Parents rallied to reopen schools in Naperville. | Provided photo
Parents rallied to reopen schools in Naperville. | Provided photo
In Naperville, where the freshman representative’s district office is located, several hundred residents gathered over the weekend to rally to reopen schools, and Illinois state Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-Naperville) is keeping quiet in response.
Those in the community are asking for public schools to return to five days a week. Rep. Yang Rohr was not present at the rally held in her district and did not respond to requests for comment from Lake County Gazette.
Gubernatorial candidate Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), who was a school board member for 17 years, did speak at the rally, however.
“It’s way pastime that our schools are open full time! If your school isn’t full-time yet, please contact your school boards and tell them children need to be in school,” Bailey said in a Facebook post.
Schools throughout the state have been shuttered since mid-March 2020 to curb the pandemic. Since then, parents throughout the state have been overseeing schooling at home through virtual platforms.
Now that vaccines are widely available and herd immunity has been attempted, parents and residents are asking for schools to fully reopen. The slow response to getting kids back in school, and the frustrations some parents and students have experienced with online and hybrid learning, have led to a groundswell of first-time candidates running for school board. The crowd at the rally chanted “five days a week” in addition to “flip the school board.”
Parents involved in the rally belong to the Naperville District 203, Indian Prairie District 204, Plainfield District 202, Geneva District 304, St. Charles District 303, Oswego District 308, Kaneland District 302, Hinsdale Township High School District 86 and Community High School District 99 school districts .
Yang Rohr's candidacy was backed by the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
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