School Board Mulls Tutoring, Public Comment Policies

The District 122 school board is looking to rewrite a couple of its policies, one that would prevent anonymous letters being read during public comments and another that would prohibit tutors from using district space during the summer.

Currently, District 122 teachers and other independent contractors have been able to use district buildings to tutor over the summer and also use district materials and equipment. A concern, though, is that they do not pay facility rental charges and that non-district employees who tutor don't have criminal background checks conducted.

This summer, the district is planning to close its buildings between June 19 and July 18, which would move tutors elsewhere, and because of the other safety and financial concerns, board members were in agreeance Wednesday that tutors should teach outside of school district buildings.

"It’s our utility costs, it’s our printing costs," member Pat Martino said. "We shouldn’t be providing a free place for them to sell their service.”

Other area districts do not allow teachers to tutor in buildings, including Frankfort 157C, Summit Hill 161 and Mokena 159. Another issue is whether the district should continue providing a list of tutors to parents upon request. The district currently prints that as a courtesy to parents looking for help for their children. The concern was whether names of non-district employees should be included, but the board supported having all names but differentiating between who's an employee in the district and who isn't.

Maureen Broderick used tutoring for her children and said she appreciated getting a list of names so they were identified for parents. She added that she's had students tutored in schools, at the library and at home, and it didn't make a big difference.

“It really doesn’t phase me as a parent as long as I’m communicating with the person who’s doing the tutoring," she said.

Public Comment Letters

The board also discussed its policy over reading letters sent to the board during public comment portion. This came after some board members were upset with the current policy, which states that the board will read letters sent to the district during public comments, regardless of verification or anonymity.

In March then-board President Kathy Markus read a letter that attacked member Maureen Broderick, who at the time was running for re-election on the school board. The district researched the name, “Hunter Smith,” who claimed to be a parents. His name was not found in the phone book or the list of parents, and the P.O. Box from which his letter was supposedly sent had been closed.

Following that, board member Sue Smith asked to revisit the policy. She was absent from the meeting but most board members agreed that authors of a letter should be verified before anything is read. 

"If we can’t get a letter with a verification of the name and address, we shouldn't read it, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative," Martino said.

Broderick, the receiving end of the attacks, went a step further.

"If it’s that important to be read at the meeting, that person should be present," she said.

Martino acknowledged that some people cannot attend meetings, and he suggested putting a form on the district's website through which residents could submit letters. A name and phone number would be required. When people speak during the public comment portion at the meeting, they're required to fill out a form with their name.

Other members suggested that anonymous letters could be read if a majority of the board approved it, but that brought up concerns over consistency of what would be read. 

“If we get into anonymous, that’s dangerous,” board President Nick DiSandro said.

The board also planned to discuss its policies about , but time ran out. That will be brought up at next month's meeting.