Kevin McDermott

District 209 Proviso High School board member Kevin McDermott was arrested by Forest Park police Aug. 26 and charged with the battery of an elderly school board colleague during an argument.

McDermott, 51, of Westchester, was charged with battery causing bodily harm and simple assault in an Aug. 9 incident following a D209 board meeting. Circuit Court charging papers allege that McDermott “intentionally caused bodily harm to Kelly,” as he allegedly slapped then grabbed former board president Teresa Kelly’s hand during an argument, and that he “continued to move her arm causing hand and shoulder pain.”

Police also charged McDermott with simple assault for his allegedly having “raised his clenched fist in a cocked back punching position at Kelly,” an act that purportedly placed Kelly in fear of being struck. Both charges are misdemeanors.

Kelly, 73, of Maywood, complained of shoulder and arm pain after the incident and was transported by paramedics to Oak Park Hospital for treatment. Kelly, whose right arm was in a sling while she attended a Boy Scout fundraiser in Forest Park Sept. 3, said she was receiving ongoing medical treatment for her shoulder.

Reached via email for comment on his arrest, McDermott emailed back, “I’m referring all questions about the charge(s) to my attorney.”

McDermott’s attorney, Tom Durkin (not the federal judge), did not immediately respond to a phone call Friday seeking comment.

According to Forest Park police reports, McDermott and Kelly were by a food cart in a room adjacent to the D209 board room after the Aug. 9 board meeting in the Proviso Math and Science Academy.

When Kelly reportedly picked up two of three boxes of chicken from the cart, witnesses told police, McDermott allegedly grabbed one of the boxes. As the two “tussled” over the food box, witnesses say, Kelly threw the other box at McDermott “to try to get him to let go.”

Police say McDermott told them he was getting food from the table when Kelly walked up and “grabbed the same food item,” causing the food to spill onto the floor.

McDermott told police that Kelly then “became irate and started scratching at his face, knocking his glasses off his face and onto the floor.” McDermott said he grabbed Kelly’s sleeve “in an attempt to stop her from hitting him.”

Police observed a small cut to McDermott’s bottom lip. He refused medical attention, but told police he wanted to sign a complaint against Kelly.

Numerous sources say there has been bad blood between McDermott and Kelly since the April 2015 school board election that saw incumbent Kelly and two new challengers on her slate sweep into office. That election eliminated a decades-long control of the school board by a faction controlled by former D209 chairman Emanuel Welch (now a state representative) and Melrose Park Mayor Ron Serpico.

Those same sources say McDermott, who had sided with Kelly in previous disagreements between board members prior to April 2015 became upset when he was not named president after the 2015 election, a post that Kelly was elected to by other board members. McDermott was named vice president.

This spring, McDermott flipped sides, joining with former board president Dan Adams, Brian Criss and Teresa McKelvy, giving the board minority the fourth vote needed to control the board.

However, McKelvy, not McDermott, was named board president, and McDermott was the only one of the four to not receive a board title.

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