Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Board of Education meeting, February 10, 2025

001e would you please join us in the of the United States of America and to the stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all he's not here he's on a plan vacation thank you no here Ben Ys here here scon here Mo here Ty here we are six tonight okay good evening everyone on behalf of the Board of Education I would like to discuss the events the World's Fair a couple weeks ago Stevenson has been hosting the world's fair for years it is a celebration of our school's cultural diversity through food activities and performances with more than 30 C countries and cultures represented this year it is also an opportunity to raise funds for charity and this year we raised close to $30,000 for the Stevenson Foundation we completely understand how

002the events that have unfolded at the fair this year left some of our students parents and attendees feeling hurt and uncomfortable and we are sorry moving forward members of our administrative team will work with the appropriate individuals and departments to develop a clear and transparent prior review process for all world's fair materials to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future we know that most visitors came to voice their questions and concerns regarding World's Fair this evening please understand that although we will listen carefully we will not respond to public comment tonight during the board meeting however if you want to response to your comments please leave your name and contact information on the table outside and someone will contact you as soon as possible we ask that speakers be respectful and civil not repeat

003the content of statements already made and avoid comments are the are that are not directly relevant to school business finally we have a time limit of 3 minutes per speaker which will be displayed on the screen if public statements continue for an hour we may conclude the public comment to work through the remainder of our agenda items thank you okay all right uh Mr Carney I think uh you're going to help cue us um sorry I'm new to this um I am a parent in uh linshire um and I didn't come here tonight to talk politics uh frankly I came here to talk about a Paramount concern around safety inequality primarily I'll start with the incident that happened with an adult male that uh verbally assaulted and intimidated children yes children at the world fair

004uh the last time I checked this is still a felony in the state of Illinois yes the individual was allowed to leave the school grounds with no consequences had the roles been reversed however uh I would argue that a member of my community would have been in the back of a police car or worse this is a double standard that cannot continue to exist and manifest itself in the students or parents at Stevenson the reason the world fair issue has proliferated is that outside groups are attempting to censure enforce the Eraser and take the agency of an entire culture represented in the Palestinian and Muslim student body at Stevenson the existence of another group in this case Palestinians does not call for the Eraser eraser or destruction of another group xenophobia and islamophobia is real

005and it's ugly this is a clear wakeup call that needs to be understood at its root cause and let's not forget the current political environment that we face right now further empowers a speech of discrimination and we can't stand by complicit how does this start this was started by doxing and if you're not familiar with what doxing is uh taking photos and putting it online and spreading all kinds of Lies um and the trolls take over there at that point uh this also led to harassment of students at the school uh hate speech directed at students with Palestinian backgrounds uh and proliferated by adults and others outside of the school our students can't be told what's what they mean by a display or what their cultural identity is uh we need to be engaged in

006Equitable and respectful dialogue and this is what we're trying to teach all of our children bully bully somebody into fear is not a way that you talk to a child um I don't care what your difference is that's not how we handle things uh I know that my time is running short so I'll skip to really the end of this um I want to thank the teachers and the police and the members of this administrations that have really demonstrated the qualities I mentioned above that are Equitable uh but unfortunately this doesn't represent the ranks within the administration and the student body you have the tools and ingredients to do better and I implore you to take the steps to allow Equity agency civil dialogue and not allow the Eraser of identities of students and parents

007in this school to not allow fear to be the loudest voices to make you complicit in inequality discrimination and Hate thank you your name Mr Nasser thank you good evening board uh my name is Maggie slavin and I'm the school support coordinator uh for care which is the Council on American Islamic relations Chicago um we just want to say that we're appalled by the bullying and the gaslighting campaign that's been undertaken by hateful adults against uh palestinian-american students at ATT Stevenson and Muslim Students that attend Stevenson simply for daring to express their truth and the troubling hysteric surrounding the World's Fair last month that include the assault of the students that were working the Palestine Booth uh groups I identify with and cheer on foreign government forces that have led a year plus televised genocide

008campaign against extended families of palestinian-american students that attend Stevenson do not get to tell them what their art and their patterns mean and do not mean there's a lot of of effort out there to put words in these students mouths about what this um cultural display meant and what it didn't mean and as the owners of this culture that the students themselves get to decide to tell what it does and does not mean um and the school does also not get to thoughtlessly empower bullies to claim victimhood as they disempower and violate Palestinian American and Muslim Students our students will not forsake their right to agency and self-expression as a price of going to school they have the authority to speak on what their own patterns and expr means and what it doesn't for our

009students and Palestinians at large the watermelon pattern is a creative cultural expression of resilience against arer it's not a call for hate or anything that the outside bullies make up it to be the patterned map affirms their cultural familial and historical legacies throughout historical Palestine which is an irrefutable fact confirmed by documented evidence including birth certificates that are barely a generation or two old before the creation of the state of Israel if a group that again identif I with their oppression is offended by their refusal to self erase or upon demand well quite frankly that is hardly shocking they're welcome to their opinion but they are not entitled to suppress our students truth in America one opinion or take can be expressed alongside another and this and in this respected school we hope uh is

010not in the business of teaching that only one pinion is allowed the one that yells louder or threatens more any statements even if unofficial uttered by any school official that suggests otherwise and that affirms and external groups attempt at identity eraser of our students must be recanted and clarified for the Greater Community uh what kind of message do it send when a school administration makes students feel like their identity is a crime and that's what uh we are at care very concerned about uh alongside our parents and our community members we will monitor the situation very closely and we'll look forward to policies of equity respect for all and ones that protect against bullying and that affirm the basic First Amendment right to freedom of conscience and even more basic human right to self idty

011and agency thank you so much thank [Applause] you good evening everybody my name isaj I want to start with saying that how sensible is it for an adult to threaten or harass minor kids at the school event this is the premise of my message the act of bullying and harassing is simply not accepted this poses threat to the security at Stevenson and is in a larger way even to the district when intimidation and harassment are compromised or accepted for one set of people I just want to even State this Equity access statement that's on Stevenson that says success for every student we will recognize every student as a valued individual students will learn in a safe inclusive space where they are taught to be understood the value and their own experiences in relation to others

012and diverse perspectives we will be relentless we will be relentless in removing barriers to full Equity access and inclusivity in our curriculum and co-curriculum programming this in the context of what happened does not hold true and and looks like deliberately compromised in with what happened during the Warfare um and again um this this leads to some kind of a psychological W and I want the board to really pay attention to this and again and coming to point is this even leads to what's called a threat to the Bill of Rights like practicing you know equal rights religion speech and petition press and assembly this uh freedom and genuine expression from the girls has been um negotiated and this leads or this should not kind of spread to other districts that around here and uh finally

013um I also want to let people know here that we cannot have a SE of hate and divide going on and this is a repeated place and this should stand as an example for other districts around here thank you hi my name is Josh uh I'm an educator member for Jewish voice for peace and I'm gon to rehash I guess some of what you've already heard um but I came because I heard that Palestinian students were intimidated by adults over their flag and their watermelon symbol and first and foremost to the board uh I'd like to address you with a very simple comment which is to please continue to allow students the right to express who they are and where they come from um if there are any parents of Jewish students in the room

014I I would also like to address you I grew up around parents who felt that so much as a Palestinian flag bumper sticker was an anti-semitic symbol and I went to Jewish Day School and learned a lot of the same nonetheless I developed a lot of compassion for Palestinian community members and ultimately Jewish students like all students are smart and they're going to learn about Palestinian people whether we want them to or not attacking student voices does not create a space for education and community building it doesn't do that for students of any background we are doing a disservice to Palestinian students Jewish students and all students with attempts at censorship intimidation and Division uh I hope Stevenson High School can continue to be a place that Fosters a positive learning environment and I thank

015you all for your [Applause] time oh should I go um hi my name is Rachel I'm a youth worker I'm part of Jewish oyer peace Josh um I've worked with high school students who are Jewish and Palestinian um as well as college students for a few years now I came because when I heard about this incident I was reminded of a very scary phone call I got um last June a Palestinian student who I was working with who was a Val Victorian was chosen to speak at her graduation she called me late at night crying because she had written Her speech about how proud she was to be first generation um how proud she was to be having done different dialogue projects around Israel Palestine in her school um and how a group of students

016had threatened to beat her up if she gave her speech as it was um she considered not going she considered not coming to school and not doing her speech and I spent the better part of an hour trying to comfort her and remind her how correct she was in trying to Foster dialogue between students of all opinions and all backgrounds she went on to speak I shared her video on Instagram it was beautiful people loved it I'm so proud of her and I'm so proud of students like the ones at this high school today who said they will talk about their culture identity and history and they will Foster dialogue and they will not be shut down by adults who want to intimidate them as well as censorship as a Jewish person who got to

017go to Hebrew school who got to talk about my family's experiences with genocide um fleing Russia I feel like I was encouraged to talk about how my history influenced my views on social justice and why I cared about everyone around me and why I cared about human rights students should be able to do the same thing no matter their background Palestinian students deserve the same platform I was given as a Jewish student and I'm here to support them today as I would any student who's speaking up about their history and culture thank you so much thank you for allowing me to speak I'm Deborah Adelman professor amerita of English I am a Jew the granddaughter of yish speaking immigrants who left violence poverty and oppression in Christian Europe my great uncle and his children perished

018in aitz in 1943 no relatives in Europe were ever heard from after the Holocaust my family knows what genocide and anti-Semitism are we are committed to it never happening again to anyone when my family came here they aligned with us movements for justice and equality we believe in equal rights for all and so I am a proud member of Jewish voice for peace an organization with tens of thousands of members and hundreds of thousands of followers jvp stands for equal rights for all for everywhere this is why we reject Zionism a form of Jewish Supremacy furthermore as long as there has been Zionism there has been Jewish anti-zionism Judaism and Jewish identity far predate the political ideology of Zion ISM thus I warn this board loudly and clearly against the dangerous conflation of anti-zionism and

019anti-Semitism anti-zionism is opposition to Zionism for a number of reasons we believe Zionism is a false answer to the very real problem of anti-Semitism anti-Semitism includes words tropes stereotypes and actions that harm Jewish people criticism of Israel does not constitute anti-Semitism criticism of Israel does not harm Jewish people all nations are subject to criticism for their policies and actions to equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism is to suggest that all Jewish people share the same perspective on Israel but we are a diverse people with diverse political perspectives to paint us all with broad brush Strokes is in fact anti-semitic since it relies on unfounded assumptions and generalizations and even stereotypes thus you must be aware that the Chicago Jewish Alliance which has lodged a complaint and demanded things from you represents only itself it does

020not represent me nor many other Jewish people this leads me to the situation being discussed tonight as Educators we are responsible for creating engaged citizens and critical thinkers who can take in information make judgments and take positions on the basis of knowledge deciding where their values and commitments lie the Palestinian flag the symbol of the watermelon and the map of historic Palestine all represent a reality which we must freely learn about without censorship all maps and flags are political we should be teaching map and flag literacy so students can understand the Deep historic Transformations we are all witnessing and will witness in our lifetimes there's nothing anti-semitic in teaching about Palestine at jvp we believe in a free Palestine as we believe in Jewish freedom and freedom for all people equally the only way for

021there to be Jewish Freedom will be in tandem with Palestinian freedom and there are hard discussions which must be to make this a reality do not allow yourselves to be silenced and bullied from teaching your students how to productively engage with and participate in this discussion thank [Applause] you good evening uh my name is Amina MD I'm an alumni of seon High School class of 2015 I wanted to speak today because I believe High School is a critical time of identity formation for young adults and it is vitally important that their educational environment Fosters that process students no matter where they are in terms of ideology deserve this space to grow as individuals this cannot happen when we intimidate them for their values the students that put together the Palestine Booth deserve better than to

022be silenced at the demands of others shs students deserve the support of the administration that's meant to Aid in their education ston High School's Mission includes diversity equity and inclusion these values were not at all reflected in their handling of this situation unfortunately an effective Administration carries out the school's Mission but this is not what happened the students were told that their values which are held by billions of other people globally Were Somehow offensive the definition of offensive is something that causes someone to feel deeply hurt upset or angry just because someone might find the p m map of Palestine offensive and be hurt emotionally by it this does not give them the right to demand that others be silenced I want to end I want to end with an example of why this is

023so important during my time at Stevenson I was able to express my values my beliefs and my opinions about the world openly despite being a young person that was not so sure of myself had I been silenced bullied or otherwise oppressed due to them I would not have had the courage in 2016 to stand up for someone else a trump supporter no less that was being physically attacked for for his beliefs even though I did not agree with him at all ideologically I recognize his right to exist without being harassed or physically attacked my question to you is what kind of students are you participating in raising when you silence them do you want your students to stand up for others or cower in fear of retaliation as they had been this time who would

024stand up for anyone anymore in that kind of world thank you for your time and attention [Applause] peace be with you all good evening board members and community members my name is Salma Vora and I'm a Stevenson parent thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight on an on an issue that profoundly impacts our students and their communities in light of concerns of student safety stemming from the recent Warfare it is imperative that the district take proactive measures to ensure all students feel safe valued and respected schools shape the world views of our children and if we are truly committed to fostering an inclusive learning environment we must reassess our curriculum in staff training when Educators say I do not know the history of the area this is not just a statement of ignorance it

025is a failure of responsibility our district must do better structured mandatory training on cultural sensitivity and social justice is not optional it is a necessity schools often avoid explicit conversation about race and justice under the guise of neutrality but there is no neutrality on a moving train silence is complicity when we fail to address social injustices in our individual and Collective capacity we allow injustices to persist a key place to challenge increasing fascism is in classrooms that honor students stories truth telling and asking questions the board must act to en to ensure our schools are spaces of Education not not exclusion teachers who support diverse student narratives regardless of background Faith or identity also deserve to feel safe valued and seen as taxpaying citizens who pledge allegiance to the United States we have a duty

026to uphold and protect American civil liberties including student agency and free speech for all not just for ourselves one's personal solidarity with their Heritage country should never be used to bully docks threat and demonized students Educators or even the board especially at the expense of our sacred Duty as America First Citizens I'm sincerely requesting the Stevenson Community families students Educators and the board to work together for a just future for all of our children a future where young people recognize their Collective power where conflicts are resolved with wisdom not Warfare a future where the well-being of all the people and the planet take presidence over the profits of a few thank [Applause] you in the name of God the most gracious the most merciful may God bless all of you peace and blessings upon all

027of you my name is Al I serve as the IM and Islamic Foundation North I'm here to uh speak today about the importance of freedom of expression Mutual understanding and respectful dialogue especially when dealing with sensitive issues that can divide us it's natural to feel triggered in these moments but the key is how we respond instead of rushing to judgment we should ask what do you mean by that word what do you mean by that symbol what does it represent to you we may not agree with everything that was on the Palestine Booth such as the watermelon map we may not agree with everything on the Israeli Booth as it had references to is hostages without mentioning the thousands of Palestinians that are held today without being charged including Palestinian children so we may not

028agree with everything on the Palestine Booth or the Israeli Booth but I think all of us will agree that listening to just one side of the story is not just listening to the side that is the loudest or has the most power that is not just so my respected listeners when we come across symbols or terms that provoke strong emotions we will get triggered we're human beings miscommunications will happen misunderstandings will happen but when it does let us resist the urge to jump to conclusions let us ask questions let us seek to understand and approach these conversations with curiosity and respect even when we disagree with one another because even after having those tough difficult conversations we may we may still disagree with one another but we will understand one another and when we understand

029one another we can then collectively place our energy and our time towards the vulnerable towards those who don't have equal rights towards those who don't have freedom that is a better use of our time instead of spending hours at a school board meeting or online debating what does this symbol mean thank you [Applause] uh dear respected board members I am Stevenson parent uh I address you today with mixed emotions about what happened on the bulying and harassment harassment of the of the Palestine booth at the Palestine booth at the world's fair when some bullies and haters try to turn a festive and cultural enriching event into a tense political melee on one hand I applaud the administration Security Police and support staff I learned of the hateful agenda and vile threats the bullies are bringing

030to this meeting my presence here today is a message of Peace solidarity and support with you I want to spare you few minutes from their offensive and falsification filled propaganda speeches so I come here to stand with you choosing to resist this audacious attack on our children children's rightful agency to self-expression Liberty freedom of expression cultural heritage and everything this country and its Constitution are all about I sent you a little more detailed email so I'm going to keep it short but maybe you did not have the time to respond to it yet so here I am to put a face on my message as well yet on the other hand so I said mixed emotions right so I start with the positive stuff for the administration on the other hand we were hoping you

031would stand stronger with our kids rights of expression their their identity and Heritage some of us felt alteristic and felt the pressure you experienced so they complied with the school's unfair request up to my opinion we as parents of the students who were at the table are diverse on how we express our support how express our show of support to you but I as one of those parents want you to know that the cost of supporting you was very very dear it was our kids discomfort alarm and loss of rightful agency to self-expression that's the cost that we paid our expectation of of Stevenson High School is very high to guarantee an open atmosphere where our kids and their mind can Thrive and not be bullied censured or marginalized or erased we expect you to

032stand stronger at the few who are found to be accomplices to the bullies and haters who tried to turn a festive event into a security Zone and a tense situation we expect you to know how to deal well with Rogue people who disturb the Peace of our kids they went as far as questioning them as if they were thieves or impos imposters those harassers turned out turned our children's peaceful celebration of world cultures into a political war zone we want a safe loving and peaceful place for our kids that now it's evident needs some work let it be an educational moment let us educate the haters and ignorants thank [Applause] you good evening and thank you for taking the time to hear my thoughts today my name is om and I'm a concerned parent here

033to talk about three crucial aspects of our students experience their safety their right to express themselves and their right to be treated equally and fairly first of all all our students deserve to feel safe in school not just physically but emotionally and mentally being harassed or verbally abused is simply unacceptable it is our Collective responsibility to provide a safe environment both at home and at school and more importantly while at school school officials have the responsibility for for creating the same environment I'm extremely concerned to learn this was not the case at the recent World Fair security protocols should be reviewed to ensure our students safety is not jeopardized moving on to my second point just like adults our students should have the opportunity to voice their opinion Express their identities and engage with the

034word around them censorship whether through restricting their clothing speech or artistic Expressions limits their growth we must remember that freedom of expression is vital not only for personal growth but for developing critical thinking and empathy if there is difference of opinion students should be encouraged to engage in a respectful open dialogue they should feel safe to speak their truth and ask difficult questions lastly it is crucial that every student is treated equally and fairly no student should feel that they are being singled out or treated differently based on their background or beliefs RR is an excellent opport Unity for our kids to show their Heritage and to be proud of their family history it is not a place for censorship or an opportunity to argue border disputes some excellent examples as we saw Ukraine and

035Russia both claimed Crimea China included Hong Kong and Taiwan yet both had individual boots as well this was also the case with India and Pakistan both claiming Kashmir and yet they both coexisted peacefully in fact I'm happy to learn that kids helped each other dur during the setup which is a great example of Stevenson Community as you can see our kids don't have hate amongst themselves in conclusion I believe it's essential that we create a school environment where students feel both safe and empowered to be themselves I urge the board to continue fostering a school environment that supports students safety freedom of expression and equality for all thank you for your time and consideration [Applause] hello uh good evening board members Educators parents and students thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight

036I'm a mother of three I have kids in District 103 and alsoa 125 for about 13 years we've been in the district just my experience when I attended World's Fair so I actually attended World's Fair went to go meet friends at the Palestinian booth and immediately a security person came up to me and asked me if I was bothering the children or harassing the children and I was confused like why are they asking me this so then I found out why because the day before unfortunately several our Palestinian students were harassed by an individual or individuals associated with the Israeli booth and since this incident a wave of false accusations of anti-Semitism and terrorist connections had spread rapidly fueled by lies and misinformation these accusations were shared on social media with counterarguments being deleted and

037silenced and as a result students who were part of the Palestinian Bo Booth especially have been subjected to harassment name calling and have been made to feel unwelcome and unsafe at school and as they did at the fair so this incident brings a light to light a deeper issue at Stevenson one of islamophobia it is islamophobic to question and harass children simply for representing their Heritage it is islamophobic to spread false claims about cultural displays like the QR code are to Target students for their beliefs and background similar displays were used in other area schools such as in Libertyville without issues and also in d103 as well without issues it is islamophobic to ignore the concerns of Muslim families as we've sent repeated emails without response even though we do have students here at Stevenson

038that were involved while other community members emails and template emails seemingly were responded to even though our kids were the ones that were verbally assaulted no should ever feel unsafe or un unwelcome in school they shouldn't feel marginalized for proudly expressing their culture their background and their beliefs unfortunately Stevenson High School has yet to demonstrate how it plans to ensure the safety and well-being of all its students like I said I have a current student Stevenson and two that are coming in one currently enrolled uh for freshman year next year and I worry about their safety can they proudly Express their Heritage their Muslim beliefs as the a Muslim woman and a woman of color I'm used to being marginalized unfortunately um and I do not want the same for my children I do not

039feel I want them to feel that they do not belong here this incident should be a turning point an opportunity to reflect on how we can create a safer more inclusive environment for our students and I urge this board to take decisive action by implementing educational programs on inclusion establishing clear policies of harassment and offering support for students students and parents who may feel marginalized are unsafe thank you for your [Applause] time hello everyone it's good to be here um I'm kind of excited that we get to be here and have this voice for our community so thank you for doing this for everybody um thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today I hope you listen with an open mind because what I have to say is about fairness safety and respect

040for all students my family is part of this diverse Community yet last month my Muslim daughter was called a terrorist at school not the first time her Jewish friend classmate leaned over whispered in her ear just let it go they do it to me all the time this is a Muslim and a Jewish child coming together and yet our community is forcing division between the two these students who should find connection and support in their shared experiences are instead learning that these insults are normal that they should simply accept them and that they are expected to be divided rather than United this is unacceptable when incidents like this go un addressed it tells our children that m treatment should be ignored rather than challenged it emboldens others to harass slander and threaten their peers something

041that should never be allowed and encouraged even more we are now seeing adults bringing their own hostilities onto school grounds creating an even more unsafe environment for our students my children will be students at Stevenson High School in the next two years I want this to be a safe place a man came on to school crowns and threatened miners at the booth during the Stevenson World Fair I witnessed these youth clearly shaken I could see it in their face I could see the fear in their face they were clearly shaken this should not be allowed on school grounds there's clearly a double standard and it makes me question whether all students are truly treated equal the Israeli Palestinian conflict overseas cannot be ignored here I'm not asking the school to speak politics but I'm asking

042Stevenson High School to be responsible in protecting our students and to stay aware of what world events are occurring in the world and to stay AB breast of them and understand the divisions that are occurring and I think you all need to be proactive and not reactive in creating this environment of inclusiv that our children need right now those who support Palestinian identity are being harassed and threatened and I will continue to make sure that these are concerns are heard and so will everyone hear thank you taking hi my name is Patty Duan um I just want to thank everybody uh for allowing me to come here and talk today your guys's job is not easy and so I want you to know uh through my faith in God I am a Christian I have

043the utmost respect for all of you and I know that you guys are going to do what is right by every single student here I'm going to kind of piggyback on what she just said I have heard the horror stories for the last 14 months 15 months because we have been fighting our our Jewish our Christian and our Muslim brothers and sisters we all recognize and understand that that we are all part of one humanity and we fight for everyone's Freedom we don't want any Jewish people getting murdered we don't want the genocide to continue over in Palestine but we are not over in Palestine right now we are not in Israel right now we are here in America and in America grown adults don't walk up into children having a function at school and

044do the things that were done it's not okay it is just not okay so we have to speak to the issues I am begging I am asking for all of you because it was not those children that did wrong that day having a having a uh watermelon picture hanging up somewhere on the table is part of our Palestinian brothers and sisters Humanity they told Israel the Zionist told them that is banned you can never put that up anywhere that is why we raise our pictures of the watermelon melons that's why we have such an affinity for those olive trees that have all been cut down torn down while our Palestinian brothers are starving over there in Palestine I'm speaking truth and the people in this room know that I'm speaking truth the fellow over here

045to my left who is shaking his head said that you guys fell down on your job he's told me outside that he worked for the school district and you guys have been falling down on your job I don't believe that okay I don't believe that and I don't think that that is okay to say we stand proudly with our Jewish brothers and sisters and our Palestinian brothers and sisters it would be great if you guys could follow up and have a have a meeting with the parents because those folks should have talked to the parents and to you guys the adults should have had a powwow they should have sat down adults do not not step to the children thank you for your time [Applause] today good evening everyone I'm the mother with Stevenson student

046as a first generation Muslim American I chose this district for its commitment to diversity and inclusion like a lot of other parents tonight I stand before you as a parent but not only as a parent but as a witness to a direct attack on our children's dignity I'm going to address the administration directly shame on you guys for your silence following the attack at the Stevenson welfare where a grown man verbally assaulted a Palestinian student that was not a misunderstanding or heated discussion that was a textbook felony that was committed against a minor on school grounds serious enough to Warrant his arrest and your response deafening silence you should have immediately sent an email to the students to the parents to The Faculty stating this man doesn't represent us he he's not we're here for

047you guys I scoured every email since the 24th of the day of the event and I did not see a single email addressing this I send my children here daily under the assumption that the safe that they're going to be safe and protected parents from 16 other school districts were there that day and they were present and they were expressing shock at the failure to address this incident I must ask this administration were you not concerned that an external organization enters our school during a world fair photographs and Records Booth materials then distributes these across platforms what should have been a measured what should have been a measured parental concern became a spectacle that put students in the broader Community safety at risk outside organ organizations launched an organized social media campaign orchestrating hundreds of

048phone calls online attacks Le legal threats demands for staff termination and involvement of local officials these are all bullying tactics according to the Daily Herald assistant superintendent cust wrote to concerned parents we completely understand why the information presented in the Palestine Booth was offensive and hurtful director of communication Miss o added in an email they would like they would collaborate with appropriate individuals and departments to ensure prior review of posters and materials to prevent similar in idents superintendent cable and miss o let me be very clear these students cultural Maps their symbols their existence are not subject to your approval their connection to the land is as legitimate as any indigenous people's connection to their Homeland and I argue that your reaction is what is truly offensive and hurtful creating an environment of unsafety and

049marginalization and I demand an imp independent investigation to the school's failures consequences for those who created this hostile environment General sensitivity training not just performative gestures my daughter deserves to walk these Halls knowing that her friends are safe she deserves to see our Palestinian classmates celebrated not silenced and we Des she deserves School leaders that are all protected who will protect every students's right to be themselves a school that would not protect all students equally has failed and its most fundamental Beauty and the choice is yours now continue this failure appr prove that every student's dignity matters thank you hello my name is moadab I'm one of the I'm an electrophysiologist I work here in condal in the area so I treat people from different religions from different backgrounds I have a lot of friends

050Jewish friends actually my business partner is a Jewish person we work always together there's nothing related to race or anything in but the issue is obviously you know I also a father I have a junior my daughter is in junior high school so I from the teachings that we give them the teaching always is if you wake up in the morning you have you're in a healthy body and you have enough to feed you feed your family and you have enough um at the same time you're safe in your place that's enough it's like you owned the whole world that's from the teachings that we've learned as little kids and I teach my kids as well the issue is it's been raised multiple times already so I don't want to waste your time listening to

051the same thing again but we're all worried about the safety of our kids I'm worried about the safety of my daughter safety obviously physical but also um emotional as well you know when you see the kids getting stressed at home even with homework they're not able to focus and I can tell if my daughter is able to focus or not so when they're not able to focus their mind is preoccupied you can tell that in their face you can tell that in their emotions and the way how they speak to us so we can we can we can definitely tell that and because of that that emotion stress that we see in her face is what brought us here today just to discuss it with you and and tell you about it so hopefully we

052can find a good solution that will be good for them for the kids at least if they have good resources they can go to they have good Personnel they can reach out to if they feel in some way uncomfortable physically or uncomfortable emotionally they can reach out to that the the second point before the time ends is obviously Freedom also from that stress it comes it piles up they always teach them in school they're supposed to know how to give an argument and give an counterargument and if you bring those two together that raises the that improves that enriches the the subject they can learn more about it and if if you know the action is against what we tell them what we teach them then they obviously will find that contradictory in their mind

053so I hope that point has reached thank you very much [Applause] sorry sorry sorry good evening members of the board my name is Seth prman and I'm here today because I can't stay silent about what happened during the World's Fair here at Stevenson but first I want to point out how everyone here is mentioning the safety of students yet I am the only one as of now who is actually a student at this esteemed high school and to be frank an act of anti anti-Semitism took place an act of hate and a space that was meant to celebrate diversity andity and yet despite this harm it caused there has been no real acknowledgement or action that truly addresses the impact on those affected as a student I expect my school to be a place where

054everyone feels safe valued and respected but when an incident like this happens and the response is silent or in action it sends a message whether intentional or not that the safety and wellbeing of Jewish and Israel students are being ignored and that is not okay and it will never be okay this isn't just about one incident it's about what happens next it's about making sure our school doesn't just talk about inclusivity but actually practices it I urge you to acknowledge what happened publicly and clearly because pretending it didn't happen only worsens the situation support the students affected whether through open discussions or Mental Health Resources educate our community and not just about anti-Semitism but about all forms of hate so that we don't allow ignorance to be an excuse hold people accountable because without accountability

055there is no real change I love this school I know many of us do but having but loving something means wanting it to be better right now we need better we need leadership that doesn't just say hate has no home here but actually proves it through actions I ask you what will you do to make this make sure this never happens again because your response or lack of one will Define what kind of community Stevenson truly is thank you hi my name is Leia mosovich um I did not write a speech because I didn't know if I was going to speak but I have to speak um I'm a concerned mom um I want you know I've been listening to everybody's speak and I hear you know freedom of speech I hear people aren't feeling

056safe while me as a Jew and my child being a Jew we do not feel safe at stepen this is our first year in public school and I can say I can't even point out how many instances my daughter has come home telling me about anti-Semitism in the school it seems like this whole meeting is focused on one specific item which is the world fair well let me tell you there's a lot more that led up to the World Fair on Palestinian walk out day the Palestinian students were calling our Jewish children KES that was never addressed there are swastikas being drawn on the boards at school that's not being addressed there's so much anti-Semitism at Stevenson it's disgusting it's terrifying and it it has to stop it has to stop everybody that has spoken

057so far has been saying they want equality where is the equality for us who is going to speak out for us because every single person that spoke that said they want equality then when I walk away just like they clapped for everybody else they should be clapping for me because I'm hurting too my child's hurting too and it's not okay you want to add anything I mean my friends the day of the Palestinian walk out they were all dressed in blue and white and they were like chased around the hallways people would follow them around and they would yell things at them and I just feel like if you guys say that it should be equal then it should be equal for everyone and you guys should be defending the Israeli students and the Jewish

058students just as much as the Palestinian ones thank you for your time thank you hello my name is Tom H and before we even begin I just want to say I condemn any adult harassing any kids no matter what your views on anything are to paint every Jew as somebody wants to eras palan culture as we have heard tonight is anti-Semitic itself now I can actually begin my speech so dear District's 125 board members thank you for taking the time to listen tonight I speak to you as a d125 resident a proud Steven Alum and a first year High School history teacher in Lake County when I first saw images of the world's fair I was shocked at the display from the Palestinian Club as an educator I take pride in teaching with objectivity something

059I am most proud of as a first year educator is that at the beginning of November I Le a three-day lesson in the 2024 election and at the end my students had no idea who I was voting for I remain neutral and factual my role as an educator is not to impose my beliefs no matter how strong they may be but to teach my students how to research think critically and to form their own opinions from reputable sources can this school board say that all d125 Educators remain neutral in their classrooms because this poster was most certainly not neutral and factual looking at the poster itself that fals presents the country of Palestine as Israel saying Palestine is from the river to the sea with Israel literally ceasing to exist the poster also claims Gaza

060is the densest place on the planet with New York City a city in this very country is twice as dense as Gaza it also States all Jews pray at the her synagogue an obscure Temple I admit that I had not even heard of until I saw this poster while ignoring the Western Wall the holiest place of Jewish worship perhaps one of these mistakes alone can be considered Innocent but all three that is a deliberate attempt to erase Israel and Jewish history these were just some of the many factual inaccuracies that were allowed to be on display there was nothing at all subjective about these about these falsehoods again I have only mentioned objective facts we can argue all day about subjectivity but that's what I'm here for object facts so again how is this approved

061this past fall my high school partner with the spun Foundation headquartered right here in Lincolnshire to bring Holocaust revivor Agnes Schwarz to speak at the school despite being able to count on one hand the number of Jewish students in that entire School their entire Performing Art Center was full and respectful for the two-hour speech truly I fear what would happen if she were to speak at Stevenson but a 93 year-old Holocaust Survivor would be able to make it through her speech without being disrupted by student protesters and if that happened would this current School leadership and School Board even do anything or would there be a continued pattern of Silence just like there has been a continued pattern of anti-Semitic incidents at Stevenson does everyone in this room now understand the damage being caused by

062ignoring this what specific changes will be enacted I see my time is running out so one last time I implore you use this moment to take a stand make it clear that this kind of mistake will never happen again because if it does the consequences are in your hands I'm Isel thank you I'm hi everyone uh good evening my name is Natan asro I'm the co-founder of the Chicago Jewish Alliance and serve as the com controller for the North American values Institute both of which are committed to ensuring a safe and inclusive space for our students first I want to recognize what an incredible opportunity the World's Fair provides for students to celebrate and share their cultures I'm from the NorthShore I had the same experience at a younger age and it taught me the

063importance of uh diversity and inclus inclusiveness with everybody that I went to school with um they give students the chance to experience the Traditions history and perspectives of their peers in a way that builds mutual respect and unity that's why we were disheartened to hear by the politically charged elements of this year's Palestinian Booth which went beyond cultural expression and instead promoted messaging that erased Israel existence you heard a little bit about what Tom said but I'll quickly uh repeat a couple things but the map of Israel uh the West Bank Gaza shaded with a water Mountain design a symbol that although is uh solidarity also represents resistance um and is factually incorrect um posters declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine disregarding Israel's historical and legal sovereignty and distorting the City City's complex history

064a QR code also that linked uh to the United hands relief an organization that's under the investigation of the Ways and Means Committee um for potential ties to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups responsible for the October 7th 23 Massacre rather than focusing uh fostering culture Pro appreciation these elements pushed a divisive narrative that negates the ident identity of another people when a cultural display is used to undermine and erase another it doesn't promote understanding it creates division instead of bringing students together in celebration it sends a message that one culture can only exist at the expense of another that is not the path to peace and it is not the message that should be endorsed in a school setting we appreciate the administration's recent communication with our organization and Comm uh commitment to ensuring

065that future displays remain politically neutral to that end we want to make a a quick request and but I also want to preface that with saying that we understand that the that I have many friends that have gone and graduated from Stevenson and I know the the institution that this is and I have trust in the administration and the school board um to do what's right but a couple of things that we want to request as as action items to make sure that these things don't reoccur um so we'd like to understand what policy changes will ensure that a school sponsored events remains free from political propaganda even in such a difficult and complex uh topic such as this will uh will there be a written policy prohibiting QR codes and links to external organizations

066unless they're pre-approved and aligned with the event purpose and is there any sort of multi-step approval process to prevent these types of things from happening we believe that with the clear policies in place the World's Fair can continue to be positive enriching and an enriching event for all students and absolutely everybody thank you yeah we look and final final sentence we we look forward to working together to ensure future celebrations remain constructive apolitical and respectful of all cultures represented in our diverse Community thank you very much thank you hi well I don't really have a side I kind of offer a very unique perspective um my name is Carlos I am a graduate of Stevenson High School I graduated here in 2016 and I had the unique uh opportunity to uh actually host that world's

067fair for the booth of Mexico um and I you know as time flew by you know Cho's still here Dr custo still here you know former director of app Arts now about to lead us here um there was a lot of weird things that happened you know post-ww World's Fair you know I saw a lot of interesting comments um a lot of weird feedback from the community um I'd like to highlight one right now that you know really stood out just because it um it's quite daunting of and quite appalling what people are saying online one comment that's now been uh redacted had said I hope the students are expelled and arrested for supporting terrorism and Ice takes a close look at their families Palestine isn't even a real country and has no business being

068represented in a cultural Fair um yeah that's it's a bit of a yikes um you know I I always believe that the students you know here at Stevenson are very well educated you know I know there's over 4,000 of them so it's very easy to get lost here in this community but um I don't believe that you know they bring hate or are trying to support terrorism they're just you know trying to look out for the everyday human one way that they did that is presenting a QR code for United hands relief which as you know was uh presented beforehand is a humanitarian relief that has some controversy at the moment but does have a 92% score on charity Navigator just along with like UNICEF being at 94% Z Judes and Red Cross being at

06999% however the claim that the charity has a bit of a questionable ties comes from a disgraced uh X FBI agent John wo who constantly posts d at tweets against the Muslim culture with his most recent tweet being Islam kills again yikes so I only have one thing to ask from you guys and it's very simple just please protect the students it's very simple um you know I know as adults it's kind of hard to remember being 17 16 you know having to navigate all the academic pressure here social pressure here again at Stevenson where there's over 4,000 students it's you know again pretty easy to get lost so with that all I ask is that you choose empathy choose curiosity and not judgment again for the better of the future of the community thank

070[Applause] you a good way to start hello my name is Diane Patterson and I have children who graduated here so long ago from this high school that gave them an extraordinary education in recent times Stevenson has failed its Jewish students and that is why I'm here today for all of what Stevenson stands for in their education standards they have failed to teach how easily Jewish hate can start the Educators and perhaps the board need to learn that lesson as as well someone certainly approved the Palestinian display and thought it was okay to erase Israel from existence someone allowed the display to include a QR code for an outside group when no other group was permitted to do this who allowed this to happen there should be consequences for the adults who permitted this maybe the

071students too I say maybe as I suspect they are being manipulated by adults in charge Nazism succeeded due to a very skilled propaganda campaign spread to Millions who easily accepted it as truth this is not Stevenson's first anti-semitic incident this year nor in years's past to AFF change something needs to change it is not enough to know that the Holocaust happened people need to learn how the Holocaust was able to happen at the norenberg trials people were shocked at how normal these nais seemed instead of the monsters that they would expect they were family men and women great Neighbors outstanding citizens I encourage everyone here to watch the documentary called The Wave perhaps require all Educators to watch and then teach it there's also a movie called the way and it's about a tsunami that's

072not it uh I have limited time so here's the recap in the 1960s a high school teacher was able to change a class who could not understand why people were silent leading up to enduring the Holocaust he turned them into the Nazi youth movement within days and another 170 wanted to join so they could be part of this movement for something more contemporary I suggest the very popular movie wicked wicked is a great allegory for the Holocaust other things too but uh The Whiz uses propaganda to control the masses much like the Nazis did in the story all students but one don't speak up at the end of the movie The Wizard states that where he comes from There's real discontent and Discord that everybody knows that the best way to bring folks together is

073to give them a real good enemy history is repeating itself and Stephen seems to be standing against the real good enemy I demand that you as a board each and every one of you live up to the board's responsibility to ensure that the school's leadership is acting responsible for all of its students ensure proper governance and oversight through policies procedures and meetings so they reflect the needs of every student including the Jewish ones and that failure to do so will have consequences all I am asking you to do is be like alphaba hello everybody um thank you so much for for having everybody here today um I wasn't going to speak but I felt like I have to um so let me start I am a parent and uh one of my children has graduated

074last year and now I have a freshman um so let me tell you a little bit background of myself um I am a Jew I am a Zionist I believe Israel is my homeland um I grew up in the former Soviet Union I am an immigrant um and I've experienced firsthand what anti-Semitism is um when I came to this country the first thing that I thought was wow I can be myself and it was the the feeling in the world and I never thought that I have to stand here today and have this fear for my children so in light of what happened with the world fair um when you when you cover the map of Israel with the palestin with the the colors of the Palestinian flag after October 7th that image has become

075synonymous with um an inata AER of the land of Israel the Jews have no place in the land of Israel um it's a sovereign country I have family there um I have family in the IDF for protecting the land and the people um there are many hostages uh there right now um and you know everybody's trying to get them out and we see the images the horrific images and you know when when we bring this to the school it does become political and it becomes it becomes like a horror story for everybody right um so I guess my point being is that with the world fair um of course we have to be you know inclusive and everything but I feel like there should have been oversight of uh you know what was being uh

076depicted at this uh Booth um and I mean you can't take you can't cover up Israel and say it doesn't belong to the Jewish people I guess that's that's the whole like got 45 seconds so um look at me guys how many of you know that I'm Jewish sir can you just address not too many right so because this is America you do not need to bring overseas problems here especially this a Melting Pot this is America if there is a painful Point schools should avoid the painful points right you can discuss in the class there are different opinions the problem is that parents forcing this ideas on kids bringing into the school I know what's means colored colored part of the map it means from The River To The Sea inhalation of Jews we're

077not going to stand for this we're not going to accept this and we don't want it in our we already went through one Annihilation we survived it's only 14 millions of us left in the world comparing to everyone else we're not going to let it go second time and Jee is actually uh the son of a holocaust Survivor his dad was he was walk to execution I didn't I I I never thought I have to go through this and explain to me right now what I'm seeing that's a I'm sorry guys but it is what it is okay so many adults wearing Cafe I mean I'm glad you guys expressing your I know you're smiling it's funny but this is not this is not what it is well it's be free guys how you doing

078hi ready yeah okay hello ladies and gentlemen before me thank you for this opportunity to speak my name is dollia Baron and as a student at Stevenson my plan when I came here tonight was to listen and to watch um everything that was going to happen and to absorb and to understand everything said by everyone who decided to speak as I've sat here tonight I have heard countless essays written by the people claiming to want respect and equality but there are two sides to the story and you and this needs to be heard today I I stand before you not just as a friend of Israel but as someone who believes in truth justice and the right of a people to defend their Homeland in a world that has seen the horrors of hatred time

079time time and time again we must recognize and call out anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it appears right now Israel is being accused of being the aggressor of bullying the Palestinian people but let us set the record straight Israel is not an oppressor Israel is a nation that has spent its entire existence fighting for survival against those who seek its destru destruction since its founding in 1948 Israel has endured Wars Terror attacks and Relentless calls for its inition no other country in the world is expected to tolerate Rockets draining down on its cities suicide bombers in its streets or the murder of citizens simply for existing let's be clear Israel wants peace it has made countless efforts offers of land offers of statehood offers of coexistence but time and time again these offers have been met

080with rejection and violence Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 hoping for peace instead Hamas a terrorist organization dedicated to Israel's destruction to control and has since launched thousands of rockets at in innocent civilians yet somehow the world blames Israel for defending itself this is not about land this is not about borders this is about the right of the people of Israel to exist in their ancestral Homeland without the fear of extermin EX extermination it is about standing up to an ancient hatred that disguises itself as criticism of Israel but at its core seeks the destruction of the only Jewish state to those who claim to stand for justice I ask where is your outrage when Hamas uses Palestinian children as human Shields where is your voice when Jewish families are massacred in their homes if

081you truly care about Palestinian lives you should demand an end to the terrorist leadership that oppresses its own people and prioritizes War over peace supporting Israel is not about opposing the Palestinian people it's about opposing the forces that want to see Jews driven into the sea it's about recognizing rights to defend itself just as Any Nation would it's about standing against anti-Semitism in all forms including the idious lie that Israel is the villain I ask you when you say to the river to the Sea do you know which river do you know which sea school should be a place of safety but that is not the situation present at this moment just because I speak up as a Jewish student in the community does not give any other student with opposing views the right to

082glare at me through my classes or talk about how I'm crazy for believing what I do I place my yellow ribbon pin on my backpack representing we just get the last thank [Music] um we must stand with Israel not just because it is our Ally not just because it is the only democracy in the Middle East but because it is right because truth matters never again is now thank you thank you hello everybody uh my name is Julia and I'm a resident of the Stevenson School District with two children that will be Independence in a few years um I had a different speech written but after hearing everybody speaking today I had to improvise I think what all of us here agree on is our children are here for an education and our children are

083here to be safe and unfortunately what was presented at the world's fair was not education and it was not safe and that's what we need to remember and that is what you as the school board and the faculty and the staff at Stevenson need to fix for the future because the world fair was a chance for us to actually do something good um my children are first generation Americans um we are descendants of Jews from Ukraine my parents brought me to the United States to escape religious persecution and Jew hate because I wouldn't have been able to have a proper education in the former Soviet Union as a Jew I never imagined that in this community my Jewish children would feel unsafe and when you see the map of Israel completely removed and replaced by

084Palestine which before 1948 Palestine was a Jewish and an Arab home all at the same time but with various political and government situations it is now called is Israel and our flag looks like this and Stevenson as a school and as a place of Education needs to supervise what material is presented at the world fair and it needs to be an education that is provided by current American Standards where we recognize Nations that are recognized by the United States just the same as the other booths may have debated what Crea is Stevenson needs to understand that the United States government identifies it as such and that map that was presented by that table was a map of Israel and it's not meant to eliminate any Arab people or any Jewish people I'm not going to

085go into the facts of other aspects of that uh presentation because I'm losing time but it was lacking facts and we want to know which staff would be responsible for allowing that misinformation instead of fostering Unity this event promoted a one-sided and false narrative that erased Israel's legitimacy and spread divisive rhetoric schools have a duty to educate with Integrity balance historical accuracy and not to indoctrinate students with propaganda that fuels hate and misinformation we cannot stand by and allow this to happen again Stevenson Administration must be held accountable for the material presented at this event concr steps must be taken to prevent the spread of dangerous misinformation in our schools Jewish and Arab students all students deserve a safe inclusive environment not one that tolerates propaganda for the destruction of their Homeland and this must

086never happen again thank you thank thank you for having here uh my name is Eli ainson uh I am also fellow immigrant I'm a a Russian Jew and I know personally what it's been like to feel hate to hide your identity and going home crying every day for being Jewish and what I've realized is being raised in the former Soviet Union the hate wasn't in the kids it was taught by their parents because somehow 8year old kid or seveny old kid knew that being Jews was bad and I'll get to the point of where I see it's going when I came to this country I was angry and then I took my English language class in high school like Stevenson and I wrote a very angry article about the Palestine and what I saw and

087how what I felt and I had a Palestinian in my group so while my article called about H yaser Arafat from the first tree he wrote about given Palestinian rights in other Arab countries and I felt stupid I personally felt like oh my God so since that moment on I built Bridges with the other side and I connected to Islam in other in the different religions my U best man was Muslim my best friends were Muslim but what I'm scared of the most is my kids going and Stevenson will never have the opportunity to build Bridges they will never be able to have Muslims friends because of the environment that is being fostered in the school what I saw 15 first speeches majority not all of them but it tended to blame the Jews for

088all the evils that happened in the Middle East even the racing the the map of Israel and it's it's not the case so I'm not going to use the entire three minutes but to the other side I off see the kids wearing the hijab wearing the caas my kids are wearing keeper under their hats they will never take off their hats because they're afraid they're afraid to openly be Jewish and that's what scares me I am feeling that at the end my kids or their kids will live in the same environment that I grew up up in where they're going to be running from school hiding so if you can openly wear a hijab you can openly wear AIA and openly identify as Muslim the fact of the matter is none of the Jewish kids

089will openly do the same thank you hi my name is Marian baram and I'm a proud Jewish Zionist and a former school teacher who believes that all children have the right and Our obligation to feel safe in school I had the privilege of living in Israel alongside over 2 million Arab Israelis uh about 40 years ago I went to school with Arab Israelis I taught with Arab Israelis I worked alongside Arab Israelis we studied and we went out together and we were friends because in Israel Arab Israelis are accepted and equal empowering diversity and fostering dialogue is not accomplished by erasing the ancestral Jewish homeland off the map when you take a map of Israel and you cover it with Palestinian flag and you chant from The River To The Sea which has been defined

090by the state department as hate speech in the United States um that's not that's not flustering dialogue that's not creating Unity of students and Jewish students are feeling silenced and are being bullied by speakers here tonight telling your Jewish constituents that their Homeland is covered up by another nation's flag um that they don't have the right to be there or even to be safe here at school maps are not cultural they're factual Israel Muslim it includes Muslims Christians Jews and every other religion it's a Melting Pot of every religion and yet so many speakers here tonight have have have tried to erase that for the Jewish students here at Stevenson safety of students includes everyone it includes Muslims it includes Jews it includes everyone who is at school here at Stevenson High School and everybody

091has the right to feel belonging hate needs to be erased whether it's Jewish hate or Muslim hate or any other hate it needs to be erased and it's our jobs as the adults to do that at starting tonight thank you thank you hi I'm ya I'm a junior at Stevenson and I I'm one of the leaders at the Palestine Booth kind of the reason why we're here today and I just want to say I'm sorry that you have to sit here I know everyone wants to go home I want to go home I'm starving um I just want to say that I think that it's sad that it's spiral to the point where I as a high schooler have to come and stand in front of a board of adults and argue for the right

092to express my culture and my speech um but honestly I'm kind of happy that the events that happened at World's Fair happen because it kind of brings light to the problems that are at Stevenson at Stevenson we have this um idea that inclusivity is the most important thing and I agree with that statement I just wish that it was executed better and I think that this event has kind of gone to gone to show that when one body I'm Palestinian Egyptian American by the way um decides to express her culture and show what what her cultural roots are she's silenced and I complied I tried not to make a big deal out of it because I wanted to make sure that everyone had a great weekend I wanted it to be a fun experience and

093I was excited too I was so excited to cuz it was like my first year and everything um but I want to make it known that I think all rules that are placed on students should be equal because I wanted to make a note that the Israel Bo not Point them out they had a nice Booth um it said bring them home which I think personally is a political statement I think a lot of people would agree with that and that was never taken down even after I asked and I didn't complain about it when I first saw it cuz I understand that everyone has their own opinions and Everyone's entitled to their own ideas but obviously some groups feel the need to um feel the need to silence those voices I just I don't

094want to have to keep going to school looking over my back being scared for my safety I don't want to have to go to school walk into my classes knowing that my teachers might hate me for being Palestinian or Muslim I don't want to have to go to school being scared anymore I'm done this is this this isn't just an issue that just arised this has been happening it's been happening since I was a freshman here and I I love Stevenson I just I can't keep going to school knowing that islamophobia anti-Semitism all these other hate hate crimes and discrimination are an issue cuz it shouldn't be at a school that loves to say that we're inclusive of all groups um there's so much more I could say but I'm not going to waste your

095time I'm not going to keep talking yours off because I know I'm like the 30th person that's talked to you today so um again I'm sorry that you have to sit here and listen when everyone wants to go home and eat dinner like me I'm sorry I'm so hungry but yeah thank you for your [Applause] time hi my name is Shanna and I'm a student at woodon Middle School um I am a student there and I'm sick of hearing that schools should be Pro Palestine or pro Israel schools should be Pro students I've been called a terrorist multiple times and it hasn't been addressed I have told my teachers about these incidents who told me to stop making trouble instead of addressing the situation that just occurred right in front of their eyes schools have

096been criticized for failing to adequately address rising islamophobia and anti- Palestinian attitudes many students report for experiencing di discrimination harassment or lack of support from Educators when they speak out about these issues there are times where I have not felt safe at my own School some schools avoid discussions about Palestine altogether leaving students feel feeling unheard and isolated others fail to take action when incidents of hate occur creating an unsafe environment for all students especially Muslim and Palestinian students I believe that all students should be safe at school and everyone should have a safe equal learning experience thank you that was our last speaker so um I think uh it's very fitting that our last two speakers were students um because ultimately that's why we're here I can tell you that um on behalf of

097the administrative team members and I know this is true of the board um I can say that a lot of things went right with World's Fair um but the things that didn't were mostly uh failures on our part as the adults um in providing the right kind of support um for all of our students um and for that I would just say as Miss no said earlier we are truly sorry we hear the hurt in the voices in the room um and that that hurts us as well that's the last thing that we want to do or C so on behalf of the administrative team members who are here we sincerely apologize for that um that obviously was not Our intention but um we're not perfect but we will do better um for all of

098our students and all of our adults and our community member members uh and we would just say thank you for being here I know that for many of you it was very hard to speak especially our students um but we really appreciate it I know I took a lot of notes I know my colleagues took a lot of notes we're listening and we will uh absolutely take everything that you said to heart so we appreciate you all of you um at this point um the meeting's going to get really boring really fast um but you are certainly welcome to stay what we're going to do is take like a three four minute stretch break so that those of you who would prefer not to stay and hear all the other items that really aren't that

099interesting you're feel free to find your way out if you'd like to stay you're more than welcome to this is no longer the topic of conversation for the night if you would like to receive maybe a followup email or information as we're trying to kind of find our way through this there is a signup sheet up front so we'll take about a three minute break e okay um here we go well here we go um thank you for that um and uh moving on to new business uh in curriculum instruction and assessment we only have um one item tonight um and that is a first reading of the student guide book and some of you may be wondering wait it seems like that's a little early and you are correct um but um Troy my

100understanding is we're trying to get that done a little bit earlier um than in past years um for a host of different reasons not the least of which is to be able to get all of the um uh all the copies printed and all the information out into kids uh well before the summer so so and you know it's not here right yes you're going to see you're going to see a Redline version of that in the mid meting memo and then you'll have another chance to see it for the board book oh good um in March and that takes us to Personnel section um all of which is part of consent however I do want to just pull out and highlight um that um we are recommending tonight um for your approval as part

101of the consent agenda that we hire Dwayne Bates as our um new athletic director effective July 1st many of you know that Trish bouser after many years of service to Stevenson as a teacher and a coach and most recently as an athletic director is going to be retiring this summer and we are super excited to be bringing uh Dwayne Bates to Stevenson High School uh if that name sounds familiar Dwayne Bates was um a football player at Northwestern University uh he ultimately uh ended up playing in the NFL including with our very own Chicago Bears um became an educator after his football career was a teacher and then ultimately ended up as an athletic director at glenbard East where uh we had the opportunity to interview him recently in Troy and Wendy I think we're

102super excited uh about that and um and I think uh we're we're just happy that uh Dwayne's going to be joining us he uh we had the chance to bring him into the district office a couple days AO go and meet people and um just kind of lit up the room everybody connected with them and um it was awesome it was a great process we had a lot of wonderful candidates we had some great candidates he was uh really great we'll do like a little roll out yeah I look forward to meeting him here in the spring yep J will help us with that great so we're super excited um okay and that'll be part of consent and that takes us to the business section of tonight's meetings meeting and then Sean um so the

103first um resolution we have as you know we've been discussing this for the better part of three months um but this is the parameters resolution that ACC companies our bond sale um if you want to think of the parameters resolution is the rules that we U must follow the authorization that the board does in fact provide um once uh this is approved we will be bringing back uh to the uh board in uh March uh a resolution of baiting um the working cash fund as we've been discussing um and once the bond sale is completed which is 10 o'clock tomorrow um we will be bringing back all of the parameters that um were involved in that Bond sale so tonight um we are recommending that the Board of Education approve the resolution providing for the

104issue of not to exceed $15 million General obligation limited tax school bonds series 2005 of Consolidated High School number 125 Lake County Illinois for the purpose of increasing the working cash fund of said School District providing for the levy of a direct annual tax to pay the principal and interest on set bonds and authorizing the proposed sale of set bonds to the purchaser thereof so Mo second okay so we have discussed this at a few other meetings does anybody have any questions for Sean okay could I get a motion to approve please so moved second wait oh wait sorry I'm sorry we just have to vot have all the motions and all the movements Cherry could you please pull the board I no I Ben ysf i t i gorson i moons I Ty approved

105six to nothing and I did forget to met but I think I sent everybody a note we did in fact um receive our AAA rating yet again um I got the official document that I'll share with the board um the next item that we have tonight is a renewal of our agreement with first student for our transporting our students both our regular and special education students um they presented us with a series of different options all that um can kind of work in our budget um if you you will the average is about a 4% um they I will tell you that right now uh the existing contract has very very friendly to us um in light of still being still having a driver shortage um so tonight we um took a look at all

106of the options and when we ran them through our budget um I think option two is really the best option and provides us the most flexibility um as we move forward as well and kind of protects our budget down the long term so tonight we are recommending that the Board of Education approve the renewal agreement with first student as presented namely option number two and that is also the lowest cost over the course of the contract when we ran the um could I please get a motion to approve so move second okay so okay so you're saying that that option too I guess I was confused why not just keep it yeah so when you run the dollars it actually comes out to option two being the best because of the decrease in the 4%

107because they would go if they wanted all four years or all five years to be the same it'd be that 4.1 but having a little Spike and then bringing it back down saves the district over the course and is that that's locked in so it would be locked in correct and for everybody's um knowledge of District 102 um is presenting this to the board if they actually haven't already voted sharing are they get the same we still share with 102 correct same same percentages and same option like we all recommending okay yep Terry would you please sure Ben ysf hi s i gorson i wons I Ty I no I car six to than thank you very much and then of course you could see the plethora of foyer requests um happy to say that

108we haven't had it many in the last couple of weeks um so we'll see what March brings us how could you uh you know he knocked it's all good R tracking how much time they're taking yeah we track that we've been tracking that for multiple years could I get a motion to approve the consent agenda please second any questions on it Terry could you please pull so here I gorson I wound I tyer I no I Ben ysph I carries six to nothing we're good okay and then um finally for tonight just a couple items in the student uh student superintendent information report you can see student profiles so thank you to Jamie and reene for pulling those together uh for those of you who don't get a chance to look at the daily digest

109every day there's just great information in there these are two uh fun pieces about our amazing students uh also an update from the ELC um as we provide each month and then just wanted to point out uh we've been updating the board dates for the spring um as a Google doc and a link there uh just wanted to point out um that we will be having a board reorganizational meeting on Monday April 28 at 7:30 to 8: a that is one that um if you all could put that on your Calenders except miss m uh as April will be her last meeting but if everybody else can put that on your calendars you may be thinking wait really only half an hour yes I promise only half an hour um we'll get you to work

110um right after that um if need be um we'll have quick breakfast do a quick reorg and get you on your way um and then also just wanted to point out um that it's our very own ver version of um HEC week uh May 19 we have our board meeting on Monday night our admin review team meeting on May 20th which is Tuesday night and then Friday the 23rd is graduation so why not a boat trip in the middle if you want to go and if you want to go with Troy and Wendy and I and Mark you can go on a boat trip downtown in Chicago great yeah um so that's a lot of a lot of a lot of fun time with Troy and I Mark but uh I it'll be worth it

111I think it's worth it we'll feed you all three nights so uh and then and I won't provide Chinese this year so it's it goes to Grace oh Grace Grace I can keep your tradition tradition a lot okay I think that's about it so that's all I got okay could I get a motion to adjourn so loov who Moved Ronnie Ronnie Ronnie moved second second second second got a second all in favor