaffee had a protection order against him for harassing and attacking a young woman late last year. His son, Matt Chaffee, who is currently a member of the PHM School Board has also been caught up in several scandals involving prostitution and illegal gambling.
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