‘This was never the context’: Report on controversial Glenbrook South yearbook quote released
A report explaining how a Glenbrook South High School student’s comments about war in Israel and Gaza were published out of context so they appeared to be about last October’s Hamas terrorist attacks was released Tuesday morning.
The 18-page report is available on the Glenbrook High School District 225 website as a hyperlink within the agenda for Monday night’s board meeting. For a direct link, visit tinyurl.com/vy7dn92r.
The report, from attorney Justino D. Petrarca, painstakingly details his investigation into the student’s comments in the recent Etruscan yearbook. Petrarca interviewed the student who gave the quote, the student who interviewed her, another yearbook staffer, yearbook adviser Brenda Field and Glenbrook South administrators.
Three student editors-in-chief who have since graduated refused to be interviewed, Petrarca said.
Petrarca also reviewed a recording of the interview, district policies, applicable state and federal laws and court rulings, and ethical codes for student journalists and their advisers.
He discovered the quoted student, whose name hasn’t been published by the Daily Herald, was interviewed in February about the war in Gaza by a teen on the yearbook staff. Her comments were printed in such a way that she seemed to be praising the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, the report indicates.
But in fact, she was referring to military action in the region that occurred several years ago, Petrarca wrote.
“When the editors used the quote, no context was provided other than its use to describe a student’s feelings about October 7,” the report states. “This was never the context for getting the quote nor the context in which the quote was given.”
Petrarca faulted Field for not asking school administrators to review the use of the quote before publication, despite being concerned enough to speak with student editors about it before the book was printed.
“A reasonable person might have paused to question the impact the use of the quote might have on school operations, community reaction or, most importantly, the impact on a sophomore who was identified by name in the yearbook,” Petrarca wrote.
More than a dozen audience members spoke about the controversy during the public comment section of Monday’s meeting, before Petrarca revealed his findings. One, Chuck Goldberg, called for Field to be removed as yearbook adviser or fired.
“It didn’t need to happen, Goldberg said. “It needs to have consequences.”
Another audience member, Steve Wander, demanded administrators accept responsibility for the quote’s publication.
“This rots from the top, not the bottom,” Wander said.
Board President Bruce Doughty said board members recognized the student’s comment was antisemitic “as presented,” and he acknowledged the passage caused “a lot of pain and emotion.” He called Petrarca’s report “shocking and disturbing.”
Officials must address the situation and take action to prevent it from recurring, Doughty said.
District 225 Superintendent Charles Johns on Tuesday praised Petrarca and his investigative work, calling the report “extensive.”
“The board is currently reviewing the findings and deliberating on the next steps, which will be discussed at the upcoming meeting on July 8,” Johns said in an email.
Neither Field nor Glenbrook South Principal Barbara Georges could be reached for comment Tuesday.