Elmhurst Progressive Parents Answer Conservatives

DARIEN, IL – Progressive parents in Elmhurst have organized a local group – an answer to a conservative one that was organized in January.

The new group is called Respect Our Students and Educators D205, or ROSE 205. It has a private Facebook page with nearly 450 members.

The group formed last July as Re-Open Safely Elmhurst 205, which featured the same acronym.

In March, it changed its focus in light of the creation of Elmhurst Parents for Integrity in Curriculum, or EPIC, which also has a private Facebook page.

The conservative group accuses Elmhurst School District 205 of Marxist indoctrination and says it pushes ideas such as critical race theory, which the district denies.

Ioana Fernandez, one of ROSE 205's Facebook page administrators, said her group changed its mission recently to respond to attacks on local schools, teachers and curriculum. She said the majority of its members are current District 205 parents.

"The mission of this group is to advocate for our public schools and make sure they provide an inclusive, diverse, and welcoming learning and working environment for all," Fernandez said in an email to Patch on Monday. "We are a parent-led community, with no fundraising, websites, or political affiliation."

Tom Chavez, who leads EPIC, also said his group shuns any party affiliation.

On Wednesday night, ROSE D205 and the local Progressives for Change group plan a virtual meeting with Mawi Asgedom as the speaker. The groups say he is an expert in social-emotional learning.

Asgedom survived a refugee camp and later went to Harvard University on a scholarship. After graduating, he spoke and wrote about social-emotional learning.

The two local progressive groups encourage people to watch a YouTube video about Asgedom's impact on Lincoln Park High School in Chicago.

Members of ROSE D205 attended EPIC's recent event, in which consultant Jennifer McWilliams spoke about social-emotional learning, or SEL.

Also speaking at the event were Elmhurst Alderman Mark Mulliner and state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, an Elmhurst Republican. Asgedom attended.

In her email, Fernandez said her group wanted to counter EPIC.

"We all want to ensure that EPIC's vision of SEL does not become a reality for our kids or community," she said. "Those of us that attended the recent seminar would like to share what we learned and provide a framework to combat the misinformation."

She disagreed with the label "progressive" for ROSE D205.

"Not all our members identify themselves as progressives. It is just a parent-led group where people discuss issues affecting public schools and how we can respond," Fernandez said.