District 15 calls off board meeting, citing crowd concerns

Palatine Township Elementary District 15 leaders called off tonight's scheduled board of education meeting, saying they could not accommodate the crowds expected to show up to debate the district's masking policies.

"After receiving multiple posts and notices on social media regarding widely advertised rallies at the meeting tonight, we determined the district is unable to safely accommodate the expected attendees in our interior spaces at Walter R. Sundling Junior High School," school board President Lisa Szczupaj and Superintendent Laurie Heinz wrote in an announcement sent about 3½ hours before the meeting's scheduled 7 p.m. start time.

The meeting instead will be conducted as a virtual forum beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, officials announced.

"We believe it is prudent for everyone - our staff, board of education, as well as community members, to be able to safely share their opinions, participate in public comment, and listen to all stakeholders in our community who are interested in sharing their views with the members of our board of education," the message states.

While some surrounding districts, including Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211, have made masks optional for students since a downstate judge issued an order last week lifting the statewide mandate, District 15 has so far continued to require them. The district was not among the roughly 150 school systems listed as defendants in the lawsuit that led to last week's order.

The agenda for Wednesday night's meeting included a discussion of the litigation and how to move forward with COVID mitigations.

As with prior virtual meetings, written comments to be read to the board during the public comment portion of the agenda can be submitted online at https://tinyurl.com/2cm393eh.

Officials said they hope to read all comments out loud during the meeting, but if that becomes impracticable, the board reserves the right to publish them instead on the district's website for public viewing.

"From the many emails we have received from staff and the community, it is clear there are a number of strong and varying viewpoints around the issue of mask protocols," the message states. "We want to allow the opportunity to hear stakeholder comments in a respectful forum where participation feels safe and civil while we continue to conduct the business of the board of education."