Words matter.
We’ve all been there, done that. Said something stupid or hurtful that got us into hot water, if not with our entire bodies then at least the tips of our toes.
Mayra Reyes certainly waded into that deep end with comments made last year while being interviewed to fill a position on the East Aurora School District 131 board. As she spoke about her concerns about the district’s dual language program, she uttered a statement that sounded as if offering it to Black students would put Hispanic students at a disadvantage.
“I struggle with the fact that we are now giving the advantage that Spanish speakers may have at one point or another had over somebody who wasn’t bilingual,” Reyes said in the audio obtained by The Beacon-News of the portion of the interview that has generated backlash from community members.
In the audio recording, she goes on to give the example that an “African American kid who did not grow up speaking Spanish” might now be able to speak Spanish “along with the kid who did grow up speaking Spanish and may have at one point had a job translating,” saying that the African American child now “can do that, too.”
It was indeed a boneheaded assumption to voice aloud. And Reyes had no choice but to publicly admit as much at Monday’s school board meeting after mounting pressure from the Black community demanded she resign or be censured.
Censuring is not a good legal option, according to District 131 attorney Bernie Weiler, as Reyes was not on the board at the time the comments were made. But District 131 leaders knew something had to be done to temper this controversy, which has only grown since a September board meeting when critics blasted Reyes, the administration and the board for allowing it to fester following the NAACP and Quad County Urban League meeting with district officials several months ago.
And so on Monday – after another half hour of withering public comments, with some shots fired directly at the board for not taking a stand – board President Juan Sifuentes read a statement denouncing Reyes’ remarks, assuring the Black community “we hear you” and are committed “to listening, learning and acting with integrity” that includes “engaging in training to root out unconscious bias.”
What followed was a series of pronouncements from board members who took turns personally denouncing Reyes’ words and declaring their own commitments to serving all East Aurora children.
To her credit, Reyes did not read a scripted response but spoke emotionally to the audience. Her apology and explanation even took a couple of personal turns when she directly addressed a couple of critical commenters, including parent Jerria Donelson, whose daughter is a friend to Reyes’ daughter, and retired educator Cynthia Latimer, who had been her elementary school principal.
“I looked up to you, literally, since first grade. And it truly hurts that you have expressed yourself in the way you have,” Reyes said to Latimer. “When we ran into each other (in the last year) you know how genuine I was. You gave me a hug so tight. So for a misrepresented quote, you are going to cross me off like that?”
Later, Latimer told me she feels a strong bond for all her former students, as she does all kids in the district – past, present and future. Which is why, she continued, Reyes’ statement last year that was recently made public “crushed me” and she felt the need to speak out.
About a half dozen Black leaders I talked to following this meeting had mixed reviews about the sincerity of the board’s personal responses, noting, as one told me, “there was a lot of deflection going on.”
Regina Brent, founder and president of the DuPage-based Unity Partnership, described it as attempts at “reverse psychology” in trying to “shame” whoever brought the audio tape forward. She, like others, also wondered why the board’s public rebuke of Reyes took so long and needed so much outside pressure.
East Aurora School District Superintendent Robert Halverson told me there were legal issues that had to be worked out, considering Reyes’ comments were made at a closed meeting. But part of the problem, at least from my vantage point, is that the East Aurora school board, unlike neighboring districts, seems to be steeped in politics. And that point became obvious Tuesday night at the Aurora City Council Committee of the Whole meeting.
Just minutes after Mayor John Laesch and the city honored the Quad County Urban League for 50 years of service, the group’s Executive Director Theodia Gillespie, who was selected to fill the vacant East Aurora school board seat last year but did not retain it after the April election, blasted Laesch in public comments by accusing him of interjecting himself into the District 131 issue by advising Reyes not to resign and telling her “we have your back.”
Gillespie went on to declare that the mayor’s “use of City Hall to weaponize others” undermines what her organization is doing in the community.
“If you truly want to honor the Urban League’s milestone,” she told the mayor, he “must do more” to act and reflect on the dignity and respect that the community deserves.
Later, in a phone conversation, the mayor admitted wading into the fray, advising Reyes on the importance of an apology and that she “should stick it out” despite the calls for her resignation.
Laesch, however, placed the blame for this turmoil directly at the feet of the board’s longtime leader and his nemesis when he was a East Aurora District 131 board member.
Describing Annette Johnson as having a “long history of manipulation, creating division and wielding power,” Laesch told me it is “vital” she not be president again, as “the pressure to change the dynamics of the board” will not stop with Reyes.
“We are living through an era of very divisive politics, and people who had power and personally benefitted from it have lost it,” he said. “I would encourage the African American community and Hispanic community to not allow themselves to become divided to put Annette Johnson back in power.”
Specifically, the mayor said the district went through an “undue vast amount of legal disputes” that “cost taxpayers dearly” because of Johnson’s “involvement with employment matters and terminations.”
Johnson, who was replaced by Sifuentes this spring after nearly 14 years as school board president and often butted heads with Laesch during his four-year term on the board, told me she was “saddened and shocked the mayor continues this vendetta” against her.
“My record speaks for itself,” she insisted. “We have seen academic growth” while being “a model for good financial management that has served students and staff with new facilities, equitable wages and many student-centered programs, all while having the lowest tax rate in the county.”
A number of Black leaders I spoke with noted that the city and school board are two different entities, and said that the mayor needs to stay in his lane, no matter what the history is between him and Johnson.
“This issue,” said Elgin Community Community College history professor and community activist Vince Gaddis, “is about something Reyes said, and the Black community is reacting to it.”
Laesch and Johnson both insist they want the focus on the well-being of the students in the district, a sentiment shared by all who have weighed in on this issue.
Halverson pointed to a meeting with Black leadership that is on the books for Oct. 16 to “further discuss the concerns expressed by the respective leaders of the community and to outline where we are going with the next steps.”
Plans, he told me in a phone interview, include creating an ad hoc committee made up of different races, sexes and levels of employment; aggressively going forward with updated training from DCFS and Illinois State Board of Education that deals with implicit bias; and continuing open dialogue with Black leaders to make sure their voices are heard.
“We feel we are moving in the right direction,” said Halverson, who took over as superintendent in March. “In any situation where there has been strife or animosity, it takes time to rebuild that culture of trust. We are excited to work together … the key will be to be an active listener and to show empathy in situations.”
Unity Partnership founder Brent told me she believes “Dr. Halverson is ready” to turn this situation around, adding that, “although we did not get (Reyes’ resignation), we got something that will benefit the community.”
When “things like this trigger the ugly past,” she continued, “then we must rise up and must be heard, and do it respectfully and have the patience to do it for the long haul.
“I think this is repairable.”
Psychologist Peggy Hicks, who like other Black leaders I spoke with insist that while words do indeed matter, action must follow, says she too is looking forward to the upcoming sit-down with district officials.
“There are a lot of dynamics,” Hicks said, referring to allegations of a “hostile” environment in School District 131 for African Americans, including reports of demotions, harassment and unwarranted calls to DCFS.
“It is a work in progress,” she concluded. “But the community is now paying attention.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
