Community members demand action after Glenbrook South yearbook controversy

The Glenbrook High School District 225 Board of Directors met in private Tuesday evening to prepare remedial measures following the out-of-context publication of a student’s yearbook comment about Israel and the Palestinians.

But before the audience was led out of the meeting room at District 225 headquarters in Glenview, three people took to the podium to praise officials for their handling of the emotionally explosive situation – and to call for action.

The special meeting was called to discuss personnel matters, the exact content of which was not made public.

But it was the first meeting of the seven-member panel since last week’s meeting, at which attorney Justino D. Petrarca released a panel-commissioned report that found that a lack of teacher oversight and poor journalistic decisions contributed to the erroneous use of a student quote in the latest edition of Glenbrook South High School’s “Etruscan” yearbook.

The quote was published in a way that made it seem as though the teenager was supporting the October 7 terrorist attacks against Israel. But after Petrarca spoke to the students involved and reviewed a recording of the interview, she found that no one had mentioned those attacks and that the girl was actually referring to earlier events.

Petrarca revealed that veteran yearbook adviser Brenda Field knew about the quote before the yearbook was published and asked student editors about it, but did not try to remove it from the book. Field also did not consult with Glenbrook South school administrators about the quote, which she should have done under district policy, Petrarca said.

In addition, Petrarch’s report – available online at tinyurl.com/vy7dn92r – showed that Field spent “minimal time overseeing the publication process.”

The school board has not yet taken action on the matter but may do so at its July 8 meeting, officials said.

At the board meeting on Tuesday, spectator Paul Eisenstadt said that action was needed.

“This is not about a conflict, this is not about politics, this is not about a student,” Eisenstadt said. “This is about something that appeared in a yearbook, and somewhere an adult has to take accountability for it.”

Eisenstadt also praised the board for taking the time to investigate the controversy and subsequently deliberate on the matter.

“It’s more important to get it right, to do the right thing and to conduct a comprehensive investigation than to come up with any quick fixes,” he said.

The next speaker echoed this sentiment and insisted that something must be done.

The third speaker from the audience, Josh Weiner of the Chicago Jewish Alliance, praised officials for their “thorough investigation,” but also read a statement from his group calling for more clarity on the matter, particularly whether or not the quote that sparked the riot referred to Oct. 7.

The statement further questioned why the primary responsibility, if not all, is “attributed to the Jewish editors and the teacher/supervisor and not to the student who made the hurtful remarks.”

Chairman Bruce Doughty thanked the speakers for sharing their views.

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