Board failed on COVID

The District 87 Board of Education dealt with challenging issues related to COVID 19. Unfortunately, the Board earned an “F” for the 2020-21 school year.

Now current Board members Judith Weinstock, Robert (Bob) Friend, Jennifer Jendras and Mireya Vera are asking us to vote them in for another term.

Thousands of schools across the country and dozens within minutes of District 87, opened in August of 2020 and remain open today with minimal disruption. Despite the tremendous effort required, all of these schools found a way to put their children first.

The CDC statistics now show that this board's decision to lock the children out did not have a better impact on the health of the children than those allowed to attend school.

Given the success of the opened schools, this board could have reversed its lockout direction at any time during the school year. Instead, they held firm with a lockout and proudly introduced a weak hybrid model.

There is a “transparency” pledge page on the District 87 website, except there was zero transparency when it came to sharing the results of remote learning and zero communication on their decision that kept the children out of school.

The board had much to consider for the 2020-21 school year, but I watched dozens of parents plead on behalf of children with special needs and for all those suffering mightily from the mental and social strain of isolation. Silence and indifference is what the parents heard.

On April 5 (one day before the April 6 election), the students return to a full week of school. Nice try on this self-serving move Jennifer, Judith, Bob and Mireya.

Cyndi Covelli, Nicole Dawson and David C. Dejanovich are the replacement choices for the Board and should be given the opportunity to change the direction of a Board that currently puts our children last.

Tom Schager

Lombard