MADISON TOWNSHIP — The Madison Board of Education voted unanimously to retain Eddie Walker, a popular high school science teacher, after a volatile, five-hour meeting on Wednesday night that drew more than 150 people from the community.

“I was just hoping for the 3-2 best case scenario,” said Walker, a teacher with six years experience in the district and the high school’s former Key Club advisor. “I can’t believe it was unanimous. The evidence was so compelling they had to vote (the way they did).”

Walker was under fire after approximately $2,000 in Key Club money he was responsible for was reported missing during the 2016-2017 school year, according to first-year superintendent Shelley Hilderbrand. As a result, Hilderbrand recommended the board not renew Walker’s contract, due to what she felt were violations of school policy when handling funds.

However, the board did not agree with the superintendent and voted in favor of the teacher after weighing a lengthy exchange that included comments from lawyers on both sides of the issue.

The resulting vote was greeted with cheers from those in attendance, including family, students, Madison alumni and parents, many donning red shirts in support of Walker.

Nearly 20 people spoke on Walker’s behalf during the public comment portion of the meeting. The speakers were cut off after 30 minutes with three people still waiting their turn in line to voice their support of the teacher.

“I am here to advocate for Mr. Walker, one of the best men I’ve gotten to know,” said Elijah Tucker, a home-schooled student. “He was my advisor for Key Club. He has done nothing but stuck by my side and he is the kind of person who sticks to what he believes in.

“My sophomore year was probably the hardest year for me. I could go into the classroom and he would wrap his arms around me and tell me everything was going to be OK.”

Walker and his family sat in the front row as the testimonials supporting him continued. At various times they could be seen smiling and crying.

At 7:04 p.m. the board went into an executive session that lasted nearly two hours. At 8:54 p.m. they reconvened and a quasi public trial began on the issue.

The Trial

Hilderbrand laid out several reasons for her recommendation of non-renewal. 

“There were many board violations,” she said.

Those violations included mishandling of cash and violations of guidelines for missing funds. She told the board at least $1,960 was missing during Walker’s watch. She also said Walker missed multiple opportunities to pay back the money.

There are no criminal charges involved in the case.

Walker said in his four years as an advisor to the Key Club, he had never been instructed or trained on how to complete and handle the necessary fundraiser forms.

“Never had I seen or turned in this document,” he said. “I had no training on fundraising. Fundraising was absolutely necessary to our club. Often, if we asked permission from the board they would say, quote, ‘As long as it doesn’t cost us anything.'”

The Fundraiser

The missing money was the result of a candy bar fundraiser in the 2016-17 school year. On average, Walker said, Key Club would sell 76 candy bars per day.

Hilderbrand told the board Walker never asked permission from the principal to hold a fundraiser and never filled out the proper forms.

Walker said he had student members sell candy bars and that is where mistakes could have been made.

“Each day, we started with $0 and students sold the candy bars,” Walker testified. “We spent about $6,000 in order to get what amounted to 1,200-plus candy bars.

“It was brought to my attention I had to count the monies to see what was missing. After carefully examining the deposit list, I found a few errors, some missing deposits.”

Walker told the board some of the deposits didn’t make sense, like a check for $25 for one candy bar. Another check was marked from a previous event.

Walker said he informed the previous superintendent, Lee Kaple, who reported the matter to authorities. Walker said he was never questioned by authorities.

Still, the Madison School Board recommended Walker resign as Key Club Advisor in August, 2017. He complied.

The board also told Walker that he could repay the money via 10 installments of reduced paychecks.

Walker is two payments shy of fulfilling his payments back to the school. He said he was under the impression if he made the payments back, he would be allowed to continue teaching.

On Dec. 7, Walker said he met Hilderbrand who told him she had reviewed the case. 

“It’s just bad bookkeeping,” Walker said she told him.

“Despite my innocence, I was facing possible suspension without pay and even termination … a job that has led me to work with these great teachers, helping these amazing students,” Walker said. “I was willing to sacrifice more money than I had ever earned being Key Club Advisor to continue to do what I love.

“I was never trained to handle any fundraisers correctly … Only to be handed an outdated form I wasn’t trained to complete … It breaks my heart that this much money is missing and it hurts me to know that this has made an even bigger impact on our community.”

As Walker finished speaking, the sea of red T-shirt wearing supporters stood and applauded.

The Decision

After the trial, the school board voted unanimously in Walker’s favor. Each vote received a cheer from those in attendance. 

Board President Jeff Meyers told the audience if they wouldn’t stop cheering, the board wouldn’t vote. But when Meyers cast the final “Against” vote on the superintendent’s recommendation, the crowd cheered loudest.

“I entered into agreement, I paid all the money back. I did everything they asked me to do,” Walker said after the vote. “They never told me the way they wanted me to operate and they were never there to tell me otherwise.”