I was disappointed last month to arrive at a meeting of the Cook County Schools/ISD 166 school board to find that instead of the usual spot on the agenda denoting a time for public comment, the agenda said, “No public comment will be taken at this meeting.”
I was taken aback by the change in procedure. I’ve always liked that the school board was open to public comment. Unlike many government boards that rarely have anyone in attendance for the public comment period, the school board seldom has a time when someone doesn’t speak.
And often those people speak loudly, tearfully and unfortunately sometimes, angrily. People are very passionate about education. And alternatively, people are passionate about school funding.
At that meeting, there was at least one citizen who wanted to comment on the ongoing work to get preschool organized. Baffled, he resigned himself to having to approach school board members after the meeting.
I assumed that the restriction on public comment was a onetime thing. There was an overflowing agenda and the meeting was long enough without the half hour spent listening to citizen concerns.
I was hopeful that public comment would be restored at the next meeting. It was not.
At the June 16 school board meeting there were several topics that were of interest to community members—the proposed levy and bond referendums, the resignation of the band director and future of the band program, the hiring of several teachers and the possible non-renewal of two school district employee contracts.
The two employees facing the prospect of non-renewal were in attendance at the meeting and they were not given the opportunity to speak. They sat in the audience waiting for the topic of their employment came up and then had to sit silently as the school board discussed their future.
The outcome of the discussion was that the employee contracts were renewed and those people will get to continue in their jobs. But I’m guessing that given the opportunity, they would have spoken up for themselves.
Board Member Sissy Lunde was acting chair of the meeting, in the absence of Board Chair Jeanne Anderson. She did a fine job running the meeting and at its start, she explained the reason why public comment was not being accepted. She said during the period of transition between out-going Superintendent Beth Schwarz and incoming Superintendent Dr. Bill Crandall, the board thought it was best to temporarily suspend public comments.
I also touched bases with Superintendent Schwarz and she said because more than one board member had expressed concern about community comments, she and Board Chair Jeanne Anderson had decided to pull the public comment section from the agenda until the board has time to review the community comment guidelines with Dr. Crandall. She said she believed that discussion of how to handle public comments would be on the July 21 school board meeting agenda.
I hope it is and I hope that after that discussion, the action taken is to restore the public comment period. I understand that those public comment sessions are sometimes difficult. It’s tough to face a parent’s pleas to not cut a favorite teacher or program. It’s challenging to remain calm when facing criticism about school spending. And it is discouraging when public comments stray off topic into matters over which the school has no control.
The school board has done a decent job of controlling this in the past. I hope they elect to continue to offer time for public comment.
It is true that school board members are elected to represent us and there should be trust that they will serve us well. But that trust should work both ways. There may be things that the public—staff, students, community members—know that the board hasn’t heard about. A lot of good has come from discussion started in public comment sessions.
This member of the public would like to see that continue.
America’s future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live. Jane Addams
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