D-205 Parents Decry Continued Remote Learning

ELMHURST, IL — Two residents took the Elmhurst school board to task Tuesday night for continuing remote learning. One of them referred to unspecified "threats" from the teachers union to the district.

Elmhurst School District 205 has been almost entirely remote since October. It plans to begin a blend of in-person and remote learning next week. Under this system, students will attend classes in person twice a week at most.

The two parents who spoke at the school board's virtual meeting Tuesday pushed for more in-person learning.

"Our lack of ability to follow common sense to get our children back in the building is failing every single child in our community," resident Meredith Vogel said. "I'm sickened by the most recent (Elmhurst Teachers Council) threats, and this needs to stop. There is so much data that COVID-19 is not happening in the schools."

Vogel questioned why the board was taking the most conservative response to the pandemic. She listed problems that she said were the result of remote learning, including failing grades, students playing video games during class, missing assignments, depression.

Vogel also said students are wondering why children in Elmhurst's private schools and public elementary schools in Hinsdale have never stopped going to class. She said the district should stop saying no to in-person learning.

"Say yes that you will bring our children next week," she said. "Tell the union that their threats are unfounded."

Another parent, Natalie Escamilla, said her son has struggled with remote learning.

"We have done everything we can to try to help him," Escamilla said. "He's a great student. He's always excelled in school, and he's having a hard time. The last day of school before the break, he sat for two hours and sobbed in front of the computer because he couldn't get back on. That has to stop."

She said she is appalled the district has been unable to get students back in school. She said her sister's family in Michigan who have children attending school are shocked about Elmhurst's lack of in-person learning. And her sister lives in a town with a worse coronavirus situation than Elmhurst's, she said.

At the board meeting, an official told the public that the board does not respond to residents' comments during meetings. So no one addressed the statement about union threats.

Elmhurst Patch left messages with both the union and the district's central office about any union demands that are stopping more in-person learning.

Wednesday's meeting was held for the sole purpose of a closed session. Under state law, school boards must allow public input, even when they're closing the doors.

The board met for more than three hours in closed session. The stated reasons for the session were discussions about specific personnel, litigation and union negotiations.

The board took no action afterward.

Before school started in August, the union was regularly criticizing district administrators on its Facebook page of the district's plans to have in-person learning. Then the union stopped its Facebook activity. Since August, the union has only posted once to its page. In mid-November, it responded to comments on the "Reopen D205" page, which has become an outlet for parents' anger with continued remote learning.