See Video: Shouting Match Derails Elmhurst D-205 Meeting

ELMHURST, IL — The Elmhurst School District 205 board meeting descended into chaos for a few minutes Tuesday night, as a speaker refused calls to wear a mask.

Hearing audience members' protests, school board President Kara Caforio requested Elmhurst resident Paul Kenna wear a mask. He did so, but positioned it to cover the top of his head, drawing groans from the audience.

The dispute was a culmination of tensions during school board meetings over the last few months. Some audience members contend everyone should respect schools' mask mandates, while others oppose such rules. The two groups also differ over whether critical race theory is taught in local schools, with those against the mask mandate largely saying it is and pro-maskers disagreeing.

The school board apparently sensed the possibility of a debacle. A few days before the meeting, the board announced a new policy to randomize the order of speakers, rather than first-come, first-serve. That was likely intended to avoid a jockeying for position to sign up to comment.

Caforio announced the board was extending the public comment period to 45 minutes, up from the usual half hour. Each speaker got up to three minutes.

At the meeting, the first few speakers favored following mask mandates and denounced the idea that critical race theory was taught in local schools. They spoke uninterrupted.

But Kenna, who has publicly opposed mask mandates before, got up to speak without a mask. He was among other like-minded, maskless residents, despite a school employee offering them masks before the meeting.

Many in the audience objected to Kenna, saying he should follow the mandate like everyone else.

"How can he be invited to speak?" Elmhurst resident Guido Nardini shouted.

Caforio told Kenna, "We understand that not everyone agrees with the mandate. We would ask out of courtesy to our community that you would put a mask on while you speak."

That's when Kenna put the mask covering on the top of his head.

"That's bad faith. Board, that's bad faith," Nardini said.

Others groaned or yelled, "No! No!"

Kenna tried to speak.

"I would like to know how many studies that you have provided on the efficacy of masks," he said.

"It's not our decision. It is the state of Illinois," Caforio said.

She was referring to Gov. J.B. Pritzker's mask mandate, which overruled District 205's mask optional policy.

Caforio then called a five-minute recess. Most board members and the superintendent left the room momentarily. No uniformed security was present.

Despite the recess, the shouting continued.

Nardini told Kenna the school board had no power over the mandate.

Kenna responded, "Sir, did I interrupt anybody here that I didn't agree with?"

"Put a mask on. You're in Illinois, sir," Nardini replied.

A woman asked Kenna, "Why are you above the rules?"

Elmhurst resident Allan Fenski then grabbed the microphone from the podium, which many in the audience applauded.

Meanwhile, others continued to heckle Kenna, as he maintained that masks don't work.

Then he spoke about critical race theory.

"Why are you defending CRT? You say it's not here," Kenna asked audience members.

A woman objected and got up from her seat, approaching Kenna.

"Dude, you want to talk," she said. "Have a seat."

Kenna said this was exactly what his opponents intended.

"They don't want to hear any other views," he said. "We were very polite to you."

Nardini pleaded with the board for some leadership.

As Kenna walked into the audience, Nardini said, "What a proud representation of Elmhurst! We're going to be on YouTube because of that chucklehead."

When Caforio resumed the meeting, the audience largely calmed down.

But when a maskless woman started to speak, she, too, was heckled.

Kenna yelled, "Let her speak!"

The audience did.

Caforio allowed all 21 people who signed up to speak have their time, exceeding the 45 minutes.

Kenna is no stranger to the movement against mask mandates. In November, he was among nearly 100 people who protested outside Emerson Elementary School to support a fifth grader's refusal to wear a mask to class.

In August, he showed support at a Lyons Township High School board meeting for a woman who argued that mask mandates were a sign that Marxism and fascism could take hold.

When the woman was told her three minutes were up, Kenna attempted to continue her speech, even though the board's president had read off the name of another speaker.

Kenna said, "You're trying to shut us up."

Kenna held the podium and started speaking. The board did nothing to stop him.