Elmhurst Teachers, Parents Group Clash

ELMHURST, IL — Over the summer, the Elmhurst teachers union repeatedly posted to its Facebook page questioning the school district's plan to start the school year with in-person learning.

In mid-August, when Elmhurst School District 205 announced it would start the year remotely, the union went silent on Facebook. Until last week.

On Friday, the Elmhurst Teachers Council posted an open letter to the "Reopen D205" Facebook group, which boasts nearly 1,200 members.

The union took Reopen D205 members to task for posting suggestions to protest at the house of Max Schoenberg, the union's president. Such posts were removed.

"Comments made on this Facebook group alleging that Mr. Schoenberg is causing harm to children are offensive and defamatory, as Mr. Schoenberg teaches math at York HS and has served District 205 for 20 years," the union said in the letter. "The repeated efforts to identify Mr. Schoenberg's place of residence as a location to protest are completely outrageous and violate any reasonable boundary of public discourse."

In its statement, the union said that not every teacher has the same views on public policy questions, and "we respect that." It also said most teachers find the current model of in-person and remote learning challenging and that it requires continual adaptation.

Teachers, the union said, are concerned that with the current model, most teachers with high-risk medical conditions are barred from working at home and must select medical leave at the advice of their doctors.

"Having highly qualified teachers on leave during a statewide teacher shortage makes it very challenging for the district to provide the educational support and programming our students deserve," the union said in the letter.

At Tuesday's school board meeting, the union said, the district may reopen to in-person learning based on in-person data. It's the board's decision, not the union's, the letter said.

"If any parents have opinions on that matter, please direct that feedback to the board," the union said. "Our union is composed of teachers, not public health experts, and we are not qualified to engage in a medical debate with public health professionals."

The Reopen D205 group posted the union's letter to its page. In the comments, several members noted that page administrators had removed posts calling for protests at Schoenberg's house.

Still, many Reopen D205 members criticized the union's statement. They are upset about continued remote learning. At least one called for resignations of board members who oppose in-person lessons.

"Our tax dollars at this point (are) paying for an over-priced streaming service," one man wrote. "There are schools with full time in-person here in Elmhurst and in Hinsdale. Why not D205?"

Others accused the union of absolving itself of responsibility.

"This letter is just an attempt to shift the blame to the Board, when it was the ETC that publicly and emphatically pushed back on the original plans for in-person instruction," a resident said.

In early October, District 205 became DuPage County's first unit district to reopen to in-person learning for all students. About two weeks later, it went entirely remote again.

Hinsdale High School District 86 is offering in-person learning for a quarter of students at a time. Many other districts have gone fully remote. The school board president last week pledged to continue in-person learning through the end of the semester.