Here's The Chaos Elmhurst D-205 Avoided

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst School District 205 has seen its share of opposition to the mask mandate. No area district is immune to the controversy.

Nearly two weeks ago, Superintendent Keisha Campbell decided to go to a mask optional policy. This was in response to a downstate judge's suspension of the mandate for nearly 150 defendant school districts, including Elmhurst. (An appeals court upheld that order Thursday night.)

Some districts went another way. For instance, Hinsdale High School District 86, a defendant, kept the mask rule. As a result, protests ensued.

Other districts, including Lyons Township High School, were not parties to the lawsuit. But they endured demonstrations in the last week as well.

At last week's Hinsdale High School District 86 meeting, nearly 200 people showed up. Many were already upset with the superintendent, Tammy Prentiss, over a controversy surrounding an anti-racism consultant who called Hinsdale a "dangerous place."

But after Prentiss decided to continue the mask mandate, many parents said they had enough. They held yellow signs at the meeting calling for Prentiss' firing.

They accused Prentiss of causing chaos on the day after the judge's order by failing to clearly spell out the consequences for violating the mandate. Most of the opposition was from parents at Hinsdale Central High, where mask violators were sent home or to the school's auditorium.

The board stayed quiet during public comments, when many residents denounced the administration. But when the board debated the mask rule, the audience repeatedly jeered and heckled board members with whom they disagreed.

The board voted 5-2 for the mask mandate. The audience left noisily, with residents yelling, "Shame on you!" and "You are a disgrace to our kids!"

At this week's Lyons Township High School board meeting, mask mandate opponents shouted down the board when the half-hour public comment period ended. The board's president said the board called residents in the order they signed up.

A mother of three went to the microphone anyway, demanding to address the board. A finger-pointing man joined her, yelling, "Let her speak! Let her speak!" And another man approached the stage as well and shouted, "Let her speak, you cowards!"

The board recessed for a few minutes "for the management of the crowd."

The woman declared the board members needed to be recalled. Another person yelled to the board, "You should be ashamed of yourselves."

Earlier in the meeting, a man, who started calmly in his speech opposing the mask mandate, lost his cool. He repeatedly said, "This is bulls---!"

At one point, he acknowledged that he was letting his anger get the best of him. He said the mask mandate was a form of "abuse."

At a Lyons Township High School meeting a few months ago, a man said board members were "worse than pedophiles" because of the mask requirement.

Last fall, "Saturday Night Live" lampooned public comment during school board meetings.

The Elmhurst school board has had its moments in recent months. In December, pro-mask residents shouted down a man speaking out against the mandate. They said they were upset he wasn't wearing a mask.

The board lost control of the meeting and recessed for a few minutes.

In Illinois, school board members are unpaid.