PAXTON, Ill. (WCIA) — Ford County residents aired out their concerns at the Paxton-Buckley-Loda school board meeting Wednesday night as they looked to deal with multiple issues within the district. And now, locals are pushing for one public official to announce his resignation.

First is the new contracts for the teachers in the union, as the old one has been expired for a couple of months. The meeting also talked about the search for a new superintendent after Travis Duley resigned last school year. And looming over all of it are people still asking for answers concerning Robert Pacey.

“The lack of response to these questions is extremely disheartening,” said attendee Sam Magers.

Lawsuits filed on behalf of former PBL students said the district was made aware that suspended teacher and coach Robert Pacey needed to improve his interactions with students as early as 2009. But, they said he remained in his position with little or no consequences.

WCIA’s partners with the Ford County Chronicle reported that Pacey, also a Ward 3 alderman, was present at the Paxton City Council meeting on Tuesday. It was his first time at a meeting since March before allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced.

During Tuesday’s meeting, one of Pacey’s fellow alderman, Matt Greenburg, abruptly walked out of the meeting once Pacey’s name came up during roll call, the Chronicle reported.

“I’m going to go home as a sign of protest,” Greenburg said. “Sorry, I don’t know how to handle it.”

So far, five different Jane Does have filed suits against Pacey, current employees and two former superintendents. Pacey has denied any wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged.

“The mandated reporters that were told, they should all be held accountable for not doing anything over this long period of time,” said Ford County resident Jackie Wibmer.

Sam Magers spoke during the public comment portion of Wednesday’s school board meeting and voiced her frustrations about the investigation, which was said to be “almost complete” in June.

“What is the status of this employment and pay?” Magers asked. “Is the community continuing to fund his salary? At this point, I don’t know the answer to any of these questions.”

According to the Chronicle, an online petition was launched on change.org Wednesday urging Pacey to resign as an alderman — an elected position he has held since 2015. He is also currently the council’s public safety committee chairman.

As of 12:48 p.m. on Aug. 14, the petition has generated 372 signatures.

“The residents of Ward 3 in Paxton deserve transparent, accountable and effective leadership that genuinely reflects and serves our community’s best interests,” part of the petition reads. “Mr. Pacey is an elected officer and cannot be fired unless he is found guilty of a crime. Mr. Pacey’s ongoing legal issues and lack of trust from the community have reached a tipping point where change is necessary. We are therefore calling on Robert Pacey to step down as Ward 3 alderman. Mr. Pacey needs to know that we do not trust him.”

The school board meeting also tackled another personnel issue: finding a new superintendent. Vic Zimmerman from the Illinois Association of School Boards presented an update kicking off the search.

“Probably by Friday or Monday, we’ll send this announcement of vacancy out to our database of over 7,000 individuals, mostly in Illinois, but some across the country,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman also said the deadline to apply is Oct. 3 at noon, and they’re looking to start the new administrator in July 2026. But for this year, teachers in the classroom still need a new contract, and many showed up Wednesday night and said they want pay comparable to surrounding districts.

They rank 128th in pay out of 150 area schools.

PBL Education Association President Amy Johnson said a strike is on the table, but it hasn’t gotten to that point yet.

“We are still negotiating in good faith,” Johnson said. “We still have good communication with the Board of Education. And as previously known, it’s very difficult to negotiate without a superintendent.”

Johnson said there have been some tentative agreements reached already and that they’ll be in the classroom Thursday for the first day of school, ready to teach as normal.

“But there will always be that that little twang of, ‘okay, maybe we’ll hear from the board,'” Johnson said.

WCIA reached out to PBL schools to ask about these three topics and they declined to comment.