Former Glenbrook South yearbook adviser apologizes for allowing anti-Israel quote
A now-former high school yearbook adviser has apologized for allowing the recent publication of a student’s quote celebrating attacks against Israel.
In a public letter posted online Tuesday morning, veteran Glenbrook South staffer Brenda Field attributed the fateful decision to “poor judgment and lack of supervision.”
Field also said she didn’t anticipate the anger the comment would cause.
“I realize that I failed to understand the depth of feeling about the issue,” she wrote. “I did not understand the antisemitic nature of the passage and the pain it caused to Jewish people.”
Field’s apology was published on the Glenbrook High School District 225 website. It can be found by clicking the heading “Statements” on the page about the school board.
The letter was released a day after the District 225 board removed Field as yearbook adviser and stripped her of any teaching duties for the rest of her employment.
The controversy involved the most recent edition of the Etruscan yearbook. The quote, from a Palestinian-American student at the Glenview school, was printed in such a way that the teen appeared to support the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel, the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
The quote caused outrage in the community and pitted people against each other at a May school board meeting.
In a subsequent investigation, District 225 attorney Justino D. Petrarca determined neither the quoted student nor the teen interviewing her mentioned the Oct. 7 attacks during their discussion. Petrarca determined the quoted student said she was happy about earlier Palestinian action against Israel.
Field was aware of the quote before the yearbook was published, Petrarca reported. She asked student editors about the comment but didn’t try to remove it from the book, he said.
She also didn’t consult with Glenbrook South administrators about the quote before publication, Petrarca said.
In her apology, Field said she should have more forcefully advised the editors about the quote and reviewed her concerns with Principal Barbara Georges.
Field went on to apologize to the quoted student and her family “for any problems and discomfort our publication decision has caused for you.” The student, whose name hasn’t been published by the Daily Herald, reportedly received threats because of her comments.