A Chill On Free Speech At Elmhurst D205 Meetings?

ELMHURST, IL – Residents are asked not to mention any individuals by name during Elmhurst School District 205 board meetings.

It's not stated as a rule. It's not even a board-approved policy.

Last summer, board President Athena Arvanitis started making the request before public comments.

This was what she said Tuesday: "Each of us have high expectations for our community and ask that public comments are respectful and do not mention any individuals by name."

During public comments, resident Tom Chavez mentioned the names of Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, a Naperville Democrat, both of whom live outside of Elmhurst.

But he refrained from giving the names of local school board members whom he said supported sex education bills signed by Pritzker.

Asked by Patch why he didn't name the board members, he wrote in a text message, "Well, since I can't say names, I said the board is in favor."

He said he didn't want to be interrupted if he named the board members. He had an experience last year with this.

At a July meeting, resident Marsha Baker criticized Chavez by name during her public comments, calling him a "failed school board candidate." She was not stopped.

But when Chavez spoke about Baker during an August meeting, Arvanitis interrupted him.

"Tom, I'm sorry. Excuse me, can we please refrain from using people's names?" she said.

When he continued talking about Baker, Arvanitis broke in again.

"Tom, can we move on to board business?" she said.

"This is board business," Chavez replied. "It's an important issue."

In response to a Patch inquiry in August, Arvanitis gave her reason for interrupting Chavez.

"The interruption was an attempt to encourage the speaker to focus on district business and/or listed agenda items and to refrain from naming specific community members or their roles in other organizations," she said

But her usual statement before meetings doesn't specify which individuals can be named and which cannot.

At Tuesday's meeting, Arvanitis did not respond when Chavez said Pritzker's and Stava-Murray's names. It appears her policy may apply only to residents within the district's boundaries.

Still, courts give political speech, including criticism of elected officials, wide berth under the First Amendment.

In 2019, Hinsdale High School District 86's board president blocked the comments of three speakers. The residents alleged an assistant superintendent took a different position on a science curriculum issue than she had elsewhere.

The president said she would not allow them to name personnel in their comments.

The speakers later sued the district in federal court on free speech grounds. After spending tens of thousands of dollars, the district settled with the residents. The agreement required the district to pay the residents' legal bills. It also mandated the board undergo First Amendment training by the Elmhurst-based Citizen Advocacy Center.

The center's main lesson: The board could not regulate the content of people's comments, including obscenities.