Parents who support Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 Superintendent Eric Olson flooded a Dec. 15 school board meeting in response to a group of parents who made public comments last month calling for Olson’s removal.
The parents who had asked the board to fire Olson had objected to the district’s announcement, which has since been reversed, that the Holiday Sing would become a Spring Sing and referred back to how the district had handled COVID mitigation policies during the previous school year.
At the Nov. 17 board meeting, parents calling for Olson’s termination speculated about whether the decision to move the Holiday Sing was related to a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant who has been working with the district and one parent told Olson he was “either… a pagan, a satan worshipper, or downright evil.”
Parents who called on the board to retain Olson cited his work implementing a strategic plan for the district, his leadership through the nadir of the pandemic and his relationship with staff and other district leaders. They also expressed worries that a sudden transition in leadership would create instability in the district and reduce teacher and staff morale.
Park Ridge Community Church Senior Minister and district parent Carol Hill said she did not object to the prospect of the Holiday Sing being moved to a Spring Sing.
“They can sing in spring and summer and in fall and in all of the seasons,” Hill said.
Commenter Jessika Ishu said she is an observant Christian and also had no problem with the Holiday Sing getting moved.
“There’s enough going on in December anyway,” Ishu told the board.
Commenters who spoke against Olson objected to the district’s hiring of Ivette Dubiel, a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant who is working with District 64.
Parent Joey Ignoffo said he was concerned about the diversity, equity and inclusion trainings, which he said were targeting parents with conservative values.
“Every parent here would of course be in favor of learning about diversity, equity and inclusion, and I would stand up against anyone who is truly against those things,” he said.
Ignoffo said he did not object to diversity, equity and inclusion curricula but to the “who and the how” of how the material was being taught.
“The who and the how were politically equity motivated, and not diversity, equity and inclusion motivated,” he said.
Parent Irina Vanis, who also attended the last board meeting, reiterated her call for the board to terminate Olson’s employment. Vanis cited the disagreement over the Holiday Sing and Dubiel’s work for the district as two reasons why she thought Olson should no longer work for the district.
Vanis also mentioned “[Olson’s] unwillingness to draft a comprehensive policy on who is allowed to use what bathroom [and] his incompetence when it comes to timely communication with parents” as part of her argument that the district should find new leadership.
Olson told Pioneer Press last week the decision to move Holiday Sing to become a Spring Sing had been a move by the district’s music teachers intended to help students showcase a fuller musical repertoire. He said he had reversed the decision because of his judgement that it would be “too disruptive to our community” on the heels of the pandemic.
Olson has been with District 64 for about four years. The board of education unanimously renewed his contract in August 2022.
