New Trier High School parents debate planned civil rights seminar

Opposition to an all-day civil rights seminar planned for New Trier High School has led to a group of parents creating a website and Facebook page to call for the addition of conservative speakers and presenters, or cancellation of the event.

As currently planned, students at the Winnetka and Northfield campuses will hear from a keynote speaker at the Feb. 28 event on "Understanding Today’s Struggle for Racial Civil Rights," and choose two of more than 100 sessions or workshops to attend, according to Assistant Supt. Tim Hayes. Keynote speakers are National Book Award winner Colson Whitehead, author of "The Underground Railroad," and Andrew Ayden, co-author with U.S. Rep. John Lewis of "March," a graphic novel series chronicling Lewis’ civil rights history.

District Supt. Linda Yonke said students must attend the keynote speech and a 50-minute homeroom presentation, but students who are uncomfortable with anything in the sessions will be able to leave.

Opponents of the current format and speaker lineup say it lacks conservative voices, and thus presents a biased and politicized offering of liberal viewpoints on the issues.

Wilmette resident Mark Glennon, whose son is a New Trier junior, called the schedule of presenters "flagrantly and unquestionably politically extreme."

"What I’d like to see happen is simple: just some balance in what’s presented," he said, adding that debate among New Trier parents and residents has caused strife in an otherwise friendly community.

Seminar supporters, however, say the planned speakers and discussions will allow New Trier students to make up their own minds in a balanced manner on a crucial American social issue.

"Not only is this a great lineup of programming, but an essential day for our kids," said Paul Traynor of Wilmette, whose son is a sophomore at New Trier. "My sense is that this day is overwhelmingly popular across political lines, and that the opposition, although clearly well organized and very vocal, is very small."

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Democratic Rep. John Lewis, who feuded with President Donald Trump less than a week before the inauguration, stood up at the Women’s March in his home state of Georgia and delivered a rousing speech – one reminiscent of the 1960s, when he led the fight for civil rights in the country.

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District residents on both sides of the issue say they plan to attend the New Trier School Board’s next meeting, on Feb. 20, to present their arguments.

In the meantime, opponents of the seminar, or its current schedule of speakers or discussion session leaders, have created a Facebook page as well as a "Parents of New Trier" website, at www.parentsofnewtrier.org, to organize opposition to the day’s events. As stated on the page, they want conservative speakers and presenters added to the schedule; suggested speakers include Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump and critic of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Failing that, "cancel it until it’s possible to do that," Wilmette parent Jasmine Hauser said.

The website urges opponents to attend the Feb. 20 meeting, although Hauser, who spoke at the January school board meeting against the current schedule iteration, said she wanted to see what the school district would do before committing to attending.

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…

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Another opponent, Wilmette resident Mark Weyermuller, who said his sons had gone to New Trier as teenagers, said he doesn’t like "the public schools doing political work … I personally do not like the term white privilege. I find that highly offensive. I just don’t think there’s racism in the New Trier area."

Yonke said Thursday that she’s seen an outpouring of support for the seminar day, which includes sessions titled "Disney and Racial Stereotypes," "Tracing Food Inequality: Food Deserts in Chicago" and "Understanding Implicit Bias: Being Biased Doesn’t Make You a Bad Person."

"I have had well over 300 phone calls, emails, and letters of support saying ‘Don’t change it, it looks fabulous,’" she said. "The direct communication we’ve had has been far more in support than in opposition. In fact, I’ve never seen this kind of outpouring of support on an issue in my life as an educator."

Wilmette resident Ruthie Swibel, who said her children are in elementary school, said her support for the day "is based on giving students the benefit of the doubt of thinking critically about issues. If we canceled events because we didn’t want to talk about complicated issues, what message does this send to our school’s students?"

Another supporter, Northfield resident Laura Shala Balson, whose son is an elementary school student, said she was "horrified" when she read the opposition group’s website.

"I’m a transracial parent. My husband and I are white and one of our children is black … I know we live in a well-off community that’s largely homogenous and white, but this is just the total opposite of the 10 years we’ve lived here. People have been kind and welcoming, just the opposite of this opposition."

According to the 2015 Illinois State Report Card for New Trier District 203, the student population is 85.3 percent white, .6 percent African-American, 3.9 percent Hispanic, 7.4 percent Asian, and .1 percent American Indian.

The seminar day has a budget of $30,000, and "will not portray any political party as good or bad or promote the views of one party," according to New Trier’s website. More than 35 district staff members and students have worked since April 2016 to organize the day, which will include a common lesson giving students a framework and method for discussing the issues, Hayes said in January.

Hauser said the district disregarded the input of parents or students, like her or her high school daughter, who wanted to provide alternate possibilities for the program. She said she and her daughter were "stonewalled" by administrators, who she said did not get back in touch with her.

Traynor said the district did involve parents, and gave them plenty of time for input: "They sent out an email before the holiday break saying ‘Here’s the game plan.’ … so these folks who say there was no consultation, no outreach, that’s just false."

Information on the seminar day is available at www.newtrier.k12.il.us/seminarday.

kroutliffe@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @pioneer_kathy

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