LW 210 Board President Speaks of 'Venom' and 'Personal Attacks'

Aside from bouts of applause for some speakers and occasional grumbles from the audience at various points, the more than 1,000 parents, taxpayers and students packed into the auditorium of Lincoln-Way Central High School were largely respectful as the Lincoln Way 210 board of education announced its intention Thursday night to close Lincoln Way North.

After the first person who signed up for public comment spoke, the standing-room-only crowd met his views with applause. School Board President Kevin Molloy admonished the crowd to be respectful and not engage in such displays, saying “this is a board of education meeting.”

After the second person spoke, again to a round of applause, Molloy grimaced a bit and said, as hands clapped, “I guess we’re not going be.”

» MORE ON THE LW 210 DECISION: Board Votes to Close LW North

While there were no angry outbursts nor public displays of aggravation to warrant a scolding, Molloy appeared to be smarting a bit from what he called “personal attacks” made in the months since the LW 210 community learned the district had spent its way onto the Illinois State Board of Education’s Financial Watch List, an ignominious collection of districts in the worst financial shape.

Thirty-eight of the 866 public school systems in the state were put onto the list this year. Many are in financially disadvantaged communities, and some have suffered years of poor management, even criminal mismanagement. Failure to get off the list typically ends with a state takeover the schools.

This is a first for Lincoln Way, heretofore seen as one of the region’s most well-run districts.

Molloy made sure the folks who came to LW Central for the bad news knew his feelings.

At one point, he held up a stack of papers thicker than a 1980s-era phone book and told the audience that board members received 600 to 700 emails about the decision to close Lincoln-Way North since the district first went public with the need for this drastic measure in May.

He went on to say that about 20 of those emails — roughly 2 to 3 percent — were “disrespectful” and contained personal attacks on himself and his family.

Later, he noted that someone had created a fake Twitter account in his name and posted false, negative statements about his views.

“That was ... very hurtful and harmful to my family,” he said. “Shame on you.”

At the meeting’s end, immediately after the 5-2 vote to shutter LW North, almost half the people in the audience got up, turned their backs on the board and walked out as Molloy spoke about “the next steps.”

Molloy closed the evening with a request that the public aim its “venom” at the state instead of at the school board.

» Sign up for Patch email newsletters: NEW LENOX | FRANKFORT | MOKENA | TINLEY PARK