A No-No During Elmhurst School Board Meetings

ELMHURST, IL – For two years, the Elmhurst school board's president has requested residents not to mention "individuals by name" when they make comments during meetings.

This is nowhere in the school board's public comment policy.

President Athena Arvanitis has given no parameters for her policy. Can a person mention the U.S. president by name? Would it be wrong to speak of Abraham Lincoln or some other historical figure? Or does the request apply to residents within the district's boundaries?

Two years ago, when a resident mentioned the governor and a state legislator by name, Arvanitis said nothing. But she interrupted when another speaker criticized a public commenter by name.

Around that time, progressive speakers took to identifying Tom Chavez, a local conservative who had unsuccessfully run for the school board, as the "failed candidate." They did that rather than run afoul of Arvanitis' request.

Arvanitis technically has no rule against identifying anyone by name. Rather, she said the board "asks" that public commenters refrain from doing so.

On Sunday, John Kraft of the Edgar County Watchdogs said on "The Real Story" radio show on AM 550 that some Illinois school boards are invoking the name rule.

In response to a Patch inquiry this week, Kraft said people have every right to say any name they want during public comments, including those of parents, teachers, coaches or even children.

"The person speaking has to defend his speech should he get sued over it, not the public body," Kraft said in an email. "With that said, both situations should be speech directed at something in the public body’s realm of influence. Talking about Israel and Gaza would not be appropriate, but talking about 'Mr. Smith,' a high school teacher soliciting prostitutes, would be open game."

Arvanitis did not return a message for comment on Monday.

In 2023, the Elmhurst-based Citizen Advocacy Center told Patch that all the rules for public comments should be in writing and available on the website. The group advised against regulating public comments in an arbitrary fashion based on the whims of the presiding officer.

Told about the center's advice, Arvanitis said in a 2023 email to Patch that the suggestion for putting the new rules on the website was a good one. She said she would look into updating the website.

In 2019, Hinsdale High School District 86's board president blocked the comments of three speakers. The residents alleged an assistant superintendent took a different position on a science curriculum issue than she had elsewhere.

The president said she would not allow them to name personnel in their comments.

The speakers later sued the district in federal court on free speech grounds. After spending tens of thousands of dollars, the district settled with the residents. The agreement required the district to pay the residents' legal bills. It also mandated that the board undergo First Amendment training by the Citizen Advocacy Center.

The center's main lesson: The board could not regulate the content of people's comments, including obscenities.