P-H-M school board asks trustee to resign over allegations he pays for prostitutes
MISHAWAKA — Members of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Board of Trustees have asked one of their colleagues to resign over misconduct the board alleges to have involved criminal sexual misconduct and possible alcohol abuse.
A special school board meeting was called Tuesday night after the board and members of the public learned a right-wing blogger published allegations that Trustee Matt Chaffee, a board member representing Penn Township, has repeatedly paid prostitutes for sex.
The resolution passed by the board referenced allegations that Chaffee admitted to the blogger he "has engaged in unlawful activity by paying prostitutes for sex."
Chaffee did not attend Tuesday night's meeting.
The resolution seeking Chaffee's resignation is non-binding. Jeff Johnson, board attorney, said state law allows school board members to be removed from office for only three reasons: conviction of a felony, dereliction of duties and for attending school functions while intoxicated. Johnson admitted there is no recall provision for school board trustees.
Johnson said neither he nor board members had evidence in hand about the allegations, saying that the resolution was based on the contents of the blog post about Chaffee.
The resolution passed unanimously by the board highlighted the fact that after members of the public contacted the board about the allegations against Chaffee, Johnson contacted Chaffee by mail to give him the chance to address the issues, but an attorney for Chaffee reportedly told the board “there will be no response forthcoming from Mr. Chaffee.”
President Christopher Riley said the board had hoped Chaffee would answer the allegations, either in response to the attorney's inquiry or at Tuesday night's meeting.
"The nature of the allegations were grievous, and it required the board to take some action," Riley said. " We did reach out to him and asked him for his response, and he declined to respond. It didn't leave us much choice."
"It's imperative we make a statement on this. We have people in our school district who are obviously concerned given the grievous nature of having a school board member, on the board, who allegedly has committed this conduct," Riley said. "It's important for the school board to make a public statement that this conduct is not acceptable."
When asked by a reporter whether the board was seeking Chaffee's resignation because of unrelated past run-ins he has had with the board, Riley said: "Let's not make any mistake. We would not be here, but for the allegations of alleged criminal sexual misconduct and prostitution."
Chaffee won the Penn Township school board seat in 2022 and is a 2014 graduate of Penn High School. He ran largely on his family’s experience in the district, with his father, Doug Chaffee, being a former teacher, coach and administrator while his mother, Brenda Chaffee has served as an administrative assistant at Penn High School.
In a viewpoint article Chaffee wrote in The Tribune in September 2022, he said he would be the youngest person to ever be elected to the P-H-M school board.
"I believe I will bring a fresh voice to the board as one who can relate to this generation's students. In all my life's experiences, I always have found myself in leadership positions, and I am ready for the leadership that school board membership requires," he wrote. " I have never been a person who runs from any conflict; rather I always have turned to face it head-on. I welcome challenges."
He had campaigned along with unsuccessful 2022 P-H-M school board candidates Bryan Jones and Andy Rutten and Chaffee was the only one of the three to win his school board seat. The three candidates had campaigned together and had been endorsed by the local, conservative-backed group Strengthen Our Schools.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: P-H-M board votes to ask Chaffee to resign over prostitution claim
