Community members call for action after Glenbrook South yearbook controversy
The Glenbrook High School District 225 board met privately Tuesday night as members prepare to take corrective measures following the out-of-context publication in a yearbook of a student’s comment about Israel and Palestinians.
But before the audience was ushered out of the meeting room at District 225 headquarters in Glenview, three people went to the lectern to praise officials for how officials have handled the emotionally explosive situation — and to call for action.
The special meeting was called to discuss personnel matters, the exact nature of which weren’t publicly disclosed.
But it was the seven-member panel’s first meeting since last week’s, at which attorney Justino D. Petrarca publicly released a board-commissioned report that showed a lack of teacher oversight and poor journalistic decisions were factors in the erroneous use of a student’s quote in the latest edition of Glenbrook South High’s yearbook, Etruscan.
The quote was published in such a way that the teen appeared to support the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel. But after speaking with the students involved and reviewing a recording of the interview, Petrarca determined no one mentioned those attacks and that the girl actually was referring to earlier events.
Petrarca revealed veteran yearbook adviser Brenda Field was aware of the quote before the yearbook was published and asked student editors about it but didn’t try to remove it from the book. Field didn’t consult with Glenbrook South administrators about the quote, either, which she should have done under district policy, Petrarca said.
Additionally, Petrarca’s report — available online here — showed Field “spends minimal time performing any oversight of the publication process.”
The school board hasn’t taken action on the matter but could at its July 8 meeting, officials have said.
At Tuesday’s board meeting, audience member Paul Eisenstadt said action is needed.
“This is not about a conflict, this is not about politics, this is not about a student,” Eisenstadt said. “This is about something that showed up in a yearbook, and there’s some adult somewhere that needs to account for it.”
Eisenstadt also praised the board for taking their time to investigate the controversy and then deliberate the issue.
“It’s more important to get it right, do the right thing (and) do the full investigation than to come up with some kind of quick action,” he said.
Those sentiments were echoed by the next speaker, who insisted something needs to be done.
The third speaker from the audience, Josh Weiner of the Chicago Jewish Alliance, praised officials for conducting a “thorough investigation.” But he also read a statement from his group that called for more clarity in the matter, particularly whether the quote that triggered the uproar concerned Oct. 7 or not.
The statement went on to question why most if not all of the responsibility was being placed “on the Jewish editors and the teacher/adviser rather than the student who made the hurtful remarks.”
Board President Bruce Doughty thanked the speakers for sharing their views.