Rally advocates reopening Glenbrook High Schools for full-time, in-person learning

Nearly 200 people attended a rally advocating for the return to in-person learning in Glenbrook High Schools District 225.

The rally, held at Gallery Park in Glenview last week, included several speakers: parents, seniors from both Glenbrook North and South high schools, two health care professionals and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas. It followed the District 225 school board's decision to implement Step 3, which includes hybrid in-person learning that will be phased in over a two-week period by grade level starting Oct. 5.

One of the organizers, Pauline Levy of Glenview, said a decision was made to follow through with the rally even with the implementation of Step 3, and she acknowledged that while some of those attendance supported the district's current plan, others were likely in favor of the immediate return to full, in-person learning.

Levy stood at the front holding a sign that read "Kids Get Only 1 Senior Year of High School." Her daughter is a senior at Glenbrook South, and she said it's heartbreaking to watch her daughter's senior year go by as it has thus far.

"I recognize the virus is out there, and we need to take reasonable precautions," Levy said. "We also need to try to make the learning and school experience as close to what it can be."

Levy said she's happy that the district is moving forward with its plan, which includes taking safety precautions to get the students back to some in-person learning, with the eventual goal of bringing everyone back full-time.

Dr. Dana Russo, an OB/GYN with a practice in Northfield, spoke during the event, and she made the case for a return to in-person learning.

"The decision we have made for our children and our community at-large was the right one, undeniably, but we are now more than six months out," Russo said. "Things are very different, and we know so much more about the virus and how it affects different age groups, and that's really important here."

"We need to shift our mentality from fear-based decisions and move to science-based decisions," she said.

Curt Schaller of Northbrook, a father of five including two college students, a freshman at Glenbrook North and two students at St. Norbert in Northbrook - which is open to in-person learning - served as emcee. "They're doing great, and they're doing it the right way," Schaller said of St. Norbert and the Northbrook public schools that are also open to in-person learning. "We can do it here, we can do it at our high schools, and it's going to happen."

He said the rally is important to continue the momentum for their effort to encourage schools to return to in-person learning, with an option for e-learning for those who choose to stay at home.