Angry Residents Shout Down LTHS Board

LA GRANGE, IL — A few residents approached the stage earlier this week at the Lyons Township High School board meeting and demanded members let a mother of three speak. The board did not let her.

Following its procedures, the board closed its public comment session after a half hour Monday. When board President Kari Dillon made that announcement, audience members protested.

"Excuse me, don't interrupt," Dillon said. "That is not helpful."

A woman approached the microphone and said she arrived on time for the meeting. But Dillon said the board calls speakers in the order they sign up.

A finger-pointing man walked up near the woman and shouted to the board, "Let her speak! Let her speak!"

The man continued, "C'mon, Waterman, let her speak!" He was referring to Superintendent Brian Waterman.

Dillon warned the board would have to recess the meeting, even though it was planning a closed session afterward.

The man told Dillon, "I'm not talking to you. Let her speak!"

The board then voted to recess the meeting "for the management of the crowd."

The woman yelled, "I call to recall the school board now." (Recall is not an option for voters in Illinois.)

Another man approached the stage, yelling, "Let her speak, you cowards!" And yet another person declared, "You should be ashamed of yourselves."

The board held its closed session a little while later, but made no decisions afterward.

At LTHS and elsewhere, school boards have faced increasing protests over mask mandates and what many see as critical race theory being taught in schools.

For its last few meetings, the Hinsdale High School District 86 board has been jeered and heckled over mask requirements and controversies involving the district's equity efforts.

At Elmhurst School District 205, the board recessed its meeting for a few minutes in December after pro-mask residents shouted down a mask mandate opponent. They demanded he wear a mask while speaking.

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

In Illinois, school board members are unpaid. Through a public records request, Patch found that Lyons Township High School requested the presence of police officers at meetings.