By Mark Weyermuller –
Wednesday night I attended the New Trier School District 203 Board meeting virtually via Zoom. The meeting opened with public comments limited to 30 minutes. The comments were read by a district employee.
There were 41 comments submitted but only 21 were read in the allotted 30 minutes. They decided to not extend the the time. In fact, they went into closed session right after that to possibly discuss labor contracts and negotiations. That part of the meeting was not shown to the public.
The bulk of the comments were from teachers and staff saying they did not want the high school to open with students in the classroom. New Trier High School, located in Winnetka, Illinois has about 4000 students.
Currently, there is a “hybrid” plan with some in classroom and some online. Many of the teachers want only online instruction, citing health concerns for students and staff.
My comment was not read as they took them in order of time submitted. They indicated that all comments read and unread will appear in the printed minutes.
At this point I cannot find the Zoom meeting recorded on the district website. Many school, village and park districts show their board meetings on YouTube and Facebook live so they are available to view very easily.
Again, I cannot find any links on the New Trier Township web site and at this point they have not responded to my request. The published minutes to this meeting are not available until they are approved at the next meeting.
I ask that school be open five days a week for students who feel safe and online for others who don’t feel safe. If schools cannot fully reopen I ask that all teachers, support staff and administrators be laid off or furloughed without pay until schools reopen with in classroom learning. I also call for hiring freeze, spending freeze, and capital improvement freeze until schools reopen with in-classroom room instruction. Online school is NOT school in my opinion. If teachers feel unsafe, have them stay home and we can find new teachers who are willing to teach with kids in the classroom. Thousands of kids are attending sports camps this summer and thousands are in daycares, all completely safe. In addition I call on the board to refund the tax levy to property taxpayers now so they use the education money for private schools, tutors, and homeschooling. Thank you Mark Weyermuller
Mark Weyermuller is a small business owner, real estate professional, education advocate, and conservative activist in Chicago. He is a citizen journalist and regular contributor to Illinois Review.
