Parents of children in Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 held a rally outside the district’s administration center Tuesday (March 16), calling on officials to reopen schools for full in-person learning hours before school board members voted unanimously to do just that.
Flanked by signs calling on officials to “Reopen D205,” organizers and parents Michael Booth and Joseph Qualtier spoke to a small crowd of about 60 parents and students, most masked, gathered in the parking lot of the district administration center.
“We want to make sure they understand we want them to reopen all grades every day all day,” said Booth, who has three children in the district, as the rally got underway. “We’re looking for them to vote yes.”
“We really believe they (board members and administrators) need to make it a priority to get our Bryan and Sandburg middle schoolers back in school,” said Katie Larsen, a parent attending the rally with her children, one a second grader and one in sixth grade at Bryan Middle School. “We need to get them back.”
District 205 board members shared that sentiment, voting unanimously more than three hours into their board meeting to approve a motion to open all schools for full day in-person instruction five days a week beginning on Monday, April 12.