'Trolls' Drive Elmhurst Parents Group To Go Private

ELMHURST, IL — One of the leaders of an Elmhurst parents' rights group on Tuesday called for "full transparency" from the local school board.

But this call comes after the group — Elmhurst Parents for Integrity in Curriculum, or EPIC — has become less transparent. In the last few days, its Facebook page, which started last month, went private.

The page now has more than 250 members, but its administrators, who include resident Tom Chavez and Elmhurst Alderman Mark Mulliner, decide who gets in.

Chavez explained the decision to restrict access to the page.

"Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the Facebook page became the target of trolls and ne'er-do-wells," Chavez said in an email to Patch. "They are more interested in propagating their ideology, than engaging in thoughtful and critical discussion around the very sensitive, and very controversial issues of biased curriculum, and critical race theory imposed on children inside District 205 schools. So, until we can better manage who they are, the page is private."

The decision follows controversies related to the page, including a post of an image depicting Hillary Clinton in blackface.

It's not unusual for a group to start with a public page, then go private. That was the case with the Reopen D205 Facebook page, which urged Elmhurst School District 205 to bring back in-person learning every day.

In November 2020, an Elmhurst doctor went on the Facebook page to blast Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying he should be "ashamed of himself." She cited her medical credentials.

Patch published a story about her public message. Shortly after, she told Patch her wording was "extreme."

The Facebook page, which included more than 1,200 members at that point, then went private.