D46 Special Meeting Ends with No Discussion or Action

Monday's special meeting called by the District 46 School Board was a dud for the public who expected some discussion and possible action related to the looming teacher strike, per the meeting agenda.

Only a handful of people, mostly teachers, attended the meeting, which had been rescheduled from 1 p.m. at the district office to 6:30 p.m. at Grayslake Middle School.

Prior to entering in to executive session, the board took public comment.

Bridget Hengels, a fifth-grade teacher at Woodland Intermediate School in District 50, whose son attends Park School, asked the board what they hoped to accomplish with the special meeting "besides hurting your teachers, inconveniencing your parents and giving me the impression that you care very little for our teachers and I care very much for these teachers."

"My impression is that you would not continue mediating over the holiday so all you're doing is hurting the teachers and the parents."

The board was in executive session for about an hour.

"We don't have any action item to vote on," said board president Ray Millington upon the board's return to open session.

He added district would be releasing a public statement that would "come out in a day or so" and that "it does relate to our discussion related to the pending strike."

Rumors have been swirling that the board is considering a teacher lockout, which remains to be seen. The union's strike date remains set for Jan. 16.

Resident Sabrina Galiano criticized the board for calling the special meeting with little notice for the community, though Patch first reported it Friday morning, when it was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday.

"If we don't have anything to discuss, why did you call it so quickly," asked Galiano. "Why can we not have any answers?"

Check back with Patch for updates on this story and the release of the district's pending statement.

D46 Parents Want to Talk to Teachers' Union

UPDATED: Some Give but No Takers in District 46 Bargaining