Rob Cruz, the former Oak Lawn High School District 229 Board member who was removed by the board last month, has asked to be reinstated by the end of the month and demanded the board schedule a hearing with the regional school superintendent, which he says is required.
Instead, the District 229 Board last week swore in former board member Safaa Zarzour to replace Cruz, who members said last month violated his oath of office by filing lawsuits on behalf of the district against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mask mandate.
Board President Robert Loehr said he was happy to see Zarzour back and Zarzour said he was happy to be back.
“As I said the first time I joined the board, and being an educator myself, I’ve always watched the hard work going into this school,” Zarzour said. “I want to be a part of celebrating that and advancing that.”
But Cruz, who is an announced candidate for the Republican nomination in the redrawn 6th Congressional District, claims he was removed in violation of Illinois school board rules and said he will continue to fight to be reinstated.
“If you don’t follow the rules, then we’ll see you in court,” Cruz said in an interview, though he did not attend the board meeting.
“I’ve been not going to the meetings because I don’t want to cause a distraction,” he said.
Cruz had fought against mask mandates, saying he believed each district should craft its own mask policy. In his first lawsuit he claimed he was acting in his official capacity as a board member, and then as an individual. A federal judge dismissed his lawsuit in December.
A lawsuit in state court, brought by teachers and parents who opposed the governor’s school mandate, resulted in a restraining order against the governor’s mandate, and a state appellate court upheld the other Sangamon County court decision.
“We would have had the same outcome had it stayed in the courts,” Cruz said of his own legal battle.
District 229 still recommends, but no longer requires, face masks.
One resident appeared at the meeting to speak out against masks, but the only other public comment supported the board.
More Top Picks Rca Rmw733
“It’s been a very stressful two years,” said resident Bill Beaulieu. “I think you all do a fantastic job.”
Cruz said he’s still speaking with distraught parents who say they’re confused about the governor’s insistence on in school masking, even as the governor has sought to repeal virtually all other mask mandates in public spaces.
“‘This doesn’t sound right,'” Cruz said one mother told him.
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
An earlier version of this story misidentified Bill Beaulieu.